The Villanova Wildcats whipped the Butler Bulldogs when these two teams first locked horns this season. The Bulldogs can exact revenge this Wednesday when Jay Wright and his boys hit the town for a marquee Big East showdown. The Wildcats and the Bulldogs are both +2500 to win the national title.
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Betting Preview for the Villanova Wildcats vs Butler Bulldogs NCAA College Basketball Game on February 5 2020
Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
When: Wednesday, February 5, 2020, 6:30 PM ET
Line: Villanova Wildcats (Odds) vs. Butler Bulldogs (Odds) – view all 2020 NCAAB lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Villanova Wildcats (17-4 Overall/7-2 Conference)
After stitching together seven wins in a row, the Wildcats had that win streak snapped last Saturday during a 76-61 home loss to the Creighton Bluejays. Villanova was undone by its cold shooting early in the game. The Wildcats had a 5-1 lead before missing nine of their next shots, which gave Creighton an opportunity to establish command in the first half. That wasn’t the case in Villanova’s 76-61 home win over Butler back in Jan. 21, when the Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs in both halves. Jermaine Samuels led the way for Villanova in that game, scoring 20 points and grabbing seven rebounds, while Saddiq Bey and Collin Gillespie each had 14 points. Gillespie paces the Wildcats this season with 15.4 points per game. Villanova is a dangerous outside-shooting team with an average of 9.5 threes per contest, good for 17th in the nation. The Wildcats, who went 9 of 25 from deep in the win over Butler, are 3-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last four games overall.
Betting on the Butler Bulldogs (17-5 Overall / 5-4 Conference)
Just when it looked like the Bulldogs were turning it around by winning back-to-back games after a three-game losing skid, they got tripped up again, this time by the Providence Friars at home last Saturday, 65-61. The Bulldogs are obviously missing the services of point guard Aaron Thompson, who sat out the last three games because of a wrist injury. With Thompson out, Kamar Baldwin and Jordan Tucker have both gotten heavier workloads. Baldwin had 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists versus the Friars, but went 0-of-5 from the 3-point range, while Tucker had 12 points and led the Bulldogs with eight rebounds. Baldwin will look to put up a solid game again against Villanova. In the first meeting with the Wildcats this season, Baldwin went 9 of 21 from the field for 21 points. Butler is not a dependable 3-point shooting team, and considering the Bulldogs went 5 of 20 from behind the arc against Villanova, the Bulldogs should look for higher efficiency shots.
The under is 4-2 in the Bulldogs’ last six home games.
Writer’s Prediction
Butler wins, 68-66.
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