Villanova opens 2019-20 season against Army

The Villanova Wildcats welcome the Army Black Knights to Finneran Pavilion Tuesday night to get their 2019-20 season underway.

The night will be highlighted by Villanova’s Military Appreciation Night, in which fans can bring items to the game to donate to military care packages.

As far as on-court action, this game should be little more than a tune-up for the Wildcats before they head to Columbus to face Ohio State next week. Army’s key player is forward Matt WIlson, who averaged 13.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last season, and he finished 10th in the nation in defensive rebounding percentage at 29.5%. The Wildcats will likely put Dhamir Cosby-Rountree or freshman Jeremiah Robinson-Earl on Wilson defensively, and the two big Wildcats should be able to contain him.

It’s an interesting season for Villanova. They come into the year ranked tenth in the nation in the AP Poll and eighth in KenPom despite having zero scholarship seniors. Generally, Jay Wright’s teams are loaded with four-year players and upperclassmen, but this bucks the trend. As such, there might be a few times where the Wildcats look a touch inexperienced against the Black Knights, but talent and coaching will win out.

The aforementioned Robinson-Earl was named the Preseason Big East Freshman of the Year at Big East Media Day last month, so it’ll be very interesting to see what he can accomplish in his first collegiate game.

How to watch or stream

Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

TV: FS1 (Scott Graham, Bill Raftery)

Stream: FOX Sports Go (Where available)