Huskies vs. Wildcats NCAAB Handicapping Prediction
When Big East play began it looked as if defending champion UCONN (16-10) was a shoe in to play in the Big Dance, but since winning their first 2 conference games they are only 4-8 since.
Venue/ Stadium: The Pavilion, Villanova, PA
Time/Date: 7 PM EST Monday, February 20, 2012
NCAA Odds From: Bovada
Moneyline: UCONN -165 / Villanova +145
Spread (ATS): UCONN -3.5
Over/Under: 137.5
UCONN Huskies vs. Villanova Wildcats Preview
Villanova (11-15) has lost 5 of their last 6 games and NCAAB lines have them as 3.5-point home underdogs with a total of 137.5.
In their last games UCONN lost to Marquette 79-64 and Villanova lost to Notre Dame 74-70 in OT.
This season UCONN is 8-14 ATS with an O/U record of 8-14 and Villanova is 6-17 ATS with an O/U record of 17-6.
While the Wildcats have a decent scoring team the main reason they have an O/U record of 17-6 is that their defense only ranks 284th in the nation in opponents’ points allowed.
Nova leading scorer Maalik Wayns (17.8 ppg) has sat out the last 2 games with a sprained knee and he is doubtful for tonight’s game. With Wayns likely out G Dominic Cheek (12.6 ppg), F/C Mouphtaou Yarou (10.8 ppg 8.3 rpg) and F JayVaughn Pinkston (10.2 ppg 5.3 rpg) have to step up in the scoring department.
Yarou has really struggled to score in the last couple of games and he and Pinkston needs to score inside tonight, as Wayns is not only doubtful, but G James Bell (7.5 ppg) is as well. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The Wildcats are a much better team on the glass ranking 6th in the nation in rebounds per game and Yorou and Pinkston have to hit the boards and this is especially the case on the offensive end of the court.
UCONN is led by their frontcourt and while leading scorer Jeremy Lamb struggled in the mid-part of the conference season he has been playing well and in his last 2 games has shot over 50% from the floor and scored 19 points and 18 points respectively. On the other side of the coin his backcourt mate in Shabazz Napier (13 ppg) has scored under his season average in 4 of his last 5 games.
The UCONN frontcourt duo of Andre Drummond (10 ppg 7.4 rpg) and Alex Oriakhi (6.8 ppg 5 rpg) have to keep the Wildcats from dominating the glass.
In some betting trends for this Big East game UCONN is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 road games, 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games overall, and they have an Under record of 4-1 in their last 5 games as a road favorite.
Villanova is 4-17 ATS in their last 21 home games, 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games as a home underdog, and they have an Over record of 8-1 in their last 9 home games.
Jason’s Pick: UCONN is struggling, but I think they are simply a much better team than Villanova and their backcourt will have a good game and they will win and cover tonight.
