NCAA basketball on Thursday night and we will see the Wisc- Milwaukee Panthers take on the Villanova Wildcats in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament, which is being played at First Niagara Arena in Buffalo, New York. The game has a start time of 9:25 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on TBS. Vegas odds have the Wildcats listed as 16.5 point favorites, while the total sits at 140.
Stat Pack: The Milwaukee Panthers grabbed the automatic bid from the Horizon League when they beat Wright State by 6 points in the Conference Finals. The Panthers come in at 21-13 on the year. The Panthers average just 70.9 ppg on 43.3% shooting overall (225th) and they shoot just 32.7% from long range, which is 254th in the nation. The team is paced by Jordan Adams, who averages 15.0 ppg. Kyle Kelm averages 12.6 ppg, while Matt Tiby averages 12.1 ppg and leads the team in rebounding at 6.6 rpg. Austin Arians rounds out the double digit scorers by putting in 10.9 ppg. Defensively this team is not all that good as they allow 70.5 ppg (192nd) on 43.6% shooting (177th), but they are solid defending the arc, allowing just 31.5% from long range, which is 48th in the nation.
The Villanova Wildcats had a heck of the year and spent most of the time in the top 10. They finished the season with a 28-4 record, but did lose to Seton Hall in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. The Cats are a very good offensive team as they come in ranked 30th in the nation in scoring (78.5 ppg), 85th in FG% (45.9%) and 101st in 3 point shooting (36.1%). The offense is led by James Bell, who averages 14.5 ppg on the year, while also tying for the team lead in rebounds at 6.1 rpg. Darrun Hilliard is second on the team in scoring (14.3 ppg), and he is their best long rang threat, hitting 41.5% from beyond the arc. JayVaughn Pinkston (14.2 ppg) rounds out the double digit scorers on the team. The Cats have played solid defense this year, as they have allowed just 66.7 ppg (82nd) on 40.7% shooting (50th), but they have allowed teams to hit 35.3% from beyond the arc, which is 240th in the nation.
Pick: I like the Cats in this one. This is a team that no one is really talking about and all year they have played just 2 bad games and both were vs Creighton. I don't see the Panthers posing much of a threat in this one as they just won't come up with enough offense to keep the game close. Cats by 20+ here.
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College Basketball Free Picks: Oregon vs BYU Betting
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