Villanova Basketball: Takeaways from wire-to-wire win over St. John’s

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl contributing without scoring

In terms of intriguing freshmen who still have another level to reach, Villanova big man Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is high up on the list. The 6-foot-9 freshman out of Overland Park, Kansas, has averaged a solid 10.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game on the year but his defense has been perhaps the most impressive. Robinson-Earl is a top-three player on a team that is a top-50 defense per KenPom. Via Basketball-Reference, he leads the Wildcats in defensive rating, with a defensive rating more than two points better than the next starter. Robinson-Earl showed why this is the case on Wednesday.

In 38 minutes of playing time, Robinson-Earl collected eight rebounds (all defensive) and two blocks. He generally made it difficult for the Red Storm to execute any lob plays and defended without getting himself in foul trouble. His intensity in protecting the paint was a huge part of St. John shooting 34.8% from the field, almost 6% worse than their already woeful season average.

Robinson-Earl’s contributions on Wednesday weren’t limited to defense, however. Though he didn’t rack up the buckets (7 points), he was aggressive enough in the paint to collect a game-high 8 free throw attempts. On top of the free throws, the way the Red Storm had to collapse on Robinson-Earl opened up even more spaced for the Wildcats bevy of talented shooters.

Villanova basketball has a ceiling in the NCAA Tournament that is directly connected to Jeremiah Robinson-Earl’s ability to impact games regardless of how many touches he gets, and he showcased why on Wednesday.