Delaware Blue Hens vs Villanova Wildcats Prediction, 3/18/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Delaware Blue Hens vs Villanova Wildcats

Date: Friday, March 18, 2022

Location: PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: CBS

Odds/Point Spread: Delaware (+17)

The Villanova Wildcats (26-7) will try to defeat the Delaware Blue Hens (22-12) at PPG Paints Arena on Friday. Delaware opens this matchup as 17-point underdogs. The over/under is set at 133.5.

The Delaware Blue Hens faced UNC Wilmington and notched a win by a score of 59-55 in their last game. When talking about fouls, the Blue Hens finished with 13 and UNC Wilmington recorded 16 fouls. They knocked down 4 of their 15 tries from 3-point range. UNC Wilmington finished the contest at 73.3% from the free throw line by knocking down 11 of their 15 attempts. In addition, UNC Wilmington had 30 boards (9 offensive, 21 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. UNC Wilmington recorded 5 dimes and had 6 steals in this matchup. With respect to defense, Delaware let their opponent shoot 37.0% from the floor on 20 of 54 shooting. They also recorded 8 dimes for this contest in addition to forcing the opposition into 11 turnovers and earning 9 steals. With regard to grabbing rebounds, they collected 36 with 12 of them being of the offensive sort. From the free throw line, the Blue Hens converted 13 of 20 tries for a percentage of 65.0%. Delaware walked away from the game having earned a 39.3% field goal percentage (22 out of 56) and buried 2 of 13 shots from distance.

Andrew Carr is one player who was a major factor in this matchup. He ended up scoring 17 points on 6 out of 7 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 32 minutes played and snagged 12 boards. He finished shooting 85.7% from the floor but wasn't able to get an assist.

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Delaware steps onto the court with a record of 22-12 on the campaign. They lose possession via turnover 12.6 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 15.6 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Delaware is grabbing 32.8 boards per game and has accumulated 431 assists for the year, which is 133rd in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. The Blue Hens are hitting 35.2% on shots beyond the perimeter (258 of 732) and 74.3% from the free throw line. They are averaging 73.8 pts per contest (107th in the country) while hitting 46.9% from the floor.

Defensively, the Blue Hens are forcing 12.7 turnovers per game while drawing 17.6 personal fouls. They currently rank 151st in college hoops in giving up assists with 385 surrendered on the year. The Blue Hens defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 42.8% (851 of 1,990) and they relinquish 33.6 rebounds per game as a team. They are giving up 34.9% on 3-point shots while they are 200th in D-1 in PPG allowed (69.9).

When they last stepped on the court, the Villanova Wildcats got the win with a final of 54-48 when they played Creighton. The Wildcats were able to snag 29 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds for a total of 38 in this game. They also turned it over 8 times, while getting 6 steals for the game. Creighton was called for 13 fouls for the game which got the Wildcats to the free throw line for a total of 12 shots. They were able to make 8 of the free throws for a percentage of 66.7%. Regarding shooting from beyond the arc, Villanova converted 8 of their 32 attempts (25.0%). When the final whistle was blown, the Wildcats finished 19 out of 57 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 33.3%. The Wildcats permitted Creighton to make 19 of their 58 attempts from the field which had them shooting 32.8% in this matchup. They went 10.3% from downtown by connecting on 3 out of 29 and ended up going 7 of 10 at the free throw line (70.0%). In reference to cleaning up the glass, Villanova permitted Creighton to pull down 37 overall (12 offensive).

Collin Gillespie pitched in for the Wildcats in this contest. He scored 17 points in his 36 mins of playing time and had 5 dimes for the contest. He buried 5 of 14 for the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 35.7%, and accounted for 7 rebounds.

Villanova has a record of 26-7 this year. The Wildcats commit 15.2 personal fouls per contest and they hit 82.3% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 12.1 times per game (246th in the nation) and they cough up possession 10.0 times per game. Villanova has earned 2,397 pts so far this year (72.6 per contest) and they collect 34.9 boards per contest. In terms of offensive execution, the Wildcats are shooting 43.7% from the field, which ranks 204th in the country.

The Wildcats on the defensive end are ranked 28th in the nation in points allowed per contest with 63.1. They are able to force 12.1 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 40.8% from the floor (45th in D-1). The Villanova defense allows 31.0% from downtown (244 of 787) and their opponents are knocking down 74.5% of their shots from the charity stripe. They give up 11.3 dimes and 32.4 rebounds every game, which ranks 78th and 70th in the country.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Delaware (+17)

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