A battle of Top 25 teams in the Big East take to the floor tonight when the Providence Friars travel to play the Villanova Wildcats. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on FOX Sports 1. Currently the College Basketball Betting Odds for the game have Villanova favored to pick up the conference win.

Both Providence and Villanova are shoe-ins for the NCAA Tournament at this point. The Friars are tied for third place in the Big East with Butler while Villanova still owns a commanding lead over Georgetown. The Wildcats would have to have a colossal collapse down the stretch to not end the season with the title. Jay Wright's team is also looking to potentially run down a No. 1 seed in the tournament and losing at this point would certainly hinder that option.

Villanova comes into tonight's game winners of eight straight and they've been impossible to beat in home games this season, not losing yet in 14 games. The Wildats are a very solid defensive team as conference opponents are scoring just under 61 per game. Providence comes in averaging almost 71 per game themselves, but getting into an up and down game against a high-scoring Villanova team doesn't seem like their best option.

Providence is going to have to play some defense tonight. The Wildcats average better than 75 points per game and have six players averaging at least nine points per game, led by Darrun Hilliard II and Ryan Arcidiacono in double figures. Providence gets better than 20 points a game from LaDontae Henton, the senior forward from Lansing, Michigan that has poured in at least 20 points in each of his last four games. The Friars also have double-digit scoring from Kris Dunn and Tyler Harris, giving them options in tough games.

This game is going to come down to defense. Both offenses have quality players that can fill it up, so it should come down to the team that can make the stops, score in transition and connect at the free-throw line. Villanova is going to get it done here at home as they search for that No. 1 seed.

Free Pick: Villanova 71, Providence 64

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