The Providence Friars and the Villanova Wildcats meet in college basketball action from Finneran Pavilion on Tuesday night.
The Providence Friars will be out to build on a three-game win streak after a 72-51 win over Creighton last time out. Nate Watson leads the Friars in scoring with 14 PPG along with 5.6 RPG while Al Durham has 13.3 PPG with 3.4 APG. Jared Bynum has 12.7 PPG with a team-high 4.3 APG while A.J. Reeves also has 10.2 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Providence so far this season. Noah Horchler has 9.7 PPG with a team-high 8.6 RPG to lead the Friars on the glass as well this season. As a team, Providence is averaging 72.5 points per game on 44.5% shooting from the field, 34.9% from three-point range and 73.1% from the foul line while allowing 66.2 points per game on 40.9% shooting from the field and 31.3% from three this season.
The Villanova Wildcats will hope to bounce back from a 71-69 road loss to UConn last time out. Collin Gillespie leads the Wildcats in scoring with 16.6 PPG as well as in assists with 3 APG while Justin Moore has 15.3 PPG with 5.2 RPG and Jermaine Samuels has 10.2 PPG with 6 RPG to make up the trio of double-digit scorers for Villanova so far this season. Brandon Slater also has 9.4 PPG with 3.7 RPG while Caleb Daniels has 9.6 PPG with 3.3 RPG and Eric Dixon also has 9.7 PPG and a team-high 6.6 RPG as well on the year. As a team, Villanova’s averaging 73.6 PPG on 44.3% shooting from the field, 36.5% from three and 82.7% from the foul line while allowing 63.4 PPG on 41.1% shooting from the field and 31.7% from three this season.
Providence is 2-7 ATS in their last 9 Tuesday games and 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a home winning percentage above .600 while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall. Villanova is 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 Tuesday games while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600.
I get the case to be made either way here, as Providence is a lot better than this line would suggest and the Wildcats have revenge on their minds. However, in any other spot I may have taken the Friars with the points and I think I’ll get back on them at some point. The thing is that Providence has the regular season title pretty much locked up, and Villanova is going to be out for revenge at home. Finneran Pavilion is going to be loud, rowdy and tough for any road opponent that’s in the spot that Providence is in. Not loving the line, but this just feels like an 11-point Villanova win. I’ll lay the points in a lean at best.