The third-ranked Villanova Wildcats will look to extend their winning ways when they hit the road to take on the Marquette Golden Eagles in their Big East battle on Wednesday. With the Cats looking to get it done on the road and Marquette looking to bounce back from a crushing loss the last time out, let’s find out where the best betting value lies in this Big East battle, along with their College Basketball odds.
NCAA Basketball Betting Predictions – No. 7 Villanova at Marquette
Villanova Wildcats (7-1) Vs Marquette Golden Eagles (5-4)
- When: Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020 at 7:00 PM ET
- Where: Fiserv Forum
- NCAAB Odds: Villanova -2.5
- Total: 141.5
Why Bet On Villanova
Villanova has won five straight games since suffering its only loss of the season against Virginia Tech on Nov. 28. The Wildcats come into this matchup fresh off a commanding 88-68 home win over St. Joe’s on Saturday.
Big man Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had a monster game with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists while playing with a protective mask on after breaking his nose on Dec. 16 against Butler. Caleb Daniels added 19 points while draining a trio of three-pointers. Villanova has had three games canceled or postponed and two others that were scheduled on short notice.
“I’ve broken my nose before in eighth grade, so the mask I was wearing today was from eighth grade and one I’ve worn before,” Robinson-Earl said. “It’s different, but you’re so concentrated on the task at hand, it doesn’t really bother you as much as it might look.”
The Wildcats average 79.5 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting from the field and 37.2 percent from beyond the arc. Defensively, Villanova limits the opposition to 67.0 points per game on 44.6 percent shooting from the field and 34.7 percent from distance.
Why Bet On Marquette
The Golden Eagles have dropped two straight and three of its last four games including a heartbreaking 91-88 road loss against No. 22 Xavier on Sunday. Marquette fell as Xavier’s Adam Kunkel drained a game-winning three at the buzzer to win it. Koby McEwen and Dawson Garcia scored a team-high 20 points while Theo John added 14 points. Jamal Cain and DJ Carton each contributed 10 points in the loss.
“We’re not going to win in the Big East if we’re letting teams shoot the percentage that Xavier shot,” Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “We didn’t play with the effort or execution we needed to win. That’s something we need to fix, and we need to fix it soon.”
The Golden Eagles average 76.1 points per game on 45.8 percent shooting from the field and 38.6 percent from beyond the arc. Marquette allows 69.3 points per game defensively on 39.5 percent shooting from the field and 33.8 percent from downtown.
Expert Analysis and Prediction
These longtime Big East rivals have split the last four meetings evenly with Villanova recording a narrow 72-71 home win the last time they met in February. The Wildcats have won seven of the last 10 meetings
The Wildcats are 4-0 ATS in their last four road games, 8-1-1 ATS in their last 10 road games against a team with a winning home record and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
Marquette has gone 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a winning straight up record and 1-4 ATS in their last five games. While the Golden Eagles have gone 2-0 ATS in the last two meetings and 5-3 ATS in the last eight meetings, I’m going with Villanova to get the big road win in this matchup as Jeremiah Robinson-Earl stars again.
Pick: Villanova 77 Marquette 72
College Basketball Betting News
Odds and Lines: Villanova -2.5 | Live Betting | National Championship | Most Outstanding Player | March Madness
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