The Villanova Wildcats took a step closer into getting their first Big East Tournament title in 20 years after subduing the Providence Friars in a close semifinal matchup. The Xavier Musketeers, meanwhile, also had to go through the proverbial eye of the needle to get into the championship game, as they edged past the Georgetown Hoyas on Friday. Will Villanova avoid the upset the Musketeers are aiming to serve later tonight?
Read on below for a detailed preview of this game. You can also click here for our preview and prediction of the Auburn vs. Kentucky SEC tourney matchup.
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Xavier Musketeers vs. Villanova Wildcats Betting Preview
Call the Musketeers the Big East Tournament’s giant slayers. Unranked Xavier took down another AP Top 25 team on Friday, beating No. 23 Georgetown 65-63 in the semifinals to earn a spot in the conference championship game. Before that contest, Xavier defeated No. 22 Butler 67-61 on Friday.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]Xavier leaned on the production of big man Matt Stainbrook to bag the win over the Hoyas. Stainbrook scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Georgetown to continue his run of superb performances. Stainbrook is averaging 12.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game this season, but has elevated his game of late, putting up 19.6 points and 9.3 rebounds over the past three Xavier games.
Stainbrook alone, however, won’t cut it for Xavier against high-scoring Villanova. He’s going to need the pair of Trevon Bluiett and Myles Davis to come up big against Xavier, which has defeated the Musketeers twice in the regular season. Bluiett and Davis are averaging a combined 24.1 points per game this season but scored just nine and five points, respectively, in the Georgetown game. Furthermore, Xavier will have to improve its free throw shooting to keep in step with Villanova. The Musketeers went 19-of-31 from the charity stripe for a mediocre 61.3 percent clip.
Reserve Jalen Reynolds might also play as Xavier’s X-factor against Villanova. Reynolds has averaged 14.5 points over the last two meetings with the Wildcats.
The under is 7-3 in the last 10 games of Xavier, which has limited its opponents to just 62.0 points per game in its last two outings.
Unlike in its previous games, Villanova’s outside shooting wasn’t as accurate against the Friars. Nevertheless, Villanova bucked a cold-shooting night and advanced to the conference final after beating Providence on Friday, 63-61.
Villanova entered the semis having made 34 threes in its past three games, but only finished with seven three-pointers against Providence. The struggle can largely be attributed to the subpar performances of Darrun Hilliard II (14.1 PPG) and Ryan Arcidiacono (10.6 PPG), who combined for just 18 points and 2-of-10 shooting from the three-point area. Villanova, however, can get its potent shooting going against the Musketeers defense that allowed the Wildcats to connect for 28 total treys in their two regular season meetings. Villanova made 13 threes in its 78-66 win over Xavier on February 28, the last time both teams met.
Once again, Josh Hart made a big difference off the bench in the Providence game. The Big East Sixth Man of the Year led Villanova with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Hart, who is averaging 10 points per game this season, has stepped up big time of late. In two games thus far in the conference tourney, Hart has averaged 19.0 points per game.
Villanova is 4-0 SU and ATS in its last four games against Xavier.
