This is a “change your outlook on the season” type of loss
Villanova starts the season with a bad loss, dropping this one 74-72 to Notre Dame. The Wildcats had countless chances to put the game out of reach, but repeated turnovers, bad possessions and missed free throws let the Fighting Irish hang around. In the end, Elijah Crawford’s mid-range pullup went around and out, leading to two more Notre Dame free throws to ice the game.
On the positive side, there’s a lot of film for Kevin Willard to use for the rest of the season. Villanova had 20 turnovers on the day, with 15 coming in the first half. Prior to Crawford’s four free throws late, the team was 9/14 (64.3%). The transfer from Illinois-Chicago was the only one to show up down the stretch, but even he had a critical foul on a Notre Dame three-point attempt. Understanding that this was the first game of the season (and first one with Kwame Evans Jr. in general), this was far too sloppy of a performance for the Wildcats…