Xavier vs Villanova Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 2/21/23

The Villanova Wildcats and the Xavier Musketeers meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Cintas Center. Villanova enters this one at 13-14 overall. The Wildcats lost to Providence in their last game. As for Xavier, they’re 20-7 on the season and coming off a win over DePaul. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Villanova Wildcats 

Villanova managed a .500 run to start out their season, going 10-10 over the first 20 games. The Wildcats are just 3-4 since then however with losses to Providence, Marquette, Creighton and Providence with wins over DePaul, Seton Hall and Butler otherwise. 

In the Providence game on Saturday, the Wildcats were down 36-31 going into the second half. Villanova didn’t end up getting any closer in an 85-72 defeat. Tops in scoring was Eric Dixon with 18 points and eight rebounds. 

Xavier Musketeers

Over on the Xavier side, they hit a solid 16-4 run over their first 20 games of the year. The Musketeers have since gone 4-3 with wins over UConn, Providence, St. John’s and DePaul. The losses otherwise were to Creighton, Butler and Marquette. 

Matched up against DePaul on Saturday, the Musketeers jumped out to a commanding 49-27 halftime lead. Xavier was outscored 41-33 from there but still won 82-68. Jack Nunge was the top team scorer on 18 points and 10 rebounds. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll stick with Xavier in this one. The Musketeers didn’t have much trouble with DePaul in their last game, shooting 44.9 percent from the floor with a 41-33 rebounding advantage (14-4 offensive). The last time these teams saw each other was back on January 7 in an 88-80 Xavier win from the Pavilion. Villanova has been on a pretty nice 3-1 stretch over the last four outings, but they’ve scored 62 or fewer points in two of those games. I don’t think the Wildcats will keep up with Xavier if the Musketeers get going.