Villanova vs Portland 11/25/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Portland Pilots and the Villanova Wildcats meet in college basketball action from the Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Friday.

The Portland Pilots come into this one on the heels of their 89-81 loss to North Carolina last time out. Tyler Robertson has 17.5 PPG along with 5.2 RPG and a team-high 4.3 APG to lead the Pilots in the assist department as well up to this point in the season. Moses Wood has 13.8 PPG along with a team-high 7.6 RPG to lead the Pilots on the glass while Kristian Sjolund has 12.2 PPG with 4.2 RPG and Mike Meadows has 11.3 PPG with 4.5 RPG to cap off the scoring in double figures for Portland so far this season. As a team, Portland is averaging 79.4 PPG on 45.7% shooting from the field, 36.8% from behind the arc and 76.7% from the foul line this season.

The Villanova Wildcats will hope to bounce back from an 81-79 loss to Iowa State last time out. Eric Dixon leads Villanova in scoring and assists with 19.8 PPG and 2.5 APG while Caleb Daniels has 15.8 PPG along with 5 RPG as well this season. Brandon Slater has 13 PPG with 5.8 RPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Villanova up to this point in the year as the Wildcats’ top rebounder. As a team, Villanova is averaging 71 PPG on 45.3% shooting from the field, 34.5% from three and 83.3% from the foul line this season.

I get why you’d look at Villanova here based on name recognition, but the Pilots just took it to the Tar Heels in a losing effort and really put a scare into UNC, a UNC Team that like Villanova, has had issues covering the number this season. Maybe it’s the adjustment in coaching, but this Villanova team just doesn’t look right for some reason. Maybe it’ll work itself out down the line, but until it does, I’m going the other way. Give me Portland.