The No. 3 Villanova Wildcats lost its grip of the top spot in the AP Poll rankings, but they remain a dangerous team to face. The Xavier Musketeers definitely are aware of that, so expect a hard fought battle in Cincinnati this coming weekend. Read on for a preview of this marquee Big East tussle. Register to bet and wager with your pick.
Betting Preview for the Villanova Wildcats vs Xavier Muskeeteers College Basketball Game on February 17, 2018
Where: Cintas Center
When: Saturday, February 17, 4:30PM EST
Line: Villanova Wildcats () vs Xavier Muskeeteers () –view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: Fox
Betting on the Villanova Wildcats (23-2)
When the Wildcats defeated Xavier back in Jan. 10, 89-65, Phil Booth did most of the damage for Villanova by scoring 21 points. Booth, however, won’t be on the floor at Cintas Center this Saturday to try to duplicate his feat, as the point guard is out with a broken right hand. Even without Booth, though, the Wildcats have the tandem of Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson to pick up the slack.
Bridges and Brunson form one of the best backcourts not only in the Big East but nationally as well. Bridges scores 16.4 points per game, while Brunson paces the team with 20.1 per outing. As a team the Wildcats are third in the nation with 87.8 points. They are very fluid with their offense, shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from behind the arc. They make 11.5 three-pointers per game, and even went 12-for-31 from deep in the win over Xavier with Brunson and Bridges combining for five of those long bombs.
Villanova is 9-1 SU and ATS in its last 10 games against Xavier going back to 2014.
Betting on the Xavier Muskeeteers (19-6)
Any time Trevon Bluiett and J.P. Macura struggle, the Musketeers will be in trouble; That’s exactly what happened in their earlier loss to Villanova, as the duo scored just 16 points together, which was not going to cut it for Xavier. Bluiett leads the X-Men with 18.9 points per game, while Macura chips in 12.5 points. Villanova does not really have an imposing defense (allows 70.4 points per game), so Bluiett and Macura could just chuck their bad performances in that game to a mere off-night.
The Musketeers should also fare better this time around with Villanova featuring a shallower rotation with Booth out of it. Bluiett and Macura should cancel out the production of Brunson and Bridges, so guys like Kerem Kanter and Quentin Goodin will need to step up. Kanter (10.8 PPG) had 16 points off the bench against ‘Nova, while Goodin (8.3 PPG) turned into a ghost with zero points on an atrocious 0-for-7 shooting line from the field.
Xavier is 6-4 ATS in its last 10 games as the home underdog.
Writer’s Prediction:
Villanova pulls off a 79-76 win.
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