College Basketball on Wednesday and we will see the Villanova Wildcats travel to South Bend, Indiana to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The game is scheduled for a 6:00 pm (Eastern) start time and will be televised on ESPN 2. Currently the odds for the game have Notre Dame favored by 7.5 points while the total sits at 137. Check out Sportsbook Spy to see who the Public is taking on all of today's games.
Analysis: Villanova gave head coach Jay Wright his 250th victory at the school by upsetting No. 3 Syracuse in overtime this past Saturday, 75-71. That win came just four days after the Wildcats stunned No. 5 Louisville, 73-64, marking the first time in regular season history that VU knocked off a pair of top-five (AP) teams in the same week. The 'Cats are just a game over .500 on the road this season (4-3), and they've lost their last two away from the Main Line. Villanova has three double-digit scorers on the roster this season, led by key reserve JayVaughn Pinkston (13.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg). Arcidiacono is next with 11.7 ppg, and Hilliard checks in at 10.8 ppg for a team that typically generates 69.9 ppg while permitting 66.7 ppg. Hilliard saved his best for the Orange, collecting career highs in points (25), rebounds (seven), assists (six) and minutes played (38) on his way to earning the Big East Player of the Week award. Mouphtaou Yarou tied a career high with 16 rebounds against Syracuse and has three double-doubles in league play after posting none during the non-conference schedule.
Notre Dame fell out of the Top-25 following a week in which it went 1-1, losing at home to Georgetown (63-47) and winning at South Florida (73-65). Overall, the Irish have dropped three of their last five games, two of which have occurred in South Bend -- their first home losses of the season. UND owns the same league ledger as Villanova (4-3), but its wins have come against foes with a combined 10-20 conference record, while its losses have been to clubs posting a combined 12-9 mark. Jerian Grant scored 18 points and handed out eight assists in leading Notre Dame to a come-from-behind win at USF, but he wasn't alone in being the only Irish player to make a significant contribution. Tom Knight was nearly perfect from the field (8-of-10) in netting 17 points to go with seven rebounds, while Eric Atkins tallied 13 points and four helpers, Pat Connaughton chipped in a dozen points, and Jack Cooley pulled down 14 caroms for a UND squad that shot a sizzling 54.0 percent from the field, doubled up the Bulls on the glass (34-17), and held the hosts to just 6-of-21 shooting from beyond the arc. USF led at the break, 35-28, but was outscored in the second half, 45-30, due in large part to its .385 FG percentage and UND's .600 effort. Connaughton (9.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.6 apg) also helps the Irish produce 73.1 ppg, which they do by draining 50 percent of their total shots, which includes nearly 40 percent of their 3-point tries. Defensively, the team yields 62.0 ppg, with foes shooting just 40.9 percent from the floor.
Free Pick: These teams have played some high scoring games in this series, but I don't feel this will be one of them. Villanova's last 5 games have averaged just 130.4 ppg and that's with an OT game sprinkled in there, while their road games have averaged just 129.9 ppg. Notre Dame's last 5 games have averaged just 127.2 ppg, while their home games have put up 134.1 ppg. The Irish have been struggling of late and you can bet that Brey will look to start using his burn offense a bit more, as it has been very effective for him the last few years. That should eat plenty of clock for sure. The Irish allow 60.7 ppg at home, while Villanova allows just 62 ppg on the road. This is a huge game for both and that could mean some tightness by the offenses, plus Nova may also come out a bit flat after knocking off 2 top 5 teams last week. I expect this one to fall in the 120's.
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