Villanova Wildcats vs Xavier Musketeers Prediction, 2/7/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Villanova Wildcats vs Xavier Musketeers

Date: Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Location: Cintas Center in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN+

The Xavier Musketeers (12-10) will compete against the Villanova Wildcats (12-10) at Cintas Center on Wednesday.

The Villanova Wildcats faced off with Providence and notched a win by a score of 68-50 in their last contest. With respect to personal fouls, the Wildcats ended up walking away with 15 and Providence totaled 12 personal fouls. They made 7 of 33 shots from beyond the arc. Providence finished the contest at 100.0% from the charity stripe by burying 13 of 13 attempts. Furthermore, Providence pulled down 32 rebounds (6 offensive, 26 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Providence recorded 11 assists and had 2 steals in this matchup. Concerning defending, Villanova let their opponent shoot 29.4% from the floor on 15 of 51 shooting. They also doled out 17 assists for this contest in addition to forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and getting 10 steals. Pertaining to hauling in boards, they compiled 33 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. At the free throw line, the Wildcats converted 4 of 8 tries for a rate of 50.0%. Villanova ended with a 42.2% FG percentage (27 of 64) and knocked down 10 out of their 28 3-pointers.

Eric Dixon is a player who came through in this matchup. He ended up finishing with 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting. He saw the court for 25 mins and also pulled down 5 rebounds. He walked away from this one shooting 62.5% from the floor but had no assists when the game ended.

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Villanova will enter this contest with a mark of 12-10 on the year. They average 73.0 points per outing (214th in college hoops) while connecting on 42.2% from the field. The Wildcats are shooting 32.8% on three-point attempts (201 of 613) and 81.4% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Villanova is snagging 36.0 boards per game and is sitting with 276 assists on the year, which has them ranked 262nd in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. They are giving up possession 9.9 times per contest and as a group they are committing 15.9 personal fouls per contest.

When they are on the defensive end, the Wildcats are able to force 11.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 15.5 personal fouls. They concede 33.0% on shots from downtown while they are 73rd in D-1 in PPG allowed (67.6). The Wildcats defensively are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 42.0% (528 of 1,256) and they relinquish 34.3 boards per contest as a unit. They are currently ranked 183rd in college basketball in allowing assists with 289 surrendered on the campaign.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Xavier Musketeers walked away with a victory by a final of 93-68 when they faced DePaul. In regard to cleaning the glass, Xavier permitted DePaul to snag 28 overall (7 offensive). They finished shooting 40.0% from beyond the arc by going 4 out of 10 and walked away from this one shooting 26 of 34 at the charity stripe (76.5%). The Musketeers allowed DePaul to knock down 19 of 46 attempts from the field which had them sitting at 41.3% for this game. When the game finished, the Musketeers finished shooting 30 out of 63 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.6%. In reference to shots from beyond the arc, Xavier converted 11 of their 32 tries (34.4%). They were able to make 22 of them for a rate of 88.0%. DePaul committed 18 personal fouls for the game which got the Musketeers to the charity stripe for a total of 25 attempts. They coughed up the ball 11 times, while earning 14 steals for this game. The Musketeers were able to corral 25 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds for a total of 35 in this contest.

Quincy Olivari pitched in for the Musketeers for the game. He tallied 43 points in his 36 minutes on the court and totaled 3 assists in this matchup. He made 12 out of 20 in this matchup for a field goal rate of 60.0%, and totaled 10 rebounds.

Xavier has a win-loss mark of 12-10 for the year. The Musketeers have committed 17.5 fouls every game and they shoot 74.2% from the charity stripe. They are getting an assist 16.5 times per game (28th in college basketball) and they turn the ball over 11.7 times per contest. Xavier has 1,696 pts for the campaign (77.1 per game) and they average 39.8 rebounds per game. When it comes to offense, the Musketeers are connecting on 43.9% from the floor, which has them ranked 237th in the country.

The Xavier defense allows 33.4% on shots from beyond the perimeter (159 of 476) and opponents are converting on 70.3% of their free throw attempts. They have given up 15.7 assists and 36.3 rebounds per game, which is ranked 346th and 262nd in college hoops. The Musketeers defensively are ranked 221st in the nation in PPG surrendered with 73.0. They have forced 11.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 41.7% from the field (83rd in the nation).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Villanova

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