VILLANOVA, Pa. – For the second time in a month, the Villanova Wildcats are set take part in a matchup of Top 10 teams when they visit No. 2 Baylor (8-0 overall) in a BIG EAST/Big 12 Battle Sunday afternoon.
 
The Wildcats (7-2 overall, 0-0 BIG EAST), ranked at No. 6 in this week's Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls, dropped an 86-77 overtime decision at then No. 2 UCLA on Nov. 12.
 
Sunday's matchup will be carried live on ABD (6abc in the Delaware) and the Villanova IHeart Radio Network. Jon Sciambi, Dick Vitale and Kris Budden comprise the ABC broadcast team while Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will be in Waco for the radio call.
 
Villanova has won four straight games, including a 67-53 victory on Tuesday night over Syracuse on a night when the Wildcats connected on just .325 of their field goal attempts and fired up a program single game record 50 3-pointers (making 13 for a .260) percentage. One reason why Nova erased a three-point halftime deficit was the work of graduate student Jermaine Samuels Jr.
 
"In the second half we got Jermaine inside against their zone," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "We were getting the ball into him in the middle and was making plays for everybody. When he didn't make plays, it put him into position for offensive rebounding. I thought he was a real key to our second half offense."
 
Villanova ended the evening with a 56-37 advantage on the backboards, a figure that included a season-high 27 offensive rebounds.
 
"I thought in the first half (offensive rebounding) kept us in the game," stated Wright. "We couldn't make a shot because we were struggling with their zone. In the second half, without those second and third chances it would have stayed close except we got some extra possessions where we got some three's. Offensive rebounding was really important."
 
After scoring 13 points against the Orange, Samuels enters Sunday's action with 983 career points. With 17 more points, he would become the 69^th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
 
Another graduate student, senior Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, also played a quietly critical role against Syracuse. The Philadelphia native accumulated six rebounds and three points in 5:50, helping the Wildcats navigate their first half rough patch. Villanova has won all four games it has played since Cosby-Roundtree has returned to active duty following a 19 month absence due to shin and tibia issues.
 
 "When we play against bigs like we did against Syracuse, we're going to need him," stated Wright. "We were ready to use DaDa in the second half (Tuesday) but we were doing a pretty good job defensively, so we stuck with that group. But we're definitely going to need him."
 
Sunday marks Villanova's tenth contest of 2021-22. It has played just three of those games on a home court. There's one more road trip ahead too, as the Wildcats will venture to Omaha later in the week for their BIG EAST Conference regular season opener at Creighton on Friday evening (8 p.m. on FS1 and the Villanova IHeart Radio Network).