Villanova vs Butler Prediction 3/1/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Butler Bulldogs and the Villanova Wildcats meet Saturday in college basketball action from the Finneran Pavilion. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Villanova vs Butler Prediction.

Matchup History

The Villanova Wildcats won the first meeting between these two teams this season by a final score of 73-65 at Butler back on January 1^st, 2025. The win made it back-to-back wins and wins in 5 of the last 7 meetings for Villanova.

Butler Recap

The Butler Bulldogs come into this game looking to bounce back from a 76-70 loss at the hands of St. John’s last time out to sit at 13-15 on the year. After this game, Butler will head home for a matchup with Xavier.

Bulldogs Looking For Some Consistency After Alternating Wins & Losses In 4 Straight

Jahmyl Telfort leads Butler in scoring and assists with 16 PPG and 3.5 APG along with 4.8 RPG. Pierre Brooks II has 15.6 PPG with 4.9 RPG, and Patrick McCaffery has 11.1 PPG with 4.7 RPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Butler up to this point in the year. Andre Screen has chipped in 8.2 PPG with a team-high 6 RPG to lead the Bulldogs in rebounding while Finley Bizjack has 9.1 PPG with 3 RPG and 2.2 APG and Kolby King has 5.6 PPG with 4.4 RPG as well. As a team, Butler is averaging 74.4 PPG on 46.1% shooting from the field, 36.8% from behind the arc and 74% from the foul line so far this season.

Why the Butler Bulldogs will win

• Butler has won four of its last five games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Villanova Recap

The Villanova Wildcats come into this game looking to add on to their 59-54 win over Seton Hall last time out to sit at 17-12 on the year. After this game, Villanova will close out the regular season with a road game at Georgetown.

Wildcats Win Back-To-Back Games

Eric Dixon leads Villanova in scoring with 22.9 PPG along with 5.3 RPG while Wooga Poplar has 14.6 PPG with 6.6 RPG to share the team lead in rebounding. And Jordan Longino has added 11.8 PPG with 2.4 RPG and 2.3 APG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Villanova up to this point in the year. Jhamir Brickus also has 9.8 PPG with a team-high 5.1 APG to lead the Wildcats in the assist department while Tyler Perkins has 6.4 PPG with 3.9 RPG and Enoch Boakye has 4 PPG with 6.1 RPG of his own this season. As a team, Villanova is averaging 74.5 PPG on 46.6% shooting from the field, 40.3% from three and 81.4% from the foul line this season.

Why the Villanova Wildcats will win

• Villanova has won nine of its last 10 games at Finneran Pavilion.
• Butler has lost each of its last four games at Finneran Pavilion.

Total Points Facts

• Each of Butler’s last four day games against the Big East Conference have produced a total of 155+ points.
• Each of Villanova’s last four day games at Finneran Pavilion have produced a total of 150+ points.

Butler vs. Villanova Prediction

I’m on Butler here. It took a monumental run late in the second half of that game for Villanova to pull out the win in the first meeting between these two teams, and I don’t see Butler replicating that meltdown here. The Bulldogs were the better team for 80-90% of that game before falling apart, and at worst in the rematch I think they keep it close if they don’t give themselves a chance to win outright. Give me Butler and the points.