HACKENSACK, N.J. – A stretch of six straight road games that leaks into the early stages of conference play begins on Wednesday night for the Knights. FDU (4-7, 0-0) is set to kick off this portion of the schedule against Villanova (6-4, 0-0) at 7 p.m. inside Finneran Pavilion. Alex Faust and Jim Spanarkel will have the call on FS1.
 
This is the first meeting between FDU and Villanova in nearly a decade. The last iteration of this series came in 2015, when Villanova was a top ten team in the country and defeated the Knights 91-54 (11/13/15). Dating back to their first meeting in 1999, Villanova is 4-0 all-time against FDU.
 
Villanova's season got off to a shaky start, suffering three losses before November 16, but the Wildcats have steadied the ship heading into the middle of December. Winners of three straight, Villanova will look to extend this winning streak on Wednesday in their last nonconference tilt before Big East play begins on December 17. The Wildcats are 2-0 against teams from New Jersey this season (NJIT & Rider).
 
The Wildcats score 78.4 points per game and surrender just under 66. Over their three-game winning streak, they have connected 42 times from downtown. This hot shooting stretch has improved their three-point percentage on the year to 41.5%. Defensively, they have held their opponents to under 65 points in four of their last five games.
 
When looking at the Villanova roster, there is no question who the "guy" is. Graduate Student Eric Dixon enters this game as one of the top scorers in the country. The veteran forward is averaging 25.1 points per game this season shooting over 50% from the field and even better from beyond the arc. He has scored over 30 points three times already this year, including an incredible career-high 38-point performance in a win over Maryland. On top of all the scoring and rebounding (6.6 rpg), Dixon brings a hefty amount of experience to the table. The Willow Grove, Pa. native has played 136 career collegiate games since 2020 and has started in 115 of them.
 
For FDU, this is their second game of the season against a Big East opponent (Creighton, 11/10) as an intensely difficult nonconference campaign continues. After this, they wrap up the calendar year with trips to La Salle, Minnesota and Boston College. By the time the ball drops on December 31, FDU will have played 10 games on the road with six of them coming against the ACC, Big East, and Big Ten.

FDU flew by the Lehman Chargers by a score of 98-54 Saturday (12/7) afternoon in Hackensack. Dylan Jones connected on six triples for a season-high 22 points. Six made threes also marks a season-high for Jones. The junior newcomer has already made 36 triples as a Knight. He currently leads the NEC in both threes and three-point percentage.Jones was the leading scorer but was joined in double-figures by two other Knights. Terrence Brown scored 19 on 7-12 shooting and contributed two of FDU's 12 made triples. As a team, FDU shot 51.6% from the field. They also earned 30 free throw attempts and made 20 of them. On the glass, the Knights secured 16 offensive rebounds and cashed in 21 second chance points. The Knights shared the basketball well in this one. They created 18 assists on 33 made baskets and 10 different players hit the scoring column.
 
Overall, the Knights' offense has produced. They have been held to under 70 points in just one contest and are averaging over 81 points per game on the year. Junior transfer Dylan Jones has helped in that department with elite shooting from beyond the arc. On the year, Jones has made 36 threes to lead the NEC. His three-point shooting percentage also ranks first in the Conference. In their last game against Lehman, Jones paced the Knights with six threes and 22 points.

Senior forward Cameron Tweedy is starting to find a bit of a scoring punch. He contributed 11 points off the bench against Lehman. This marked the second time in three games he finished in double-figures. 
 
After meeting Nova on Wednesday, FDU will have a week off before returning to Philadelphia on December 18 to take on La Salle.