We used the eye test, traditional stats, and some advanced metrics to see where Villanova has excelled so far this season and where there is some room for improvement.

The Jan. 2 game against Xavier that has been postponed due to Villanova's pause in basketball activities has been rescheduled for Jan. 13. It is slated for a 6:30 tip on FS1.

The Cats will not be ready to come out of their pause in time to play next Friday's game against UConn and that contest has been postponed, the school announced Friday.

If you're interested in a short write up on the postponement, here's the link:

Some disappointing news on Monday, as the program has announced it is back on pause after further positive COVID-19 tests. The program just came out of its previous pause yesterday, getting in a full team practice. As a result of this new pause, Tuesday's game against DePaul, Friday's game against Marquette, and the January 13 game against Xavier have been postponed.

Jay Wright said Monday afternoon that two players have tested positive this time. For now, the pause will last 10 days, but there is concern that there will be more positive tests tomorrow which would reset the timeline.

Corey Floyd Jr., one of Villanova's 2022 targets, has set a commitment date of Jan. 14, per his Twitter page.

We noted Villanova's interest in Floyd at the beginning of the cycle, but the Cats were somewhat late with an offer, getting it out shortly after Floyd had cut his list to seven. The Nova offer was good enough to get it into Floyd's finalists, and the Wildcats joined Florida, UConn, Rutgers, Miami, Providence, Auburn, and Wake Forest.

Speculatively, I think UConn, Providence, and Rutgers may be the favorites. That's simply based on quotes I've seen from Floyd. He's spoken highly of all the teams he is still considering, but just trying to read between the lines a little that's the sense I get. It will be interesting to see how the late Nova offer impacts things.

Floyd is currently ranked No. 96 in his class by Rivals, but I think we need to be taking specific ranking numbers with a grain of salt right now with the lack of evaluation opportunities there have been. Floyd is a four-star recruit, and I think at least until we can get back in the gym to watch these guys/until they actually start playing the "star" ranking is the safest way to get a general feel on the level of the recruit (although even the star system is not perfect). Regardless, Floyd has great size at 6-5, 205 and will give a program a nice early boost to its 2022 class.

On Sunday, the Wildcats returned to the court for team basketball activities with a practice a the Pavilion, per a release.

Jay Wright has participated in team and staff meetings virtually while recovering away from the team. He is expected to rejoin the team on Tuesday for the DePaul game.

A look at the two biggest issues facing the Wildcats as they work through their pause.

Not the best news out of the program on Sunday.

Cats win sixth straight and move to 3-0 in Big East play.

A look at the Golden Eagles ahead of Wednesday's meeting.

Wright provided some details on how the postponement came about and what the break will entail.

You may have noticed that Brandon Slater didn't find the court in the second half of Saturday's win over St. Joe's. After the game, Jay Wright revealed that Slater suffered an injury to his back in the game. Wright doesn't believe it's serious and is hopeful that it is just spasms. If Slater was needed in the second half he was ready to give it a go, but with the 'Cats pulling away there was no reason to push things.

“Slater got hurt in the first half. He hurt his back. We’re thinking it’s spasms, he was gonna try in the second half but then we didn’t need him so we didn’t want to push it," Wright said.

Hopefully the early diagnosis is correct and Slater will be back out there with his teammates on Wednesday against Marquette or Jan. 2 against Xavier at the latest. With Bryan Antoine and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree still dealing with injuries of their own an extended absence from Slater would be a concern.

More Big 5 and Holy War domination from the Cats.

A look at the Hawks ahead of the latest chapter of the Holy War.

Villanova's home game against St. John's on Dec. 30 will be postponed, per a release from the school.

"We just thought our players needed a break," Jay Wright said. "Their well being is our top priority. We appreciate that St. John's is in agreement with us on this in wanting the same for their players."

No makeup date has been announced.

After St. Joe's on Saturday, Nova is scheduled to play at Marquette on Dec. 23 and then won't play again until Jan. 2 at Xavier.

Just wrapped up a media session with Jay Wright, Collin Gillespie and Caleb Daniels and before digging into the takeaways just wanted to drop a quick update. Wright said that moving into the Big East section of the schedule will make it somewhat more difficult to add a non-conference game as both Nova and a potential opponent have dates they have to hold for conference requirements, but that the program will continue to look to add one more non-conference game. Most likely opponent would be either a Philly school, Wright said they will talk with Temple, La Salle, and Drexel, and if a city game can't be worked out a mid-major program is the next likeliest opponent.

Wright also shared that Villanova looked into playing Clemson or Tennessee at the Garden after the Virginia game fell through but it just didn't pan out.

Quotes from Wright, Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels on the milestone victory for Wright and looking at how Wright's reaction to the accomplishment shines a light on some of the reasons he has been so successful.

Instead of Nova-Virginia on Saturday we'll get the Holy War. After the former matchup was canceled due to COVID issues at Virginia, Villanova has once again scrambled to get a replacement game and will welcome Big 5 rival St. Joe's to the Pavilion Saturday night. Those teams were originally scheduled to meet on Nov. 30, but that game was postponed due to COVID issues at St. Joe's. The game is set for a 9 p.m. tip and I believe it is set to air on FS1.

Jon Rothstein first reported, and then Matt Norlander confirmed, that Saturday's game between Villanova and Virginia at Madison Square Garden will not be played as scheduled. The Cavaliers have been on pause due to COVID issues, but had hoped to be up and running in time for the game. It appears that will not be the case. We're still awaiting an official announcement and there is no word on whether the game will be rescheduled. Norlander reports that there is an effort being made to find a team to replace Virginia that Nova can play on Saturday. We will have any updates on the situation as they become available.

A nice showing from the Cats as Jay Wright earns win No. 600. We'll have more on the milestone tomorrow, for now here's our recap of the game and the postgame presser.