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.

A difficult prep/scout of Butler, no fans at the Pavilion, Jay Wright goes for win No. 600. A lot of intrigue as Cats play first home game of 2020-21 Wednesday night.

Jay Wright met with reporters ahead of tomorrow's game against Butler. Here are some quick takeaways from the discussion.

On first home game and no fans in attendance: “We’re not talking about it a lot because there’s nothing we can do about it. But we’re watching film of last year’s Butler game at home and the place is packed, so they’re looking at film and then they’re walking into the place and it’s empty. So I hope it doesn’t have any effect on us. We use the term 94x50 feet, which means concentrate on what’s going on on the court, but we will see.”

On the team having some slow starts through the first six games: “You never want to get off to those starts. I’m proud of our guys in that it doesn’t affect us. We’ve had some great finishes. But in our game against Virginia Tech we had a 12-point lead with eight minutes to go and we didn’t finish well. It really comes down to you gotta play 40 minutes, that’s the real truth of it. It’s not about starting well, finishing well, it’s about playing 40 minutes. And good teams, experienced teams do that. It’s hard to do. That’s what we’ve gotta learn to do.”

Butler has only played one game so far, and Wright noted there could be some positives and some negatives for Villanova. Wright said the hope is that maybe there's a little bit of rust for the Bulldogs, but that he won't count on that. On the other hand, it can cause some issues as far as scouting and preparation go. "It will go both ways," Wright said. We'll have some more thoughts from Wright about preparation for the game in our game preview, as well as some thoughts from Collin Gillepsie and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl on the topic.

Wright was also informed by a reporter that the women's team was pausing basketball activities after its previous opponent, Drexel, confirmed a tier 1 positive test and asked if that concerned him. While Wright hadn't known about the pause, he said it is a concern because the men's and women's teams share some of the same facilities and hallways, and said the first thing he would do after he was done meeting with the media would be to check on that situation. It's definitely something to keep an eye on for the next couple days. For now, it appears that it was more of a precautionary move from the women's team because only Wednesday's game at Providence has been postponed and it appears there is hope to be able to play the games scheduled for Dec. 19 and Dec. 22.

A tale of two halves as Nova bounces back from disastrous first half to cruise past Georgetown.

We went in a different direction with tonight's game preview. If anybody wants any of the numbers we usually provide/discuss in our traditional game previews, don't hesitate to ask and I will post them here.

The players' mental health has been a focus for Wright and his staff as the team deals with bubbles and being away from family. Meanwhile, talking heads debate the merits of trying to hold a college basketball season amid a pandemic, but we seem to rarely get or consider the perspective of the players themselves. Villanova has been trying to find that balance, and based on comments from Wright as well as Collin Gillespie and Cole Swider, seems to be doing a good job so far.

During Jay Wright's Thursday session with the press, Adam Zagoria said he had talked with Big East commissioner Val Ackerman and she told him the league is trying to remain as flexible as possible, including a continued consideration of a bubble or several bubble sites. More surprising, Zagoria also said Ackerman told him the league was considering the possibility of a league-wide pause.

Here is Wright's response after being asked if he had discussed any of these scenarios with his team: “We’ve seen the bubble works. If the athletic directors and commissioners decide on a bubble, I’m all for it, if they don’t, we’re gonna continue to just worry about our player's mental health and safety. We don’t have any say in it. The NCAA is going to make their decisions, the commissioners are gonna make their decisions and we’re gonna abide by it, but we’re gonna first make decisions based on our player's mental health and safety.”

Wright doesn't actually say if he's discussed those scenarios with the team and doesn't confirm or deny awareness of league ideas. My opinion (purely speculative) is that the league will try to get through the part of the schedule that has been released as much as possible before deciding on any alterations. If they simply let the announced schedule run its course, minus any postponements, it will have a clearer idea of what programs need games and how best to get those games scheduled. If it's a complete disaster and virtually every team in the conference is down multiple games, or even if it goes okay but they think it can be done better/more safely, they can then decide to make adjustments. Or, if things smooth out after these early disruptions, they can elect to proceed as planned. Now, if the outbreaks in the conference continue/worsen and it gets to a point where they can only play a game or two total over an extended time, perhaps they will consider the league-wide pause.

For now, these are just ideas/contingencies the league is mulling, but they are definitely worth noting. In the meantime, we know Villanova is focusing on the things it can control, is appreciative of the opportunity to practice and play, and is putting the well-being of the athletes at the forefront of every decision it makes.

Jay Wright spoke with reporters on Thursday ahead of Friday's game against Georgetown. Here are the takeaways from the session.

