Villanova Wildcats vs. DePaul Demons Preview
Where: Allstate Arena, Rosemont
When: Monday, February 13, 9:00 PM ET
Line: Villanova Wildcats (-18.5) vs. DePaul Demons (+18.5) – view all NCAAB lines
TV Broadcast: CBS Sports Network
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Betting on the Villanova Wildcats (24-2, 11-2 Big East)
Villanova is No. 2 in the nation but based on how its last meeting with Big East doormat DePaul turned out, the Wildcats can’t be too overconfident later tonight.
Villanova won a narrow one over the Demons on Dec. 28, 68-65. Josh Hart nailed two free throws near the end of regulation and finished with a game-high 25 points. Hart will look to lead the Wildcats in attempt to repeat over DePaul, which Villanova has beaten in all of the previous 13 meetings dating back to 2008, going 7-6 ATS in those games.
Hart is averaging 18.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game—both figures are tops in Villanova—and is among the favorites to win the 2017 Wooden Award with a current odds of +280.
Villanova is riding a five-game win streak, a stretch that includes a 73-57 beatdown of No. 24 Xavier on Saturday. The Wildcats shot 51.9 percent from the field against the Musketeers and they will look to keep that hot shooting trend going versus DePaul, which allows opponents average 74.3 PPG on 53.9 effective field goal percentage.
Villanova is 14th in the nation in defense with 62.7 points surrendered per contest.
Betting on the DePaul Demons (8-17, 1-11 Big East)
DePaul is sinking lower and lower each game these days. The Demons are winless in their past eight games. They are coming off a deflating 93-58 loss to No. 23 Creighton on Saturday and are about to face a ranked team for the third-straight contest. The Demons also lost to No. 24 Xavier, 72-61, on Feb. 8.
That said, the Demons could get confidence tonight from the fact that they made life hard for Villanova in the previous meeting. The trio of Eli Cain, Billy Garrett Jr., and Tre’Darius McCallum are going to carry the bulk of offense for DePaul. Cain, who leads the Demons with 16.0 PPG, put up 14 points in the loss to Villanova, Garrett (15.3 PPG) had 17, while McCallum (10.1 PPG) provided 19.
DePaul attempted just seven free throws as against to 26 by Villanova in the December meeting. Perhaps driving the ball more to the basket instead of going trigger happy from beyond the arc will lead to more opportunities to score from the foul line. DePaul shot a horrid 3-for-17 from deep versus Villanova.
DePaul is 3-3 ATS in its last six games as an underdog by at least eight points.
Writer’s Prediction
Villanova (-18.5) wins, 79-60.
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