After a productive senior campaign, Villanova forward Eric Dixon has taken his game to another level in his graduate season.
Dixon has emerged as one of the nation’s most lethal scorers and hopes to continue his hot run Wednesday when the Wildcats host Fairleigh Dickinson.
Entering Tuesday’s action, Dixon ranked second in the country in scoring at 25.7 points per game, way up from his 16.6 scoring average a season ago. He is putting up sparkling shooting numbers from the field (53.0 percent), the 3-point line (54.1) and the foul line (85.1) while chipping in 6.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals.
“I’ve known this kid, you know, maybe eight, nine years, so nothing he does (now) is impressive,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said after the Wildcats’ 94-65 win over Temple on Saturday. “I’ve just watched him do it over and over and over, when you sit back and look at the string of what he’s done, it is pretty impressive.”
Villanova (6-4) has won a season-high three straight games. This is the team’s final tune-up before opening Big East play next Tuesday against Seton Hall.
“I still think we’re a work in progress,” Neptune said. “I think we can still get a lot better, just attention to detail, spreading back a little bit more, taking guys out of their strengths a little bit more. But we are getting better.”
Fairleigh Dickinson (4-7) took on Division III foe Lehman College on Saturday and rolled to a 98-54 victory. Dylan Jones scored 22 points to lead the Knights, while Terrence Brown pitched in 19 points, six rebounds, six steals and five assists.
The Knights have played three notable opponents this season — Miami, Creighton and Nebraska — and have lost those three games by an average of 31 points.
“We want to be up-tempo and play free,” FDU coach Jack Castleberry said earlier this season. “Basketball is about making shots at the end of the day. We try to make this (game) all about execution and process.”
–Field Level Media
