Villanova vs Mount St. Mary’s College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 11/9/2021

The Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers and the Villanova Wildcats meet in college basketball action from Finneran Pavilion on Tuesday.

The Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers will look to build on a relatively successful 2020-21 season, finishing at 10-10 overall including 9-7 in NEC conference play to finish with the #4 seed in the conference tournament. The Mountaineers took down Wagner in the semifinals before beating Bryant in the conference championship to earn the NEC’s bid into the NCAA tournament. The Mountaineers had a short stay at the big dance though, as they were taken out in the First Four by Texas Southern. The Mountaineers bring back their three towers at the forward spots in Nana Opoku (10.2 PPG, 7 RPG last season), Malik Jefferson (8 PPG, 7.8 RPG) and Mezie Offurum (9.4 PPG, 6.2 RPG). Jalen Benjamin transfers in from UAB and is expected to take over the lead ball-handler role after putting up 9.2 PPG with the Blazers last season. Elijah Elliott also transfers in from Oklahoma Christian after logging 15.5 PPG and 4.4 APG. The NEC will be more competitive in the middle of the pack than it’s been in a long time, but expect Mount St. Mary’s to be in the mix at the end of the year.

The Villanova Wildcats will look to build on an 18-7 mark in 2020-21, including 11-4 in Big East conference play to finish with the Big East regular season championship. The Wildcats were stunned by Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, but still earned a 5-seed at the NCAA tournament via an at-large bid. The Wildcats took down Winthrop and North Texas and led by five at the half against eventual champion Baylor before falling to the Bears in the second half. Collin Gillespie is back and returned from his torn MCL after logging 14 PPG and 4.6 APG last season. Justin Moore (12.9 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3 APG) and Jermaine Samuels (12 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.6 APG) are back as the other two double-digit scorers for Villanova from last year’s squad. Caleb Daniels (9.6 PPG) is also back in the fold for Jay Wright’s crew as they make another run at the Big East. Villanova is probably a safe bet to win the Big East, finish with a top-ten ranking and a 1- or 2- seed at this year’s NCAA tournament.

Mount St. Mary’s is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 road games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall while the under is 13-6 in their last 19 games overall. Villanova is 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 home games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Tuesday games while the over is 10-4 in their last 14 Tuesday games.

This is a lot of points to be giving up early on in the year, but realistically Mount St. Mary’s doesn’t have the depth or the horses to match what Villanova brings to the table. Look for the Wildcats to get up early and pull away over the course of the game, winning this one by 30+.