Villanova vs St. Joes: The "Holy War" set for tonight

The St. Joseph's Hawks travel to the Pavillion on Tuesday night to face the Villanova Wildcats in the 69th edition of "Th Holy War."

The Holy War, pitting the Catholic Villanova against the Jesuit St. Joseph's, first began in 1921. The two teams faced each other 11 times over the next decade. The rivalry stopped in 1930, but began again in 1955 and has been played annually since. Villanova leads the all-time series, 43-25.

The Wildcats have lost four of their last six contests but defeated Pennsylvania on the road their last time out, 68-55, and enter Tuesday night's game at 5-4. Villanova's offense thus far has been a well-balanced attack, led by Ryan Arcidiacono, JayVaughn Pinkston and James Bell, who are each averaging in double figures. Pinkston leads the team in rebounding with 5.2 boards per game.

St. Joseph's season has started slightly better than their crosstown opponent, and they currently stand at 5-2. The Hawks are fresh off a 12-point win against Coppin State, washing the bad taste out of their mouth left by a blowout loss to Creighton on Dec. 1. Carl Jones leads St. Joseph's in scoring through seven games with 15.4 points per game. Ronald Roberts Jr. has contributed inside for the Hawks with 9.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

The Holy War tips off Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.