Villanova Wildcats vs UConn Huskies Prediction, 2/18/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Villanova Wildcats vs UConn Huskies

Date: Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Location: XL Center in Gainesville, FL

TV: ESPN+

The UConn Huskies (17-7) will try to beat the Villanova Wildcats (15-10) at XL Center on Tuesday.

The Villanova Wildcats faced St. John's and walked away with a win by a score of 73-71 in their last contest. Villanova finished with a 53.1% field goal percentage (26 out of 49) and knocked down 11 out of their 24 shots from beyond the arc. At the free throw line, the Wildcats converted 10 of 13 shots for a rate of 76.9%. In terms of pulling down boards, they collected 23 with 6 of them being of the offensive sort. They also dished out 16 assists in this game while forcing 13 turnovers and having 10 steals. With respect to defense, Villanova allowed their opponent to shoot 44.3% from the field on 27 out of 61 shooting. St. John's distributed 19 dimes and had 8 steals for this contest. Additionally, St. John's snagged 26 boards (9 offensive, 17 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. St. John's finished shooting 60.0% at the charity stripe by knocking down 6 of their 10 tries. They also made 11 of their 37 tries from distance. With respect to fouls, the Wildcats finished with 12 while St. John's racked up 14 fouls.

Wooga Poplar is one guy who was important for the contest. He accounted for 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting. He saw the court for 33 mins and snagged 6 boards. He shot 64.3% from the field and also distributed 2 assists.

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Villanova comes into this contest with a win-loss record of 15-10 on the year. They average 75.4 points per outing (153rd in Division 1) while connecting on 47.2% from the floor. The Wildcats are shooting 40.2% from downtown (247 of 615) and 80.8% from the charity stripe. As a team, Villanova is snagging 34.4 rebounds per contest and has totaled 333 dimes on the season, which has them ranked 214th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. They are giving up possession 10.2 times per contest and as a group are committing 16.0 fouls per game.

On the defensive end, the Wildcats have forced 10.5 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 15.1 fouls. They give up 34.1% on 3-point shots while they are 67th in D-1 in points per game allowed (67.7). The Wildcats defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 42.7% (589 of 1,380) and they concede 30.7 boards per contest as a group. They are 281st in college in giving up assists to the opposition with 357 relinquished so far this year.

The last time they took the court, the UConn Huskies went home victorious with a score of 70-66 when they played Creighton. The Huskies collected 25 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive boards for a total of 36 in the matchup. They gave up possession of the ball 6 times, while recording 8 steals for the matchup. Creighton committed 13 personal fouls for this game which took the Huskies to the charity stripe for a total of 15 attempts. They were able to make 12 of the free throws for a rate of 80.0%. With respect to shots from beyond the arc, UConn buried 6 of their 26 attempts (23.1%). When the game finished, the Huskies went 26 for 66 from the floor which gave them a rate of 39.4%. The Huskies allowed Creighton to make 19 out of their 47 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 40.4% in this game. They wrapped up this game 29.2% from 3-point land by connecting on 7 out of 24 and walked away from this one shooting 21 out of 30 from the free throw line (70.0%). Concerning rebounding, UConn allowed Creighton to pull down 33 overall (5 on the offensive glass).

Liam McNeeley ended up being a major contributor for the Huskies for this game. He made 12 of 22 in the game for a rate of 54.5%, and had 10 rebounds. He had 38 points in his 38 mins on the court and totaled 1 assist in the matchup.

UConn has a record of 17-7 for the season. When it comes to offensive execution, the Huskies are shooting 48.5% from the floor, which has them ranked 28th in college hoops. UConn has totaled 1,889 points for the season (78.7 per contest) and they collect 35.0 rebounds per game. They are earning an assist 18.3 times per game (6th in college) and they turn it over 11.0 times per game. The Huskies are committing 18.9 personal fouls every game and they go 77.6% from the free throw line.

The UConn defense concedes 35.5% on shots from behind the 3-point line (153 of 431) and opponents are knocking down 72.7% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have surrendered 10.0 assists and 30.0 boards per game, which is ranked 11th and 11th in college hoops. The Huskies on defense are ranked 81st in Division 1 in PPG given up with 68.5. They are able to force 10.8 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 42.4% from the floor (110th in college).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Villanova

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