Butler vs Villanova 1/13/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Villanova Wildcats and the Butler Bulldogs meet in college basketball action from the Hinkle Fieldhouse on Friday night.

The Villanova Wildcats will try to bounce back from back-to-back losses after a 75-65 loss to Depaul in their last game. Caleb Daniels leads Villanova in scoring and assists with 16.4 PPG along with 4.8 RPG and a team-high 3.5 APG while Eric Dixon has 16.2 PPG and a team-high 6.5 RPG to lead Villanova in rebounding this season. Brandon Slater has 11 PPG with 5.5 RPG and Cam Whitmore has 13.2 PPG and 5.2 RPG across ten games to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Villanova up to this point in the year. As a team, Villanova is averaging 71.1 PPG on 43.5% shooting from the field, 33% from three and 85.4% from the foul line this season.

The Butler Bulldogs will look to rebound from back-to-back losses as well after a 77-61 loss to St. John’s in their last matchup. Jayden Taylor leads Butler in scoring with 12.8 PPG with 3.8 RPG while Chuck Harris has 12.7 PPG, 2.8 APG and 4.1 RPG this season. Manny Bates has 12.6 PPG with a team-high 5.9 RPG to lead Butler on the glass while Eric Hunter also has 10.1 PPG with 2.6 APG as well. Simas Lukosius also has 10.2 PPG with 4 RPG and 2.9 APG to lead the Bulldogs in assists and to cap off the scoring in double figures for Butler up to this point in the year. As a team, Butler is averaging 69.4 points per game on 45.8% shooting from the field, 34.2% from behind the arc and 73% from the foul line so far this season.

Villanova is 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 road games against a team with a winning home record and 12-5-1 ATS in their last 18 Friday games while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a winning record. Butler is 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall and 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 home games while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 games overall.

I get the case to be made either way here, but I’m personally siding with the under. This isn’t the same Villanova team as we’ve seen in past seasons, and not in a good way as the Wildcats are struggling to find consistent offense. On the other side, Butler has a nice record, but they’ve struggled to score themselves more often than not and I just don’t see this as a high-scoring game. I could easily see a first to 65 or 66 wins this game. Give me the under.