#10 Villanova Basketball takes on first ranked opponent #16 Ohio State

Happy Wednesday Nova Nation! After a week off for the Wildcats, they’re finally back in action as they take on #16 Ohio State as a part of the Gavitt Tip-off games. The Big East currently leads this year’s contest with the Big Ten 2-1 after wins by DePaul and Butler earlier this week.

The Wildcats come into this game as 2.5 point underdogs despite being the higher ranked team. Ohio State’s home-court advantage is presumably the reasons they’d be favored, but this should be a pretty close matchup either way. A big reason for that is Ohio State’s defense, currently ranked 7th overall by KenPom.com. If Villanova is going to overcome said defense, they’re going to need someone other than Jeremiah Robinson-Earl or Saddiq Bey to step up.

As to who that third player will be, there are a few options. Wright has said leading up to the game that they’re still trying to get Collin Gillespie going after a string of early season injuries that continued through the Army game with a minor hand injury. It sounds like he’ll be good to go today, and Wright even keyed on Gillespie and fellow junior Jermaine Samuels as guys he’d like to see step up offensively against Ohio State. “Collin really isn’t back into a groove yet. We’d like to get Collin going. We’d like to get Jermaine going a little bit. I think we have a chance to have a lot of balance and that’s what I’d like to see. We’re developing that.”

If you’re looking for a darkhorse candidate to step up, consider Villanova’s other freshman starter Justin Moore. The young guard has shown the ability to light up the score board both in high school and in the preseason scrimmage with UNC. Cole Swider could also be a scoring threat off the bench as he works to become a more consistent scorer in his sophomore season.

So for our Game Day Poll, I leave it to you Nova Nation. Who outside of Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Saddiq Bey will step up for the Wildcats tonight?

In other news, Jay Wright talks with Allan Ray about everything from the phantom travel to the “eye incident”, Villanova’s freshmen are taking on big roles for the Wildcats, and everything you could possibly want to know about tonight’s Top 16 matchup. Enjoy!

Villanova Men’s Basketball

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Villanova vs Ohio State

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Big East

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NBA Wildcats

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Villanova Football

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Villanova Athletics

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College Basketball

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