VILLANOVA, Pa. - The fast pace of the season's first week continues for the No. 12 ranked Villanova Wildcats (2-0 overall) on Thursday night, when they host Bucknell (1-1 overall) at 8 p.m. in the Pavilion. The game will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network and via the Villanova IMG Radio Network, which can be heard locally tomorrow on CBS Sports Radio 610.

The Wildcats defeated Lehigh 77-66 in the 2014-15 season opener last Friday night and followed that with an 81-44 victory over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in the opening game of the Progressive Legends Classic on Monday evening.

Sophomore Kris Jenkins led the Wildcats with 15 points off the bench in Monday night's win and coach Jay Wright is pleased with the progress of the 2013 Washington (D.C.) Prep Player of the Year.

"Kris is so consistent out there," noted Wright. "He's always in the right spot. Kris doesn't necessarily make the spectacular play but he always makes the right play. I don't yell at him because he's usually doing the right thing.

"I like the fact that Kris is a calming influence on our team. He has a real level of consistency that is really valuable to us. We can put him in at any position - he can play the two, three, four or five spots for us. To me, (Monday) was just typical Kris Jenkins. He had good numbers, but I'd like to see more rebounds. That was a good game for him."

Jenkins has transformed his frame since first arriving at Villanova, dropping 20 pounds, and Wright feels he is now benefitting from that off-court work.

"We play him at the guard spot (against Lehigh) and he wouldn't have been able to do that last year," stated Wright. "Last year, he lost the weight but he wasn't used to it. He did a really good job (Monday) defending their two and three men, chasing them off of screens. For us, that was big."

In addition to those 15 points, Jenkins also contributed four steals and zero turnovers in 20 minutes against UMES.

"Kris did a lot of good things for us," said Wright.

For Jenkins, it's less about positions on the court than it is the overall approach.

"No matter what position you play, you just go out there to play Villanova Basketball," said Jenkins. "You just let your instincts take over. It's something we practice every day. The captains help me out in letting me know where I need to be and I rely on them.

"My teammates believed in me (last year). They let me know that if I got the weight off and just continued to practice hard everything would just translate over to the games."

Wright points to Jenkins' knowledge of the game as a key part of his development.

"It is complicated in our system to play four different spots," stated Wright. "Kris has an incredible basketball IQ. He's humble, but you can't do that with everyone."

The Wildcats will move on to the championship round of the Progressive Legends Classic on Monday night when they face No. 15 VCU at Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. That contest will air on ESPN2 and gets underway at 7 p.m.