PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – Western Kentucky tips off one of the nation’s best – if not the best – preseason tournaments by facing one of the nation’s best – if not the best – teams.

WKU will get the 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis started Wednesday when it faces No. 5 Villanova at 1:30 p.m. CST. ESPN2 will carry the broadcast live from Imperial Arena.

The Toppers (2-1) have won two straight games after a season-opening loss to Missouri State, defeating Division II foe Kentucky Wesleyan and Nicholls over the last week. The Bahamas tournament will be a significant step up in competition from that.

No. 2 Arizona and No. 18 Purdue join fifth-ranked Villanova as AP Top 25 teams in the field. Northern Iowa, North Carolina State, Southern Methodist, Tennessee and WKU round out the eight-team, three-day event.

“I love the challenge,” guard Taveion Hollingsworth said Sunday after WKU’s 100-86 home win against Nicholls. “It’s going to really show us what type of team we are, to see how we play.

“You can’t come out nervous, scared or none of that. You’ve got to come out and play your hardest.”

Rick Stansbury got the Hilltoppers into the 2017 Atlantis field months after taking the WKU coaching job in March 2016. He expressed a desire to upgrade the Hilltoppers’ schedule, and saw the tournament as an opportunity to do just that.

The Battle 4 Atlantis is less than a decade old as an event. It started in the fall of 2011, with Harvard beating Central Florida in the title game, and quickly grew in prestige.

Duke, Villanova, Wisconsin, Syracuse and Baylor have all won championships at the tournament in recent years.

“It’s an opportunity for us to go play against the best teams in the country,” Stansbury said. “It’s going to grow us and make us better.”

Playing nationally recognized programs will give WKU a barometer of where its own team stands two weeks into the 2017 regular season.

The Tops have shown flashes of exciting play early this season, and feature a balanced attack with seven players averaging double-digit points. Forward Dwight Coleby (14.7 points per game) and guards Lamonte Bearden (14.3 ppg) and Darius Thompson (14 ppg) have paced the team in scoring through three games.

But compared to its competition this week, WKU is both thin (with only seven available scholarship athletes) and inexperienced (with six of those players new to the program).

“It’s a big week for us as a team,” forward Justin Johnson said. “It’s a big week for us to get some good, quality wins. It’s another good week for us to get away and bond as a team, a trip like this. …

“It’ll be a good test for us. I’m excited for it.”

The Hilltoppers draw a Villanova team in the first round that’s a legitimate national title contender. Coach Jay Wright’s Wildcats are ranked No. 5 by The Associated Press, No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 1 in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted efficiency margin.

Stansbury got a head start on Villanova prep because the Wildcats on Nov. 14 beat Nicholls, the same team WKU faced Sunday. That let WKU’s coach get an early look at Villanova on tape while getting ready for the Colonels.

Stansbury kept going back to the phrase “very skilled” to describe the Wildcats, saying that starts with the team’s point guard, Jalen Brunson. The junior averages 17.7 points and 4.7 assists per game.

Brunson is one of two AP Preseason All-Americans competing this week in Atlantis, the other being Arizona’s Allonzo Trier.

“They’ve probably got the best point guard in America in Brunson,” Stansbury said. “I saw him coming out of high school and said that he was the best high school point guard.”

Moving beyond Brunson, Villanova features a wing in Mikal Bridges who’s averaging 18.3 ppg. In the frontcourt, forwards Eric Paschall (13.3 ppg) and Omari Spellman (11.7 ppg) both score in double figures.

Phil Booth (10.3 ppg) is back after a knee injury forced him to miss all but three games last year. Fellow guard Donte DiVincenzo (12 ppg) is an impact player off the bench.

Regardless of the result Wednesday against the Wildcats, Stansbury said the Hilltoppers will learn about their own team with how they confront that challenge.

“I always say when you taste a little bit of blood, you’ll find out what you’re made of,” Stansbury said. “We’re going to get a chance at that right off the bat.”

Notes

Western Kentucky is 1-12 in its last 13 games against ranked opponents, with the lone win in that stretch coming at home against No. 25 Old Dominion on Jan. 10, 2015. … Villanova is the highest-ranked team the Hilltoppers have faced in the regular season, other than Louisville, since facing No. 1 Florida on Nov. 24, 2006. … WKU is 4-7 all-time in games played outside the United States. The Toppers are 3-6 in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico and 1-1 in Cancun, Mexico. … WKU has made at least one 3-pointer in 941 consecutive games, dating back to March 15, 1987. … Johnson is 33rd on the Hilltoppers’ all-time scoring list with 1,155 career points. He needs just 10 points to pass Sergio Kerusch to move into 32nd.

Western Kentucky (2-1) vs. No. 5 Villanova (3-0)

1:30 p.m. CST, Imperial Arena, Paradise Islands, Bahamas

Probable starters

Villanova

Jalen Brunson, g, 6-2, jr. (17.7 ppg, 4.7 apg); Eric Paschall, f, 6-7, r-jr. (13.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg); Phil Booth, g, 6-3, r-jr. (10.3 ppg, 2.3 apg); Omari Spellman, f, 6-8, r-fr. (11.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg); Mikal Bridges, g, 6-7, r-jr. (18.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg)

Western Kentucky

Lamonte Bearden, g, 6-3, r-jr. (14.3 ppg, 3.3 apg); Dwight Coleby, f, 6-9, g-sr. (14.7 ppg, 7 rpg); Justin Johnson, f, 6-7, sr. (11.7 ppg, 11.3 rpg); Taveion Hollingsworth, g, 6-2, fr. (12.7 ppg, 4 apg); Darius Thompson, g, 6-4, g-sr. (14 ppg, 4 rpg)

Television

ESPN2

Radio

WKLX 100.7-FM

Coaches

Rick Stansbury (17-18 second year; 310-184 overall), Western Kentucky; Jay Wright (389-161 17th year; 511-246 overall), Villanova

Series record

Villanova leads 1-0 (Villanova won the only meeting 92-89 in double overtime March 25, 1971 at the Final Four in Houston).

Last time out

Western Kentucky beat Nicholls 100-86 at home Sunday; Villanova beat Lafayette 104-57 on Sunday in Allentown, Pa.{&end}