Duke Brennan scored 17 points and pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds Saturday night for host Villanova, which never trailed in a 94-74 win over Queens in the opening game of the Villanova Classic.
The 20 rebounds were the most by a Wildcats player since Jan. 3, 2015, when Daniel Ochefu had 24 rebounds in Villanova’s 66-61 overtime win over Seton Hall. Brennan’s previous career high was 16 rebounds, set Feb. 15, 2024, when he was playing for Grand Canyon against Utah Tech.
Bryce Lindsay scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the first half for Villanova (1-1), which earned its first win under head coach Kevin Willard, who replaced Kyle Neptune in late March.
Acaden Lewis (21 points) and Matt Hodge (18 points) also scored in double figures as Villanova improved to 39-0 all-time in home openers at Finneran Pavilion (since 1986).
Villanova out-rebounded Queens 42-20 and outscored the Royals 62-38 in the paint.
Nasir Mann had a team-high 21 points and five rebounds for Queens (1-2), which was picked to finish first in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Chris Ashby scored 11 points while Yoav Berman, Avantae Parker and Jordan Watford added nine points each for the Royals.
Hodge and Lewis had four points apiece during a game-opening 8-0 run by Villanova. Queens responded with a 12-5 run before the Wildcats ended the half on a 38-25 run to take a 51-37 lead at intermission. The hosts went ahead by double digits for good at 26-16 on Brennan’s layup with 9:09 left.
Villanova took a trio of 20-point leads early in the second half before Queens went on an 18-8 run to pull within 69-59 on Mann’s layup with 9:50 left. Lindsay and Lewis combined to score the next four points for the Wildcats, who led by between 12 and 22 points the rest of the way.
The meeting was the first between Villanova and Queens.
