Columbia Lions vs Villanova Wildcats Prediction, 11/6/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Columbia Lions vs Villanova Wildcats

Date: Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Location: Finneran Pavilion in Villanova, PA

TV: ESPN+

The Columbia Lions (13-14 last year) are en route to Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday where they will attempt to beat the Villanova Wildcats (18-16 last season).

The Columbia Lions took the court against Cornell and ended up losing by a score of 98-76 in their last game. In reference to fouls, the Lions ended up with 10 and Cornell recorded 15 fouls. They also made 14 of their 33 shots from beyond the arc. Cornell finished shooting 72.7% from the charity stripe by knocking down 8 of 11 attempts. In addition, Cornell collected 37 rebounds (10 offensive, 27 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Cornell recorded 28 dimes and had 9 steals for this game. With regard to defense, Columbia allowed the other team to go 55.1% from the floor on 38 out of 69 shooting. They also doled out 25 assists for the game while creating 9 turnovers and getting 7 steals. Pertaining to grabbing rebounds, they compiled 23 with 5 of them being on the offensive end. From the charity stripe, the Lions converted 13 of their 18 tries for a rate of 72.2%. Columbia wrapped up the contest having earned a 45.9% FG percentage (28 of 61) and buried 7 of their 21 3-point attempts.

Zavian McLean is one guy who was a major contributor for this game. He went 54.5% from the floor and totaled 5 assists. He played 29 mins and snagged 3 rebounds. He accumulated 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting.

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Columbia will play this game after finishing with a record of 13-14 last season. They turned the ball over 12.2 times per contest and as a basketball team committed 16.2 fouls every game. As a group, Columbia grabbed 35.7 rebounds per game and sat with 471 dimes over the course of last year, which was 117th in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Lions hit on 37.5% on three-point shots (231 of 616) and 73.2% from the free throw line. They averaged 77.0 points per game (82nd in the nation) while connecting on 46.9% from the field.

On defense, the Lions forced their opponents into 12.4 turnovers per contest and they drew 15.5 fouls. They relinquished 32.5% on 3-pointers and they ranked 201st in the nation in points per game allowed (72.4). The Lions defense gave up and opponent field goal percentage of 43.9% (709 of 1,616) and they surrendered 33.4 rebounds per contest as a unit. They were 113th in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 404 relinquished last season.

The last time they took the court, the Villanova Wildcats walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 70-61 when they played VCU. In regard to how they attacked the glass, Villanova permitted VCU to collect 32 in total (5 on the offensive glass). They wrapped up this game 36.7% from behind the 3-point line by going 11 of 30 and finished the contest at 13 of 16 at the free throw line (81.3%). The Wildcats permitted VCU to make 23 of their 54 tries from the floor which left them with a rate of 42.6% in the matchup. When the game finished, the Wildcats ended up going 21 out of 51 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 41.2%. In relation to shots from beyond the perimeter, Villanova converted 6 of their 23 tries (26.1%). They were able to convert 13 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 65.0%. VCU earned 16 personal fouls in this contest which got the Wildcats to the charity stripe for 20 attempts. They gave up possession of the ball 12 times, while recording 8 steals for this game. The Wildcats were able to pull down 26 defensive rebounds and 3 offensive boards totaling 29 for this game.

Eric Dixon was important for the Wildcats in the matchup. He knocked down 7 out of 14 in the matchup for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and earned 13 rebounds. He totaled 21 points in his 34 mins on the court, but wasn't able to get an assist.

Villanova had a mark of 18-16 last season. In terms of offensive execution, the Wildcats connected on 42.5% from the floor, which ranked them 287th in the nation. Villanova earned 2,388 points last season (70.2 per contest) and they pulled in 34.8 rebounds per game. They dished out assists 12.9 times per game (206th in the nation) and they turned it over 9.6 times per game. The Wildcats were responsible for committing 15.3 personal fouls every game and they shot 80.8% from the free throw line.

The Wildcats defensively were ranked 22nd in D-1 in points per game surrendered with 65.6. They forced 10.6 TO's per game and allowed teams to shoot 40.9% from the floor (29th in college basketball). The Villanova defense conceded 32.8% on 3-pointers (286 of 872) and opponents connected on 73.7% of their free throw attempts. They relinquished 13.3 assists and 34.0 boards per game, which was ranked 215th and 143rd in the nation.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Villanova

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