Butler Bulldogs vs Villanova Wildcats Prediction, 2/20/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Butler Bulldogs vs Villanova Wildcats

Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Location: Finneran Pavilion in Villanova, PA

TV: ESPN+

Finneran Pavilion is the site where the Villanova Wildcats (14-11) will attempt to beat the Butler Bulldogs (16-10) on Tuesday.

The Butler Bulldogs faced off with Creighton and ended up losing by a score of 79-57 in their last contest. In the matter of fouls, the Bulldogs ended up finishing with 8 and Creighton totaled 8 fouls. They converted 8 of their 25 tries from distance. Creighton finished shooting 90.0% from the charity stripe by burying 9 of their 10 attempts. Additionally, Creighton snagged 35 rebounds (6 offensive, 29 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Creighton doled out 19 assists and had 8 steals for the contest. When talking about defending, Butler allowed 51.7% from the field on 31 of 60 shooting. They also recorded 12 dimes for the matchup as well as forcing the opposition into 7 turnovers and getting 3 steals. Concerning grabbing boards, they compiled 24 with 3 of them being of the offensive variety. From the charity stripe, the Bulldogs buried 3 of their 3 attempts for a percentage of 100.0%. Butler wrapped up the game with a 40.0% FG percentage (24 out of 60) and made 6 out of their 22 shots from beyond the arc.

Jalen Thomas is a player who was a major factor for this game. He shot 63.6% from the field but had no assists when the game ended. He was on the hardwood for 25 mins played and collected 5 rebounds. He ended up finishing with 18 points on 7 out of 11 shooting.

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Butler heads into this matchup with a mark of 16-10 this season. They average 79.3 pts per game (57th in the country) while hitting 45.7% from the floor. The Bulldogs are connecting on 35.7% on 3-pointers (211 of 591) and 79.1% from the charity stripe. As a team, Butler is pulling down 36.3 rebounds per contest and has 388 assists on the campaign, which ranks 75th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession via turnover 10.6 times per contest and as a squad are committing 13.5 fouls every game.

Defensively, the Bulldogs are forcing 11.4 turnovers every game while drawing 15.7 personal fouls. They are giving up 32.1% on shots from beyond the arc while they are 242nd in college basketball in points per game allowed (74.0). The Bulldogs are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 43.7% (726 of 1,662) and they relinquish 35.6 boards per contest as a basketball team. They are ranked 235th in college basketball in giving up assists with 349 conceded for the campaign.

For their last game, the Villanova Wildcats walked away with a victory by a final of 70-54 when they faced Georgetown. When it comes to rebounding, Villanova permitted Georgetown to grab 34 in total (10 on the offensive side). They finished 30.0% from distance by connecting on 9 of 30 and ended up shooting 3 of 5 at the charity stripe (60.0%). The Wildcats allowed Georgetown to knock down 21 of 61 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 34.4% for the contest. When the game finished, the Wildcats finished 25 for 55 from the floor which had them sitting at 45.5%. When talking about shots from distance, Villanova converted 11 out of 31 attempts (35.5%). They were able to convert 9 of them for a percentage of 81.8%. Georgetown was called for 8 fouls for this contest which got the Wildcats to the charity stripe for a total of 11 shots. They also gave up possession of the ball 5 times, while earning 11 steals in this matchup. The Wildcats pulled down 25 defensive boards and 3 offensive rebounds for a total of 28 in the matchup.

TJ Bamba ended up being a factor for the Wildcats for the contest. He converted 5 out of 7 for the matchup for a field goal percentage of 71.4%, and had 2 rebounds. He racked up 14 points in his 27 mins of playing time and accounted for 3 assists in the matchup.

Villanova has a win-loss record of 14-11 for the campaign. The Wildcats commit 15.5 fouls per contest and they go 81.7% from the charity stripe. Their rate of earning assists is at 12.8 times per game (218th in the nation) and they are turning it over 9.6 times per game. Villanova has 1,809 points this year (72.4 per game) and they pull in 35.5 rebounds per game. When it comes to offensive execution, the Wildcats are shooting 42.5% from the field, which is ranked 294th in the nation.

The Wildcats defensively are ranked 39th in college hoops in points given up per game with 66.0. They are forcing 11.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 41.3% from the floor (52nd in the country). The Villanova defense allows 32.2% on 3-point shots (196 of 609) and their opponents are making 71.6% of their free throw shots. They have relinquished 13.1 dimes and 34.2 rebounds per game, which is ranked 211th and 146th in college hoops.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Villanova

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