Baylor Basketball looks to contain Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Villanova

Containing Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

To an extent, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was able to get his way in the first meeting. It came as a surprise to quite a bit of the country when Robinson-Earl announced his intentions to stay at Villanova another year.

Once the decision was made, it made the Wildcats a legit threat and ranked No. 3 in the Preseason AP.

The Big East Player of The Year had an impact in the 2019 meeting but was ineffective at times. He finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds but was 3 of 9  from the field and a few turnovers.

Robinson-Earl has been much more consistent and leads the team in scoring, at 16 points per game.

Although Robinson-Earl isn’t afraid to shoot the three, his best skill sets are when he has his back turned to the basket and uses moves to get past defenders, as seen above.

He plays terrific defense and when Villanova spaces the floor, can be a matchup nightmare, if it’s Thamba or Mayer that he faces in the low post.

The best way to contain Robinson-Earl is to keep all of the bigs out of foul trouble. The most ideal matchups for Baylor against Robinson-Earl will be Tchatchoua or Mark Vital. Although Vital is undersized, he is among the best defenders in the country.

Tchatchoua matches Robinson-Earl’s size and has a longer wingspan. If those two can support help and stay out of foul trouble, Baylor might have a recipe for keeping Robinson-Earl away from scoring early and often.