With the Villanova Wildcats season right around the corner, the spotlight has been placed upon forward Eric Dixon and his offense.
Dixon, a senior for the Wildcats, averaged 16.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game last season for Villanova. Dixon shot 46.5% from the floor and 34.6% from three-point range, setting a new career-high in points per game. The forward shot a career-high 415 field goals as well last season, but has displayed improved accuracy through two exhibition games.
While no statistics are available for most exhibition games, many of the media members who were able to witness the game spoke about Dixon in particular.
I think Eric Dixon’s going to lead the country in scoring. His usage has been insane in both games and he’s shooting it better. Not sure how good Villanova will be, but Dixon def has a path to averaging 22-23 per game
— Kevin Sweeney (@CBB_Central) October 28, 2024
The big forward was a key part of the Villanova Wildcats offense a season ago, starting all 34 games for the team. Dixon used to be the third scoring option for the Wildcats, but over time has risen into a potential 20 point per game scorer. The only thing that truly held Dixon back last season was a need he felt to push and force bad shots.
Villanova Wildcats, Eric Dixon Looking to Improve Upon 2023 Season
The Villanova Wildcats went 18-16 a season ago, with a swift loss in the first round of the NIT putting the nail in the coffin. The Wildcats went 10-10 in conference play, and began to look towards Dixon for the main source of offense in January. Dixon was the leading scorer for the Wildcats in 18 games last season, leading the team in rebounds and assists in many of those games as well.
While the Villanova Wildcats might not be much better this season than they were a year ago, Dixon seems like a much-improved player. If Dixon can really take his offense to the college basketball leading levels some predict, the Wildcats in turn could be a better team.
A season ago, when Dixon lead the team in scoring the Villanova Wildcats went 9-9 and went 9-7 when Dixon was not the leading scorer. With more of a supporting cast plus the potential offense Dixon can bring, the team can be pretty special. But as the record shows last season, even if Dixon scores 22 or more points per game, he can only win so much on his own.
While the scoring of Dixon is what many will talk about, perhaps the concerning aspect for the Villanova Wildcats should be that Dixon led the team in points, rebounds, and assists in three games. Dixon also had 10 games where he led in some duo out of the three. The forward recording games like mentioned further proves that the Wildcats could be a much better team if Dixon was supported.
With Dixon showing plenty of improvements on offense, it should be interesting to see if the rest of the Wildcats have made improvements as well.
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