As far as coach Kevin Willard is concerned, Villanova’s patience with Luigi Suigo is paying off.
Suigo and the Wildcats (1-1) hope to deliver another strong performance Tuesday night when they host La Salle (1-1) in a matchup of schools from the Philadelphia area.
After managing just seven points and five rebounds in Villanova’s season-opening loss to Notre Dame, Suigo registered 16 and 15, respectively, in Friday’s win over Holy Cross.
The 7-foot-3 Italian made 8 of 9 shots from the field and added five assists, four blocks and two steals in the 95-66 victory over the Crusaders.
“I’ve been telling everybody for a couple weeks that everybody just gotta be patient and let Luigi figure it out and let everybody kind of get together and jell a little bit,” Willard said. “I just think the more he’s gotten comfortable with what he can do. He’s gonna continue to play better.”
Suigo had plenty of help against Holy Cross, as Devin Royal notched 22 points, while Adam Oumiddoch (17 points) and Jake Fiegen (15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range) also made meaningful contributions.
Tyler Perkins, who led the team with 18 points in the 74-72 loss to Notre Dame on Nov. 1, is looking to bounce back against La Salle after scoring only four points on 2-of-12 shooting against Holy Cross.
Perkins had 13 points in last season’s 70-55 victory over La Salle. The Wildcats have won 10 straight meetings with the Explorers.
La Salle enters Tuesday’s game on the heels of an 88-80 triumph over LIU on Saturday. Anthony Finkley paced the winners with 19 points, while Rob Dockery added 18.
The Explorers’ effort against LIU was a far cry from their season-opening 94-55 loss to then-No. 10 Houston in a Nov. 2 game in which La Salle got outplayed in every facet.
“We didn’t watch the film (from the Houston game),” said La Salle coach Darris Nichols. “I threw it away. I burned it. We talked about it. … I think the biggest thing we took from that is the physicality we have to play with moving forward.”