Providence vs Villanova NCAA Basketball Analysis Betting Tips

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No. 9 Providence has already wrapped up the Big East regular-season title, so the Friars may not have a heck of a lot to play for Tuesday night at No. 11 Villanova, which will finish second in the league with a victory. The Cats are 9-point favorites on the NCAAB odds.

How to Bet Providence at Villanova NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 6:30 PM ET
Where: Finneran Pavilion
TV: Fox Sports 1
Stream: Fox Sports Go
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: Villanova -9 (total 134.5)

Last Meeting

Providence lost at home to Villanova on Feb. 15, 89-84. Cats star Collin Gillespie had five 3-pointers and a career-high 33 points, including a key 3 with 23 seconds left. Justin Moore added four 3s and 19 points for the Wildcats, who went 11 of 23 from beyond the arc. Villanova never trailed in the second half. Nate Watson led Providence with 20 points. Jared Bynum added 18 points and A.J. Reeves finished with 16 after being saddled with foul trouble in the first half. The Friars were just 5-for-23 from deep.

Why Bet on Providence?

The Friars (24-3) come off an easy 72-51 win over Creighton on Saturday to clinch the first Big East regular-season title in school history. The Friars also earned their 24th win of the season, which ties the highest win total under Ed Cooley and most victories since 2016. The Bluejays did not score in the final 3:36 minutes of the game.

“I shed some tears,” Center Nate Watson said. “All this hard work has finally paid off. I genuinely love being a Friar. I’ve been here for five years.”

Providence started the second half up nine points and quickly pushed the lead to double digits behind a slam dunk by Watson and a corner 3-pointer from Justin Minaya. When Jared Bynum fed Watson for an easy layup, the Friars were on their way with a 51-35 lead with 14:52 remaining.

Senior A.J. Reeves led the Friars with 23 points shooting 7-10 from three-point territory. Minaya contributed a game-high 11 rebounds. Al Durham and Watson each chipped in with 12 points. Durham ranks fifth in the nation in free-throws made (153) and 15th in the nation in attempts (180). Durham has been cold from distance lately as over his last six games, the senior guard has gone 0-for-14 from three- point range. His last made three was against Marquette all the way back on January 30.

The Friars have a team record of five graduate students on the roster this season. The average age of the Friars’ top seven players is 23.0 years. The Friars have won 14 games in Big East play for the first time. They will open the Big East Tournament on March 10 at 12 p.m. vs. the winner of the 8/9 game. The Friars are attempting to reach 25 wins in a season for the first time since 1986-87 (25-9).

Providence has posted a 127-272 (.318) mark all-time versus top-25 teams, including a 4-1 mark this season. PC has some quality wins on their resume which will go a long way for the selection committee for the NCAA Tournament. Road wins at Wisconsin, UConn, and a home win against Texas Tech are the highlights of the Friars’ resume. Winning at Villanova would add to that.

Why Bet on Villanova?

The Wildcats (21-7) come off a 71-69 loss at No. 21 UConn last Tuesday. R.J. Cole hit a driving floater with 5.9 seconds left and then took a charge from Collin Gillespie at the other end of the court to rally the Huskies. Villanova had a four-point lead and the ball with 35 seconds remaining. But then Caleb Daniels missed the front end of a 1-and-1 for the Wildcats, the best free-throw shooting team in the country, and Villanova was outscored 6-0 the rest of the way. The Villanova Wildcats dropped three spots in the AP Poll to No. 11 following their loss at UConn.

The Cats had a relatively balanced performance as a whole — 17 points from Collin Gillespie, 15 from Brandon Slater, 13 from Jermaine Samuels, and 12 from Justin Moore. Despite the even effort and a largely successful job of moving the ball around, Villanova couldn’t quite overcome the physical nature of the Huskies down the stretch.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced the five finalists for the 2022 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award. Gillespie is joined by James Akinjo (Baylor), Andrew Nembhard (Gonzaga), Sahvir Wheeler (Kentucky) and Tyger Campbell (UCLA).

The Wildcats’ Adjusted Offensive Efficiency number is 118.8 points per 100 possessions (No. 6 in the country). VU’s Adjusted Defensive Efficiency rating is 94.1 points per 100 possessions, which ranks No. 27 in the nation. The Wildcats Adjusted Tempo of 63.0 points per game ranks 347th in Division I.

Villanova averages 9.2 made 3-pointers per games. The Wildcats have converted 40 percent or higher from beyond the arc 11 times in 2021-22 (10-1). Villanova is 325-65 (.833) at Finneran Pavilion all-time and saw a 29-game winning streak in the Finn snapped on Jan. 19 by Marquette. The Wildcats are 33-3 in the facility (.917) since it reopened as Finneran Pavilion in 2018-19, including 8-1 on campus this season.