In two games, the Villanova's offense was efficient, shooting over 47 percent from the field and 30 percent from beyond the arc. Daniels, Gillespie, Moore, and Robinson-Earl scored in double figures both nights, showing how versatile this offense can be throughout the season.

Article by Dave Nguyen, AKSM Sports

UNCASVILLE, CT - A career high 28 points for Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and lock down defense on Arizona State star guard Remy Martin helped lead the third ranked Villanova Wildcats to an 83-74 win against the eighteenth ranked Arizona State Sun Devils in the finals of 2K Empire Classic. The victory gives the Wildcats their seventh in-season tournament championship since 2013.

With his career high, Robinson-Earl was named the tournament's most outstanding player. Along with him, three other Wildcats were able to score in double-figures with Colling Gillespie (11), Caleb Daniels (14) and a double-double for Justin Moore as he notched in 16 points and 12 boards. Overall, Head Coach Jay Wright was proud of his team's performance.

"I was proud of the guys tonight," said Wright. " We did a better job defensively and Jeremiah was outstanding."

Throughout the game, Robinson-Earl was in a rhythm where every time he touched the ball, there was a great percentage that his shot was going to go in. He was able to score in multiple areas on the floor, especially in his mid-range game. He put in a lot of work over the summer to have a performance like this. Yet, he was selfless, crediting his teammates for contributing to his performance.

"It’s a team effort," said the Sophomore from Kansas City, "we have a lot of scorers on the team, so on any given night it can be anybody. It just so happened I was in that position."

"I did spend a lot of time on that during the summer," said Robinson-Earl about his jumper. "It was a part of my game that I really needed work on. I spent a lot of time getting a lot of shots up and just being comfortable in all positions on the court. If I have the opportunity just to catch and shoot, I would be able to knock those shots down."

His coach was able to notice that as well during practice this season.

"It's really nice as a coach when you see a young guy practice really well and then it works out for him in the game." said Wright. " I was really happy for him because he has been playing like that all fall."

One of the keys going into tonight's game was to minimize Remy Martin. An All-American candidate and a star player for the Sun Devils scored 26 points against Rhode Island, but was shut down for five points while going two of eight from the field on Thursday night.

"We played really good team defense," noted Wright. "We had different people on Remy Martin the entire night. He's such an explosive scorer. We just didn't want to have one guy on him. Justin Moore did a good job and Caleb Daniels did  a good job on him. We had a ton of bodies on him. everyone was located on him and they did a great job together." 

The game itself started out fast as both teams were going back and forth in the opening four minutes of the first half, with Villanova holding a 10-9 edge. The first half would stay tight throughout, but Villanova was able to develop a 41-32 halftime lead, going on an 11-6 run in the final six minutes of the first stanza.  The catalyst of that run was Robinson-Earl, who scored 13 of his 28 in the first half and had five boards. His scoring in the first half helped out the lack of three pointers made, as the Wildcats were one for nine beyond the arc.

The Sun Devils came out aggressive in the opening minute of the second half, going on a 6-0 spurt to cut Villanova's lead to three at 41-38. Villanova was able to answer back with a run of their own, as a lay-up and a three by Moore, followed by a triple from Robinson-Earl gave the Wildcats an 11 point lead within the span of two minutes. The Sun Devils would score the next five points to cut the Wildcats' lead to six (49-43), but that would be the closest deficit it would have throughout the night. Back-to-back triples from Robinson-Earl and Caleb Daniels gave Villanova a 55-43 lead with 13 minutes left in the game, and had a 17 point advantage with just under nine minutes to play. Their lead never dipped below the final nine-point margin. 

In two games, the Villanova's offense was efficient, shooting over 47 percent from the field and 30 percent from beyond the arc. Daniels, Gillespie, Moore, and Robinson-Earl scored in double figures both nights, showing how versatile this offense can be throughout the season.  

"It’s special when we have a lot of guys that are able to go off on any night," said Moore. 

"It’s just a team effort when there’s a leading scorer because we can all score at will." said Robinson-Earl. "It’s just what happens on any given night." 

*It is rumored that Villanova will be playing Virginia Tech on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. Originally, Temple was supposed to play Virginia Tech but there was a COVID case that put Temple's season on pause. If it can be arranged in a timely fashion, the Wildcats would play Virginia Tech on Saturday Night. More details to follow.* 

UPDATE (November 27th, 2020 at 1:15 PM EST):

We now have confirmation that Villanova will be playing Virginia Tech on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. Originally, Temple was supposed to play Virginia Tech but there was a COVID case that put Temple's season on pause. More details to follow.