Villanova coach Jay Wright says game with Virginia at MSG is still on

Posted on Monday, Oct. 19, 2020, 11:17 pm

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By Jerry Ratcliffe

Villanova coach Jay Wright told CBS basketball analyst Jon Rothstein on Monday that the Wildcats are still planning to play Virginia this season at Madison Square Garden.

While no date has been announced, this would be one of the nation’s top early-season clashes between two of the preemminent hoops programs in the country.

Both Virginia and Villanova are considered the preseason favorites to win the ACC and Big East, respectively. Both programs return most of their rosters after strong finishes to the 2019-20 regular season, which was cut short by the pandemic last March.

Villanova won seven of its last eight regular-season games and finished tied for first place in the Big East. The Wildcats lost star Saddiq Bay (NBA) but return practically everyone else.

‘Nova’s backcourt of Justin Moore and Collin Gillespie return, as well as frontcourt players Jermaine Samuels and Jeremiah Robinson.

Wright said that his workouts had to take a 14-day pause in September because an undisclosed number of players tested positive for Covid-19.

Creighton is projected as the one team that could challenge Villanova for the Big East title.

Virginia, which will play another high-profile program — the Florida Gators — in a “bubble-like” situation at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut the day after Thanksgiving, returns the bulk of its roster from last season.