Ohio State Basketball: What to know about the Villanova Wildcats

The Ohio State basketball team has a big game against the Villanova Wildcats on Wednesday. Here is what you should know about Villanova.

It is early in the college basketball season, but the Ohio State basketball team already has a big game on Wednesday as the No. 16 Buckeyes host the No. 10 Villanova Wildcats.

The Buckeyes will have their hands full as the Wildcats are supposed to be one of the best teams in the country this year.

This is despite losing their two top scorers from last season in Phil Booth who averaged 18.6 points per game to go with 3.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds, and Eric Paschall who averaged 16.5 points per game and 6.1 rebounds. Booth is currently playing in the G-League while Paschall is averaging 15.6 points and 4.4 rebounds for the Golden State Warriors this season.

Villanova reloaded tough, as they brought in the fifth-best 2019 recruiting class, according to 247Sports. This class included two five stars in forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and guard Bryan Antoine.

Robinson-Earl showed why he was a five star in Villanova’s lone game this year in which they defeated Army 97-54. In that game, Robinson-Earl scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Here is what you can expect from him as this is what 247Sports said about him when he was a recruit.

"Tough to find more solid and reliable combo forward in the 2019 class. Has strength, decent athleticism and is effective in traffic. Not a consistent long range shooter at this point, but extremely reliable in the midrange. High basketball IQ and great instincts. Projects as an adequate rebounder and defender at the next levels."

While the Buckeyes will have their hands full with him, they won’t have to worry about Antoine as he is recovering from a torn labrum and just began practicing last week, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Head coach Jay Wright told the Inquirer there is no timetable for his return and he “won’t consider evaluating that possibility until after Thanksgiving.”

The Wildcats did see some returners step up in big ways in their first game though.

Forward Saddiq Bey only averaged 8.2 points per game last year but scored 22 in the Wildcats’ first game this season. Forward Cole Swider only scored 3.5 points per game last year but had 18 points and six rebounds against Army. Additionally, guard Collin Gillespie was the team’s third-leading scorer last year, averaging 10.9 points per game, and he scored 11 points to go with four assists in Villanova’s first game.

Despite not having Antoine, this will be a tough game for the Buckeyes.

So far this year, Ohio State has seen some nice performances from Kyle Young who is averaging 12 points and 8.5 rebounds through two games, freshman guard D.J. Carton who is averaging 11 points, Kaleb Wesson who is averaging 10.5 points and 12 rebounds, and Alonzo Gaffney who is averaging 10 points and eight rebounds.

If Young can help Wesson on the boards and Carton can light it up from three-point range I think that the Buckeyes can win this game. They can’t have a sloppy start like they did against Cincinnati though when they did not score until 12:20 remained in the first half. My prediction: Ohio State wins in a close one 70-65.