Villanova Wildcats vs Xavier Musketeers Prediction, 1/12/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Villanova Wildcats vs Xavier Musketeers

Date: Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Location: Cintas Center in Cincinnati, OH

TV: FS1

The Xavier Musketeers (12-2) will try to beat the Villanova Wildcats (11-4) at Cintas Center on Wednesday.

The Villanova Wildcats faced off with DePaul and walked away with a win by a score of 79-64 in their last game. Villanova ended the contest having earned a 52.1% FG percentage (25 out of 48) and made 9 out of their 22 three-point shots. At the free throw line, the Wildcats knocked down 20 of 22 tries for a percentage of 90.9%. Regarding grabbing rebounds, they compiled a total of 26 with 5 of them being of the offensive sort. They also recorded 13 assists in the game in addition to forcing the opposition into 7 turnovers and getting 5 steals. Regarding defense, Villanova allowed the other team to shoot 35.3% from the floor on 18 out of 51 shooting. DePaul doled out 7 dimes and had 3 steals in this game. On top of that, DePaul snagged 29 rebounds (11 offensive, 18 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. DePaul ended up going 76.7% from the charity stripe by burying 23 of their 30 attempts. They also made 5 of 21 shots from long range. In reference to fouls, the Wildcats walked away with 25 and DePaul had 19 fouls.

Collin Gillespie is one guy who was a factor in this contest. He ended up with 28 points on 9 of 17 shooting. He was on the court for 38 mins played and also pulled down 4 boards. He shot 52.9% from the floor and recorded 4 assists.

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Villanova will enter this matchup with a win-loss record of 11-4 this year. They have an average of 73.1 points per outing (158th in college hoops) while hitting 43.0% from the floor. The Wildcats are shooting 35.7% on shots beyond the perimeter (146 of 409) and 79.6% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Villanova is pulling down 36.0 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 194 dimes for the year, which has them ranked 174th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 9.1 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 15.7 fouls per contest.

On the defensive end, the Wildcats are able to force 12.7 turnovers per contest while drawing 16.9 personal fouls. They are 106th in college hoops in giving up assists to their opponents with 160 relinquished so far this year. The Wildcats defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 40.9% (333 of 814) and they concede 32.6 boards per game as a squad. They concede 30.6% on three-point shots while they are 31st in college basketball in PPG allowed (61.6).

For their last game, the Xavier Musketeers took home the win by a final score of 87-72 when they played Butler. When discussing team rebounding, Xavier allowed Butler to collect 21 overall (4 on the offensive glass). They went 23.8% from downtown by connecting on 5 out of 21 and finished the contest at 11 of 13 from the free throw line (84.6%). The Musketeers allowed Butler to convert 28 of their 56 attempts from the field which had them at 50.0% in the game. When the final whistle blew, the Musketeers ended up going 27 for 49 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 55.1%. When discussing shots from downtown, Xavier made 10 out of their 22 attempts (45.5%). They were able to convert 23 of them for a percentage of 85.2%. Butler was called for 18 personal fouls in the game which took the Musketeers to the charity stripe for a total of 27 tries. They also coughed up the ball 5 times, while recording 3 steals for this game. The Musketeers snagged 23 defensive rebounds and 4 offensive boards for a total of 27 for the game.

Adam Kunkel ended up being a major contributor for the Musketeers in the game. He made 8 out of 12 in this game for a field goal rate of 66.7%, and totaled 3 rebounds. He accumulated 25 points in his 26 minutes of playing time and tallied 1 assist in the matchup.

Xavier has a mark of 12-2 on the season. The Musketeers are responsible for committing 14.4 fouls per game and they connect on 72.3% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 15.1 times per contest (89th in D-1) and they are turning it over 13.5 times per contest. Xavier has scored 1,069 pts this year (76.4 per game) and they average 40.0 boards per contest. When it comes to offensive execution, the Musketeers are shooting 45.8% from the floor, which is ranked 105th in college hoops.

The Xavier defense surrenders 30.3% on shots from behind the 3-point line (93 of 307) and their opposition knocks down 70.8% of their free throw attempts. They have conceded 11.4 assists and 31.5 total rebounds per game, which is ranked 100th and 56th in college basketball. The Musketeers defensively are ranked 48th in the nation in PPG given up with 62.7. They are able to force 12.9 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 39.4% from the floor (43rd in college basketball).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Villanova

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