#10 Tigers (7-0) vs Wildcats (5-2)
The Missouri Tigers are off to a hot start and haven’t been beat yet. In fact, they haven’t even been challenged, with each victory by at least 15 points. This team may have a new coach but they are still one of the most aggressive and athletic teams out there.
Tuesday December 6
Madison Square Garden
7:00PM
Moneyline:
Spread: Missouri -6.5
O/U: 148.5
Missouri
They have amazing quickness and if their shots are falling they can bury opponents in a hurry. They are especially deep in the backcourt where they have many scoring options and quick defenders who go from defense to offense in a heart beat.
Their weakness is up front where they have almost no size, especially for Big 6 team. Ricardo Ratliffe is very active but he is only 6’8” and it remains to be seen what they will get from Steve Moore, their biggest big. What we do know is that you will have to hustle the entire game to beat the rest of these guys. They have three guards that average more than 4 boards per game and If you don’t own the glass against them they will kill you before you have a chance to call a timeout. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Villanova
There is a changing of the guard at Villanova – literally. Out are Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes with the Wildcats clearly becoming Maalik Wayns team. The junior guard has answered the bell and upped his scoring to almost 19 per game and with Mouphatou Yarou the Wildcats have a very good inside outside duo that should enable them to hold their own most nights in the Big East.
What this team doesn’t have is the kind of depth they did over the last few years when their sometimes 4 guard attack made things very uncomfortable for their opponents. They already have two losses this season to St. Louis and Santa Clara. The former is nothing to be ashamed of but the latter is a team they would have crushed in recent years. This is a good but not great team still figuring itself out. They are not at home against Mizzou, which would have helped, but as a member of the Big East they are accustomed to games at Madison Square Garden.
Spread Pick: Villanova
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction – Missouri 77 – Villanova 73
