Askew, Perkins shepherd Villanova’s overhaul and resurgence in Willard’s maiden voyage on Main Line

Devin Askew has shot Villanova firmly into NCAA Tournament conversation as senior’s veteran presence has steered Wildcats. (Photo by the Big East Conference)

By Jake Copestick (@JakeCopestick)

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Devin Askew has 131 college games under his belt for a coach to evaluate from and see what he has in the sixth-year guard.

That is enough of a sample size for Kevin Willard to look at and see how Askew can fit into what he wants to do on the court, but it wasn’t until Askew visited Villanova that Willard really knew what he had.

“When you go into the portal, you have to really evaluate, watch film, and see what he has,” Willard said. “When (Askew) was on his visit, I think the best part about it is I just loved his maturity. He’s a terrific, terrific person. I think he’s getting rewarded for being a hard worker and a terrific person.”

Askew was rewarded handsomely Friday, as he poured in a team-high 20 points, 17 of which came in the first half in an 87-73 win over Providence. Villanova, now 16-5 overall, and 7-3 in Big East play, has benefited from the play of the sixth-year senior, and will need Askew to continue to keep up his play as the Wildcats look to break a three-year drought from hearing their name called on Selection Sunday. 

Askew’s maturity and veteran presence is big on a Villanova team that starts a freshman in star point guard Acaden Lewis, and a redshirt sophomore in Bryce Lindsay. That duo gets a lot of the attention, and rightfully so. However, it is the elder statesman in Askew that is playing his best basketball of the season, now that he is fully healed from a knee injury suffered in the preseason.

Having scored 20 or more points in four of the last six games, shooting over 50 percent from three-point range in that span, Askew is the second-best long-distance shooter in the Big East, and a Top 40 shooter nationally from deep. Now that he is fully healthy, he is turning it on at the right time.

“I’m trying to get Devin to play off of his strengths ever since he’s now at full strength,” said Willard. “He can shoot, he can score. He had a really bad injury, then missed two months. What I’m trying to get Devin to do is play off of his strengths more to start, and just go off that. I think he’s starting to realize how good of a shooter and a scorer he is, how much pressure he can put on defenses, and then he can play off of that. Two months of not playing or practicing, especially in September and October, he missed the two most important months as you’re trying to learn a new system, new offense, then get thrown into the fire. It’s just taken a little bit of time.”

Askew drained four threes in the first half Friday, and made all three of his free throws after being fouled on another attempt. His 17 points in the first half were the difference, as Villanova led by as many points, 45-28 at halftime. 

“I got a really good coach, who lets me let it fly,” said Askew.

“Good answer,” quipped Willard, sitting next to him in the media room.

Askew led Villanova in scoring in the first half, and it was another veteran player in junior Tyler Perkins that paced the Wildcats with 12 points in the second half, and was just behind Askew with 19 points for the whole game. 

Perkins is the lone Wildcat that played major minutes a season ago to stay with the program amidst the coaching change. Willard has lauded the energy that the Penn transfer has given the team all year, and is seeing Perkins get comfortable playing the way he wants, a far cry from the style he played under Kyle Neptune a season ago. 

“I think Perkins is even getting a little bit more confidence and a little bit more comfortable with a totally different style than he played previously,” said Willard.

Perkins, the team's second-leading scorer at just over 12 points per game, is a great connector for Villanova, providing shooting, rebounding, defending and versatility. He does a lot of things that translate to winning besides scoring, but is starting to really heat up in that area. Perkins has now scored 15 or more points in five straight games after his 19-point outing in Friday’s win.

As Perkins continues to build confidence as he gets more game reps in Willard’s style of play, and Askew figures to be at full strength health-wise, it's Villanova’s veteran players that are hitting their stride as March beckons at the next turn of the calendar. 

“Some of the early mistakes that we made, I think we’re learning from them,” Willard said. “I think we’re doing some better things offensively. I think these guys are getting more comfortable offensively.”