NCAA Picks: Villanova vs North Texas 3/21/21 College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Villanova Wildcats battle the North Texas Mean Green Sunday in second round NCAA Tournament college basketball March Madness action from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. 

Coming into this NCAA Tournament Second Round matchup, North Texas sits at 18-9 so far. The Mean Green have won five straight and upset Purdue on Friday. As for Villanova, they’re 17-6 this year. The Wildcats took out Winthrop in their Friday tournament game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

North Texas has had a couple of three-game losing streaks this season, but overall they’ve been a strong team. The Mean Green have caught fire over their last five games, taking out Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion, Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky and Purdue in that stretch. 

In the intense overtime win versus Purdue 78-69 in First Round activity on Friday, North Texas had a 32-24 halftime lead evaporate but hung on for a 17-8 advantage in the extra period. Topping the Green in scoring was Javion Hamlet with 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. 

Over on the Villanova side, they’ve stayed fairly consistent this season but ran into some trouble heading into the conference tourney. The Wildcats fell to Providence to close out the season and again to Georgetown in the Big East tournament, but beat Winthrop on Friday. 

In Friday’s First Round matchup versus Winthrop, the Wildcats had a slim 34-33 advantage at the break but opened it up from there on a 73-63 victory. Tops in scoring was Jeremiah Robinson-Earl with 22 points and 11 rebounds with six assists. 

The Mean Green are 5-0 ATS in their last five overall and 7-0-1 ATS in their last eight after a straight-up win. North Texas is 3-0-1 ATS in their last four as an underdog and 6-0 ATS in their last six neutral-site games. 

Meanwhile, the Wildcats are 16-5 ATS in their last 21 NCAA Tournament games and 22-10-1 ATS in their last 33 neutral-site games. Villanova is 2-6 ATS in their last eight Sunday games and 0-4 ATS in their last four after an ATS win. 

PICK: I’m going to ride with North Texas in this one. The Mean Green posted an excellent showing in the overtime victory versus Purdue, shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range. North Texas had a little trouble on the boards with a 39-32 rebound deficit, but took care of the ball well (eight turnovers) and powered out the victory in a game that shouldn’t have been that close. This is a scrappy Mean Green team that seems to be hitting their stride. It’ll be interesting to see what they can do here. Should be a fun game to watch.