Villanova vs Marquette: 5 storylines for first 2020-21 Big East matchup

Swider’s role

In a chicken or the egg type scenario, Villanova’s deliberate and controlled offense gives them an opportunity to use just two guys off the bench for meaningful minutes. The bigger headline should be that Coach Wright has only had nine players, at most, dressing for the Wildcats in the last several games.

Due to the limited amount of players at Coach Wright’s disposal, the role that 6’9 Cole Swider (8.1ppg) fills in his almost 20 minutes per game becomes amplified when playing Marquette who have already beaten top-10 teams Creighton and Wisconsin.

Swider has been connecting on two of five three-pointers per game as 39 of his 57 points this season have come via the three-pointer. In order for Swider to be effective off the bench versus Marquette, he is going to have to be able to diversify his contributions.

At 6’9 Swider’s three rebounds per game will not be enough, yet at 219 pounds he will not be able to battle with 6’9 / 255 pound Theo John. IN addition, Swider has not shown the ability to guard anybody on the perimeter. If Swider is only going to be able to come in and hit two three-pointers, having him on the court for twenty minutes is going to be difficult, thus shrinking Coach Wright’s bench even further.