Saint Joseph's Hawks vs Villanova Wildcats Prediction, 12/19/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Saint Joseph's Hawks vs Villanova Wildcats

Date: Saturday, December 19, 2020

Location: Finneran Pavilion in Villanova, PA

TV: FS1

Odds/Point Spread: Saint Joseph's (+21.5)

The Saint Joseph's Hawks (0-3) travel to Finneran Pavilion on Saturday where they'll meet the Villanova Wildcats (6-1). Villanova opens this matchup as 21.5-point favorites. The O/U is set at 152.5.

Saint Joseph's enters this one with a win-loss record of 0-3 on the season. They have an average of 80.0 pts per contest (78th in D-1) while connecting on 40.0% from the floor. The Hawks are shooting 28.7% on three-point attempts (29 of 101) and 72.3% from the free throw line. As a unit, Saint Joseph's is collecting 33.7 boards per game and is sitting with 45 dimes for the campaign, which has them ranked 265th in college hoops in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 13.3 times per contest and as a group they are committing 25.0 fouls per game. On defense, the Hawks are able to force 16.3 turnovers per game and they draw 20.3 fouls. They currently rank 92nd in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 50 relinquished this year. The Hawks defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 46.3% (87 of 188) and they concede 47.3 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They are conceding 37.7% on 3-point shots while they are 324th in D-1 in PPG allowed (90.3).

The Saint Joseph's Hawks took the court against the Drexel Dragons and went home with a loss by a final score of 81-77 in their last game. Saint Joseph's wrapped up the contest with a 42.9% field goal percentage (24 out of 56) and buried 4 out of their 24 3-point attempts. At the free throw line, the Hawks knocked down 25 of 33 shots for a rate of 75.8%. In reference to rebounding, they compiled 28 with 8 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 11 assists in the game as well as having 6 steals and 2 blocked shots. Regarding defense, Saint Joseph's allowed the other team to go 42.9% from the floor on 24 out of 56. Drexel earned 17 dimes and 5 steals in this contest. Furthurmore, the Dragons collected 34 boards (9 offensive, 25 defensive) and earned 2 blocks. Drexel ended up shooting 80.8% when shooting free throws by converting 21 of 26 attempts. They also converted 8 of 17 shots from 3-point range.

Ryan Daly is someone who was a major factor for the game. He ended up walking away with 30 points on 9 of 18 shooting. He played for 37 minutes played and also pulled down 5 rebounds. Daly finished shooting 50.0% from the floor and also recorded 2 assists. Someone else that played a role in this matchup for the Hawks was Rahmir Moore. He snagged 2 boards and also accounted for 4 dimes. He ended up shooting 44.4% from the field in this game by connecting on 4-of-9 (12 points). When this game wrapped up, Moore played for 31 minutes.

Villanova has a win-loss mark of 6-1 for the year. On the offensive side of the court, the Wildcats are shooting 46.9% from the floor, which ranks 120th in the country. Villanova has accumulated 548 points for the season (78.3 per contest) and they average 35.7 boards per contest. They are earning an assist 14.0 times per game (147th in college basketball) and they cough up possession 8.1 times per game. The Wildcats have committed 17.6 personal fouls per game while shooting 72.0% from the free throw line. The Wildcats on the defensive side of the court are 121st in college hoops in points given up per game with 66.9. The Villanova defense surrenders 35.7% on shots from 3-point land (56 of 157) and opponents are making 65.3% of their shots from the free throw line. They have given up 9.9 assists and 31.6 boards per contest, which is ranked 41st and 63rd in the country. They are forcing 11.9 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 44.6% from the floor (232nd in the country).

In their last game, the Villanova Wildcats walked away with a victory by a final of 85-66 when they faced the Butler Bulldogs. The Wildcats earned 23 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive rebounds for a total of 28 for this contest. They turned away 2 shots while earning 2 steals for the game. The Bulldogs earned 24 fouls for the game which got the Wildcats to the free throw line for 22 attempts. They were able to bury 17 of the free throws for a percentage of 77.3%. In regard to 3-pointers, Villanova buried 10 of their 23 tries (43.5%). When all was said and done, the Wildcats finished shooting 29 out of 58 from the field which gave them a rate of 50.0%. The Wildcats allowed the Bulldogs to convert 22 out of their 45 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 48.9% for the matchup. They finished 46.7% from distance by going 7 out of 15 and finished the game at 15 out of 24 at the free throw line (62.5%). When it comes to how they rebounded, Villanova allowed Butler to pull down 25 in total (4 on the offensive side).

Collin Gillespie played big minutes for the Wildcats for this game. He buried 5 of 9 in this game for a rate of 55.6%, which gave him 18 points. Gillespie pulled down 2 rebounds in his 33 mins played and earned 5 dimes in this game. One more player who was a determining factor for Villanova was Justin Moore. He notched 13 points in his 30 minutes played by going 5 of 11 shooting in the game. Moore finished going 45.5% from the floor while totaling 2 assists and 5 boards.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Saint Joseph's (+21.5)

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