Villanova Wildcats vs Xavier Musketeers Prediction, 1/14/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Villanova Wildcats vs Xavier Musketeers

Date: Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Location: Cintas Center in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN+

The Xavier Musketeers (10-7) will go up against the Villanova Wildcats (11-6) at Cintas Center on Tuesday.

The Villanova Wildcats stepped onto the hardwood against St. John's and took a loss by a final of 80-68 in their last game. Villanova finished the game having earned a 39.3% FG percentage (22 of 56) and knocked down 10 out of their 26 shots from downtown. At the free throw line, the Wildcats converted 14 of 17 attempts for a percentage of 82.4%. Concerning grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 25 with 7 of them being offensive. They also doled out 10 assists in this game while creating 9 turnovers and having 5 steals. When it comes to defending, Villanova allowed 40.0% from the field on 22 of 55 shooting. St. John's totaled 11 assists and had 5 steals in the matchup. Furthermore, St. John's pulled down 37 boards (13 offensive, 24 defensive), but didn't notch a block. St. John's finished the game at 74.4% from the free throw line by knocking down 29 of 39 attempts. They also knocked down 7 of their 24 attempts from beyond the perimeter. In reference to personal fouls, the Wildcats walked away with 29 and St. John's recorded 16 personal fouls.

Wooga Poplar is one guy who was a contributor for this contest. He ended up with 22 points on 7 of 13 shooting. He played for 37 minutes played and pulled down 4 boards. He finished shooting 53.8% from the floor and recorded 1 assist.

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Villanova enters this one with a win-loss record of 11-6 on the season. They are averaging 78.6 pts per game (95th in the country) while connecting on 48.4% from the field. The Wildcats are shooting 41.2% on shots from beyond the arc (179 of 434) and 79.6% from the free throw line. As a team, Villanova is grabbing 34.8 boards per game and has totaled 237 assists so far this year, which has them ranked 164th in the country in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 9.6 times per contest and as a group they are committing 16.7 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

On the defensive end, the Wildcats are forcing 10.4 turnovers per game and they draw 15.7 fouls. They give up 35.4% from beyond the arc and they rank 82nd in college hoops in opponents points per game (67.6). The Wildcats defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 43.0% (399 of 927) and they concede 29.9 boards per contest as a group. They are currently ranked 267th in college in giving up assists to the opposition with 238 relinquished on the campaign.

In their last game, the Xavier Musketeers took home the win by a final score of 77-63 when they faced DePaul. When discussing how they rebounded, Xavier permitted DePaul to pull down 26 in total (5 on the offensive side). They finished shooting 32.3% from 3-point land by going 10 of 31 and finished the game at 11 of 15 at the free throw line (73.3%). The Musketeers allowed DePaul to make 21 of 53 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 39.6% for the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Musketeers shot 26 for 54 from the floor which had them at 48.1%. In the matter of three-point attempts, Xavier knocked down 9 out of 20 tries (45.0%). They were able to make 16 of the free throw tries for a clip of 80.0%. DePaul earned 18 personal fouls for the game which got the Musketeers to the free throw line for 20 tries. They coughed up the ball 11 times, while getting 6 steals for the matchup. The Musketeers were able to corral 27 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards totaling 33 for the game.

Zach Freemantle ended up being a major contributor for the Musketeers in this game. He earned 20 points in his 32 mins on the court and had 1 assist for this contest. He made 8 out of 15 in the game giving him a field goal percentage of 53.3%, and had 10 rebounds.

Xavier has a mark of 10-7 for the campaign. The Musketeers commit 16.6 personal fouls every game and they connect on 79.0% from the free throw line. Their rate of earning assists is at 17.0 times per contest (36th in the country) and they cough up possession 11.6 times per game. Xavier has earned 1,341 pts for the season (78.9 per game) and they collect 35.2 boards per game. As an offensive team, the Musketeers are hitting on 46.2% from the floor, which ranks them 123rd in the nation.

The Musketeers defensively are ranked 133rd in D-1 in points per game surrendered with 69.8. They are forcing their opponents into 11.8 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 42.3% from the field (138th in college). The Xavier defense concedes 33.6% on 3-point attempts (112 of 333) and their opposition knocks down 71.7% of their foul shots. They relinquish 14.1 assists and 32.9 total boards per game, which ranks 259th and 105th in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Xavier

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