Photo by Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
DePaul Blue Demons (8-4) at Villanova Wildcats (9-4)
College Basketball: Wednesday, January 2, 2019 at 8:30 pm (Villanova Pavilion)
The Line: Villanova Wildcats -12.5 -- Over/Under: 141.5 Click to Get Latest Betting Odds
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The DePaul Blue Demons will meet the Villanova Wildcats in college basketball activity on Wednesday.
DePaul enters this one with an 8-4 record overall. The Blue Demons had a three-game win streak going versus Chicago State, UIC and Incarnate Word but have lost their last pair to Boston College and Xavier.
In the Musketeers game, Paul Reed led DePaul on 17 points and nine rebounds. Jaylen Butz added 16 points and six rebounds for the Demons, and Eli Cain had 14 points and five rebounds in that one.
Over on the Villanova side, they’re 9-4 this season. The Wildcats dropped a pair of consecutive games versus Penn 78-75 and Kansas 74-71, but bounced back versus Connecticut 81-58 in their last outing.
In the Huskies matchup, Villanova’s Eric Paschall led the way on 21 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Phil Booth posted 18 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. Joe Cremo (11 points) and Jahvon Quinerly (10 points) finished in double-figures as well.
The Demons are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 following a straight-up loss and 1-3-1 ATS in their last five road games. DePaul is 2-6-1 ATS in the last nine overall and 0-4-1 ATS in their last five following an ATS loss.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 following an ATS win and 20-7 ATS in their last 27 home games. Villanova is 36-16 ATS int her last 52 overall and 35-16 ATS in their last 51 following a straight-up win.
DePaul isn’t quite ready to muscle up to some of the higher-tier schools on their schedule, but they’re getting closer as time goes on and they’ve got a pretty solid roster on their hands.
As for Villanova, they can play with just about anybody but are still prone to miscues and bad outings here and there like in the Penn game.
I’m thinking the Blue Demons are ready to step up and cover this spread; it should be an interesting matchup.
Andrew’s Pick DePaul Blue Demons +12.5
AUTHOR: Andrew Jett
