NCAAB: JIMMY V BETTING ODDS
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The Jim Valvano basketball classic offers two great contests tonight, coming live from Madison Square Garden.
West Virginia (6-1) vs Davidson (6-1) – 7 pm ET
Sportsbook.com has Davidson as slim 1.5-point favorites.
After being held scoreless against Loyola of Maryland, Stephen Curry rebounded to score 44 points and lead Davidson (3-2 ATS) to a 72-67 non-cover victory as eight-point favorites over N.C. State.
Curry was constantly double-teamed by Loyola-MD and never scored as his team won anyways 78-48, essentially playing four on three when Curry was on the floor.
Note that Davidson is a superb 10-2 ATS in all neutral court games over the last two seasons.
West Virginia (2-3 ATS) will present a challenge of a different sort for Davidson, with coach Bob Huggins style of physical defense and methods to have his teams take good shots.
The Mountaineers have shot inconsistently of late, making just 30.6% of shots in a loss to Kentucky and 34.6% in their last game (a win over Cleveland State). West Virginia has not covered their last three games, yet is 13-4 ATS versus good offensive teams scoring 77 or more points a game over the last three seasons.
Davidson is 9-1 ATS versus good defensive teams allowing 64 points or less per game. The Mountaineers thrive on playing defense and are 8-0 ATS after allowing 50 points or less.
NCAAB Prediction: Davidson by 3
Texas (6-1) vs Villanova (8-0) – 9:30 pm ET
Texas is listed as three-point favorites.
Villanova has looked great in beating eight opponents by almost 23 points per game, all played within the confines of the Philadelphia area.
Now the Wildcats (3-2 ATS) have to venture out of their comfort zone and take on a hearty opponent who has faced a number of strong teams already this season in Texas (3-3 ATS).
Villanova’s strength is its backcourt, led by Scottie Reynolds, who snapped a season-long offensive funk with a season-high 23 points against Houston Baptist.
All of the Wildcats numbers look fabulous, scoring 79.6 points per game, on 47.7% shooting. The problem coach Jay Wright’s squad is going to have to overcome is an exceptional Longhorns frontline that is talented and big.
Villanova just doesn’t have what it takes up front and must find other ways to compensate like they have in the past, being able to post a 16-6 ATS record after three straight games out-rebounding an opponent by six or more.
Texas finished third in the Maui Invitational last month, losing to then 8th-ranked Notre Dame 81-80. And they fought extremely hard to defeat UCLA last week 68-64.
Texas has a starting frontline of 6’7 Damion James, 6’10 Dexter Pittman and 6’10 Connor Atchley, going up against Villanova’s lone big man in 6’8 Dante Cunningham, who is averaging a team high 17.3 PPG.
The Longhorns still have sharp-shooter A.J. Abrams, which leads to interesting choices for coach Wright in how to defend Texas. The Longhorns are just 9-19 ATS on the road after playing five consecutive games as a favorite.
These teams have met each of the last two years, splitting the pair with Villanova covering both and neither team shooting better than 39%.
NCAAB Prediction: –Texas by 2
