Villanova Preview: ‘Cats Versus Irish in the Eternal City Tip-Off

Villanova Men’s Basketball will open their 2026-27 season in Rome, Italy against Notre Dame on Sunday, Nov. 1 in a one-off event titled the Eternal City Tip-Off. The game will begin at 9:30 a.m. on the East Coast; 3:30 p.m. for those on location. FOX will carry the broadcast.

The Wildcats broke a three-year NCAA Tournament drought last season, their first under head coach Kevin Willard; the Fighting Irish haven’t yet managed a successful season in three years under head coach Micah Shrewsberry (41-56, 19-39 ACC), formerly of Penn State. As such, Villanova enters as a healthy favorite, winning in 73.2 percent of ESPN Analytics simulations. The point spread sits at -7.5 in the Wildcats’ favor and they’re at -310 on the money line, indicating the sportsbooks place their odds of victory over 75 percent. The over/under sits at 149.5, a little higher than average for a college basketball game.

Depth should benefit the Wildcats significantly, as Notre Dame’s struggles limited their ability to bring in quality transfers: after freshman four-star recruit Jonathan Sanderson, their bench consists of portal leftovers.

Point guard Elijah Crawford, shooting guard Tyler Perkins — a member of the Jerry West award watchlist — forward Devin Royal and center Luigi Suigo are all but guaranteed to start for Villanova. There’s a bit of a question mark at the other forward spot, as Kwame Evans Jr. missed the Wildcats’ preseason slate with a foot injury, and Willard hasn’t made a commitment to whether or not he’ll go against the Irish.

Scouting the Irish

Expected starting point guard Braeden Smith excelled in the Patriot League before trying to make the jump to Gonzaga, where he put up just 5.1 points in 17.1 minutes per game last season. He’s an excellent floor general, posting 3.6 assists to 1.1 turnovers in that limited action, but the talent jump from the WCC to the ACC and his own lack of offensive production could limit the passing lanes he creates.

Shrewsberry’s son, another Braeden, put up 11.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game and made 40.2 percent of his three-point shots (88-of-219) last year; Villanova fans might remember the other Irish wing, Ethan Roberts, a standout at Penn last season. Roberts averaged 16.9 points per game and made 40.1 percent of his shots while battling through injuries. He’s a talented three-point shooter, converting on 40 of 99 attempts, but preferred to pick and choose his opportunities instead of chucking shots from long range.

Notre Dame’s depth tails off as they get taller: sophomore and former top 100 recruit Brady Koehler stands 6-foot-10 and can stretch the floor, taking 55 of 124 shots (44.4 percent) from three last season and converting 38.2 percent of the time. He averaged 5.6 points and 3.2 rebounds across 16 minutes per game, solid marks for a true freshman, but will need to make a leap this season to help the Irish escape the ACC’s basement.

Center Logan Duncombe broke out at Winthrop last year after three forgettable years at Indiana, but will need to show he can get it done at the high-major level as well as in the Big South. He dealt with an injury during the preseason, so former four-star Tommy Ahneman could start instead.

Scouting Villanova

Crawford ran the offense at UIC last season while battling through an ankle injury, so he might take some time to warm up to high-major basketball. Perkins is a preseason All-Big East pick who averaged 13.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last year; Royal was the star of the Wildcats’ preseason, putting up 22 points and 8 rebounds per game as he shouldered an even bigger workload with Evans out.

Suigo, like Crawford, will deal with growing pains as he adjusts to the speed of the American game as compared with the European pros. Even so, he’s a 7-foot-3 phenomenon with outstanding offensive skills that should more than make up for the occasional defense lapse you’d expect out of any young player.

Evans stands 6-foot-10 and can play the three or the four. He put up 13.3 points and 7.4 rebounds at Oregon last season and, if he’s ready to go, will give Villanova another valuable floor-spacer. If Evans sits, Cornell transfer Jake Fiegen is the Wildcats’ expected sixth man, a 6-foot-4 wing who made 55 of 133 (41.4 percent) three-point shots and 92 of 136 (67.6 percent) twos last season, averaging 17.1 points per game.

Reserve center Niko Onyekwere wasn’t able to travel to Rome due to a visa issue, so veteran forward Abdou Samb could see a larger role in this game with a temporary lack of depth down low.