Villanova Opens Tournament Vs. Mount St. Mary's

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The defending national champion Villanova Wildcats will play their NCAA Tournament opener tonight at 7:10 p.m. on CBS3.

The top overall seed in this year's field will take on the champions of the Northeast Conference, Mount St. Mary's, up in Buffalo, New York.

Villanova is 31-3 and coming off winning the Big East Tournament title. The Wildcats are led by senior guard Josh Hart. The National Player of the Year candidate is averaging a team high 18.9 points and 6.5 rebounds a game. He is second on the team with 106 assists. Sophomore guard Jalen Brunson is second on the team in scoring at 14.8 points a night. He has a team high 144 assists.

Related: Villanova Basketball Team Taking Buffalo Snowstorm In Stride

The Mount already has a tourney game under its belt. On Tuesday night, they beat New Orleans in a play-in game in Dayton, Ohio, 67-66. The victory improved Mount St. Mary's to 20-15 on the season. Their non-conference schedule this season was impressive as they matched up with NCAA Tournament teams like West Virginia, Minnesota, Michigan and Arkansas (lost to them all).

A couple of guards lead the way for the Mountaineers. Sophomore Elijah Long scores 15.1 points per game with 5'5" junior Junior Robinson adding 14.3 a night.

To get ready for tonight's game, KYW's Matt Leon spoke to several people about the Wildcats.

On Tuesday, Matt spoke with Mike Kern of the Philadelphia Daily News

On Wednesday, Matt spoke with the Philadelphia Inquirer's Joe Juliano

On Thursday, he spoke with the radio play-by-play voice of Villanova basketball Ryan Fannon.