The Villanova Wildcats are on their way to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That is if they avoid a slipup in their regular season finale against St. John’s Red Storm. Will the Wildcats stamp their dominance? Read on as we give you a complete preview of this Big East clash.
Saturday isn’t short on fun, action-packed games. Check out our complete preview for Duke vs. North Carolina, which promises excitement all throughout.
[sc:MarchMadness ]St. John’s Red Storm vs. Villanova Wildcats Preview
Where: The Pavilion, Villanova
When: Saturday, March 7, 2:00 PM ET
Line: St John’s Red Storm at Villanova Wildcats – view all NCAA Basketball lines
Betting on St. John’s Red Storm
A solid defensive display and unforgiving three-point shooting led St. John’s to a dominant 67-51 win over the Marquette Golden Eagles on Wednesday night.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]Rysheed Jordan, D’Angelo Harrison and Phil Greene IV combined to make 12-of-24 attempts from downtown. Jordan topped the Red Storm in scoring with 23 points, followed closely by Harrison’s 21.
St. John’s trio of guards could have another excellent day from beyond the arc against Villanova. The Wildcats allowed opponents to shoot 46 percent from downtown in their last outing, and 39 percent over their last three contests.
Of the three, Harrison had the most success in the first game against ‘Nova on January 6, burying 2-of-3 three-pointers in a 90-72 loss. He is one of the Big East’s most prolific scorers with 17.9 points per game, second in the conference.
The Red Storm also have a couple of players who can tighten up on defense. Sir’Dominic Pointer ranks in the top five in rebounds (7.7), blocks (2.5) and steals (two) per game in the Big East. Chris Obekpa ranks in the top five in rebounds and blocks with 6.9 and 3.2 per game respectively. Jordan ranks fifth in steals per game with 1.8 this season.
St. John’s had eight steals and seven blocks in the first matchup this season, way over Villanova’s season averages of 5.8 opponent steals and 2.8 opponent blocks allowed.
St. John’s is 4-1-1 ATS in its last six games.
Betting on the Villanova Wildcats
It was too close for comfort, but Villanova still came up with a 76-72 win over Creighton to strengthen its bid for a No. 1 seed in the national tournament. ‘Nova has now won 11 straight games, going an impressive 10-1 against the spread over that span.
Leading scorer Darrun Hilliard II continued to struggle from the field. He’s scored a combined 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting in his past two games. He had averaged 18.7 points over nine games prior to his two-game stinker. Hilliard should be able to climb out of his rut against St. John’s. He had 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc in the first matchup.
If Hilliard struggles again, Ryan Arcidiacono could pick up the slack in scoring. Arcidiacono is averaging 15.4 points on 51 percent shooting over ‘Nova’s last five games. He’s also an excellent passer capable of dishing out assists to his teammates. He set a season-high 10 assists against St. John’s earlier in the season.
Villanova has been dominant against St. John’s going 15-5 straight up and 14-6 against the spread in the last 20 matchups.
Writer’s Prediction
Villanova trashes St. John’s. Take the Wildcats to end the regular season with a bang.
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