As far as Wright knows, no one has reached out about scheduling a game to replace the postponed game against DePaul next week. Wright said that if the Big East wants them to play a conference opponent they will do that, but if no game gets scheduled he's okay with that and thinks the break might be a positive for his team.

Wright talked about some of the adjustments he and the staff have made to the practice routine. One is that they typically like to teach in a "part to whole" manner, but because of the disrupted offseason/preseason they've been forced to take a more "whole to part" approach. He also said he's tried to make practice a "little bit" more fun as a way to ease the mental strain the players are going through between being in the team "bubble" and not seeing their families or loved ones and the rapid changes they've had to navigate early in the season. Wright said the staff has also made an effort to not be quite so demanding. “We can’t really push these guys too hard because we know what they’re sacrificing off the court," Wright said.

Mental health became a major theme of the session, so much so that we're going cover the discussion in article form later today.

Wright said playing at home in a virtually empty Pavilion might be more difficult than playing on the road. “It’s gonna be strange," Wright said. "I think that might be more difficult than playing on the road. You’re already uncomfortable on the road playing in someone else’s gym, and that’s normal. You’re rarely uncomfortable at home playing in your gym. That’s gonna be a challenge for us." Wright also noted that the team hasn't been practicing much in the Pavilion just because of the way the early schedule has worked out and that they need to start practicing in there more. Today's practice was held at the Pavilion.

Late Tuesday night news broke that the highly-anticipated matchup between Virginia and Michigan State (and the Hauser brothers) was off due to COVID issues within the Virginia program. For Villanova, this is noteworthy because the Cats are scheduled to play Virginia in just 11 days. There's no word yet on that game, and it will likely depend on the results of Virginia's testing over the next few days. The fact that the announcement was simply "COVID issues" instead of any actual info on if it was players/coaches/staff and how many make it difficult to speculate on Virginia's immediate future. Virginia is currently listing Sunday's game against William & Mary as "to be determined." That will likely be the next hint as to the hopes of Nova-Virginia happening as scheduled. If the Cavaliers avoid an extensive outbreak, it's likely the game will be able to be safely and competitively played. If more positives follow, the game will likely have to be postponed or canceled.

For now, we'll monitor the situation for updates and will especially be keeping an eye on the status of Virginia's game on Sunday. We'll share any further info as soon as we have it.

Due to positive COVID test results among DePaul's Tier 1 group, Monday's meeting between DePaul and Villanova has been postponed, the school announced Tuesday. DePaul also postponed Friday's game against Seton Hall. The game will be rescheduled by the Big East and announced at a later date.

Just a bit of schedule housekeeping here, Friday's contest with Georgetown has been moved from a 5 p.m. tip to a 7 p.m. tip.

A really good, really impressive win for Villanova over No. 17 Texas on Sunday.

Jay Wright updated the injury status of a pair of players during his Thursday press conference as the start of the season rapidly approaches.

Bryan Antoine will not dress for the games at Mohegan Sun. He still hasn't been practicing and therefore won't be ready to play. The injury is not related to the surgery Antoine had on that shoulder and is the result of another Villanova practice "freak accident." Antoine was on the floor with his arm outstretched when another player fell on him. Team is being conservative with it, but Antoine was 100% healed from the surgery and was doing well prior to the unfortunate mishap in practice.

Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree "won't play in the early part of the season," per Wright. Wright didn't get any more specific than that, but it sounds like it will be at least a little while for DCR. Wright praised DCR for continuing to provide great leadership despite not being able to be on the court.

Keels is a 6-5 shooting guard out of Fairfax Virginia. He's currently ranked No. 33 in the class of 2021. He attends Paul VI high school and plays for Team Takeover on the AAU circuit, two programs with which Villanova has found recruiting success. More generally, Nova has thrived recruiting in the DMV area, and those factors make Keels a name to really keep an eye on. Other notable programs already involved with Keels include Virginia, Maryland, and Florida.

A strong test for the Cats on Sunday in No. 17 Texas.

Villanova forward Jermaine Samuels will be a game-time decision for the Wildcats' game against No. 17 Texas on Sunday after suffering a sprained finger in practice this week, Jay Wright told reporters Saturday.

Samuels did not practice with the team Saturday. He will have the finger taped and then see how he feels pregame before a decision on his status is made. Wright said Cole Swider will likely start in Samuels' place if he can't go, noting that he likes the way Swider has been playing and also that Swider has a bit more experience than Brandon Slater. Wright said he could still change his mind on that, but it sounds as though it will be Swider if Samuels is out.

Nova gets back on track with a win over Hartford.