No. 25 Illinois vs. No.7 Villanova

When: Tuesday, 7:00 p.m.

Where: Madison Square Garden

Television: ESPN (Dan Shulman & Jay Bilas)

Radio: Villanova IMG Network: 1210 AM/Sirius 93/XM 200/villanova.com and TuneIn Radio (Ryan Fannon & Whitey Rigsby)

Series: Tied (3-3) Last meeting: Villanova 66, Illinois 63 (Mar. 20, 1988)

VILLANOVA, Pa. - When Villanova head coach Jay Wright studies the Illinois Fighting Illini, he sees a squad that reminds him of his own.

"They're good and they're similar to us," notes Wright of the 7-1 Illini, whom the Wildcats will square off against Tuesday night in their second visit to the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.

"They've got great depth and a lot of people can score. They have good balance too. We expect a great game. We love those games this time of year."

This matchup brings together two programs that last met in a second round NCAA Tournament game in 1988 at what was then known as Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati. The Wildcats earned the victory that day on their way to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

Among those on the Villanova bench that day was a first year assistant coach named Jay Wright, serving on the staff of coach Rollie Massimino.

The present day Wildcats have an 8-0 record and moved up to No. 7 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls revealed on Monday. Senior guard Darrun Hilliard was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll as well.

Yet the story thus far for VU has been less about any one individual than it has been the entire unit. Villanova has yet to have a single player score 20 points in a game - Dylan Ennis' 19 point outburst against Lehigh in the season opener at PPL Center in Allentown is tops - but still produces 75.4 ppg. Ennis leads the Wildcats in scoring at 12.3 ppg.

The Wildcats have demonstrated a flair for spreading the wealth at the offensive end of the floor and Wright believes one reason why is the work of his forwards, specifically senior JayVaughn Pinkston, junior Daniel Ochefu and sophomore Kris Jenkins.

"I think this started last year with the makeup of our team," stated Wright. "We've got really skilled players at every position. When your four and five men, like JayVaughn Pinkston and Daniel Ochefu, pass the ball really well, which they do, (that's big). When they get double-teamed, they make a great pass, somebody else gets the assist.

"When your forwards pass like that, you can have a really good passing team."

The game returns Villanova to New York City, where it earned a pair of victories last month at the Progressive Legends Classic in Brooklyn. One of the `Cats standouts there was Pinkston, who was named to the All-Tournament team in his return to his native borough. He scored key baskets down the stretch and came up with the pivotal play in the 60-55 victory over Michigan in the championship game when he blocked a game-winning shot attempt by Zak Irvin.

The Wildcats were 1-1 last season at Madison Square Garden, defeating St. John's 74-67 in a BIG EAST regular season game in January before falling to Seton Hall 64-63 in a BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal in March. VU last visited the Jimmy V Classic in 2008, dropping a 67-56 decision to Texas at the Garden.

Villanova is 18-18 (.500) at Madison Square Garden since Wright became the head coach in 2001.

Following this contest, Villanova returns to campus. Its next action will come Sunday when it hosts Temple in a Philadelphia Big Five clash at the Pavilion (2 p.m./Fox Sports 1).

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