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Patrick Zeng NBC Sports The day we've all been waiting for is finally here. Villanova basketball is back. The Wildcats returned to action with a 75-60 victory over the Columbia Lions of the Ivy League on Friday night. Villanova played their first of twelve games at the Wells Fargo Center, their home for the season until the Finneran Pavilion is completed on campus. And just like the student turnout, the play from the Wildcats did not disappoint. This is a different Villanova team. Gone are the familiar faces of Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds, but the new additions should be more than enough to replace those three icons. Jay Wright likes to play small ball, often using four guards on the court at the same time. But this Nova team allows a different style of play and it was fun to watch. Wright set the tone with a starting five that included Mikal Bridges, Eric Paschall and Omari Spellman. The Dobbs Ferry, New York product in Paschall thrived in his expand...

Austin Krell As you look up and down the roster of this year's Villanova Wildcats, there is one GLARING issue, or so it would appear to the uneducated eye. This team has no seniors to lead the way back to the NCAA tournament and fight for a second national championship in three years. The Cats were pretty good two years ago. But, they really  started to click late in the season, and they took off from there. An upset loss to the Seton Hall Pirates in the Big East tournament championship made the Wildcats hungry. The loss arguably fueled them to one of the most efficient-scoring, defensively-effective tournament runs in the history of the tournament. They absolutely blew out four of their five opponents on their way to the NCAA championship game. The defensive intensity and sustained efficient offense all culminated in, as we will never forget, the greatest shot in NCAA tournament history -- Kris Jenkins' game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to win the national championshi...

Patrick Zeng @Roundtripper891 Fast Philly Sports Booth is back! Jon Rothstein( @JonRothstein ) has reported that Villanova guard Phil Booth has finally been cleared to resume basketball activity. Booth only played three games his junior season due to lingering knee pain that had him shut down for the season. His last game came on November 17th against Western Michigan. Booth only took part in 72 minutes this past season averaging 5.7 points, 2 assist and 1.6 rebounds. Booth's return should be seen as great news as he adds experience and a solid skill set to the current crop of Nova guards. Booth will join Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo as well as newcomer Collin Gillespie in the backcourt for the 2017/2018 season.  Phil was a starter at the beginning of this season so it will be interesting to see where he fits in after the rise of DiVincenzo. Jay Wright may be inclined to form a veteran backcourt of Booth with Brunson as the starters to keep Donte in the role he excelled...