Villanova vs UConn | Expert Analysis & NCAAB Odds

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The lone Top 25 matchup around college basketball on Tuesday is from the Big East as No. 8 Villanova visits No. 21 Connecticut as the Wildcats look to keep their conference regular-season title hopes alive with a victory. The game is a pick’em on the NCAAB odds.

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

When: Tuesday, 8 PM ET
Where: XL Center, Hartford
TV: Fox Sports 1
Stream: Fox Sports Go
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: Pick’em (total 136)

Last Meeting

On Feb. 15 in Philadelphia, Villanova beat UConn 85-74. Eric Dixon scored a career-high 24 points for the Cats and star Collin Gillespie scored 19 before he hurt his ankle. The Wildcats played the final 6:53 without Gillespie and the entire game without second-leading scorer Justin Moore (sprained left ankle). Dixon grabbed 12 rebounds, made 10 of 15 shots for the Wildcats and keyed a 12-0 run in the second half that busted the game open and seemingly put it out of reach. Nova sealed the win at the free-throw line and made 21 of 22 overall. RJ Cole led the Huskies with 25 points.

The Wildcats are 38-31 all-time vs. UConn.

Why Bet on Villanova?

The Wildcats (21-6) won their fifth in a row Saturday, 74-66 over Georgetown. Donald Carey scored 24 and Dante Harris added 16 for Georgetown, which remained winless in the Big East while losing its 16th game in a row. Georgetown hit consecutive 3-pointers to open the second half to trim Villanova’s 10-point halftime advantage to four. And the Hoyas would get as close as three twice more, the last on Carey’s 3 with 8:22 left that pulled them within 56-53 to cap an 11-3 spurt. But the Hoyas went cold and Villanova took control from there.

“My kids, they fought the entire the game,” Hoyas coach Patrick Ewing said. “They competed, they did their best. It didn’t work out for us, unfortunately.”

Villanova, the nation’s leader in free throw percentage entering this weekend’s action, sank 17-of-19 (.895) to help key the win. Junior Justin Moore scored 15 of his 19 points after halftime for Nova. Brandon Slater (11 points), Eric Dixon (10 points), and Caleb Daniels (10 points) joined Moore in double figure points.

Moore and backcourt partner Collin Gillespie have overcome ankle injuries suffered earlier in the month. After missing the first meeting with the Huskies, Moore has averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per outing since his return at St. John’s on Feb. 8. Meanwhile, Gillespie notched a career-best 33 points in a win at Providence last week and then collected 10 rebounds against the Hoyas.

From a statistical standpoint, the Villanova and UConn are the two stingiest defenses in the Big East. The Wildcats surrender 63.1 points per game while the Huskies allow 65.1 ppg. UConn leads the conference in Field Goal Percentage Defense (.396) while the Wildcats rank fourth (.408).

Villanova averages 9.2 3-pointers made per game, which leads the Big East. The Wildcats lead the conference in 3-point percentage for all games (.363), though they rank fourth in the Big East for conference games in the same category (.352).

Why Bet on UConn?

The Huskies (19-7) won their third in a row Saturday, 72-61 over Xavier. UConn hit 52% of their shots and took a 17-point lead at halftime. That UConn advantage unraveled quickly at the start of the second half as the Huskies struggled with turnovers under some heavy pressure. UConn turned the ball over 10 times in the opening seven minutes of the second half, watching Xavier pull within 49-43. XU scored 10 straight points before RJ Cole’s 3-pointer with 12 minutes to play ended the spurt and really UConn wasn’t threatened again.

Cole took over the game down the stretch for UConn and scored 16 points, but he had major support from forward Adama Sanogo (15 points, 9 rebounds), and guard Tyrese Martin (6 points,11 rebounds). The Huskies got major boosts off the bench from grad Tyler Polley (16 points and freshman Jordan Hawkins (7 points).

“The difference in the game was that we dominated them in the backcourt, plus 16 on the glass,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “The turnovers made us vulnerable to potentially blowing it, but when you are plus-16 on the backboards and you are at 38 percent field goal defense, you have to be really lousy on defense to lose.”

UConn is led in scoring (16.2) and assists (4.3) by Cole, while Sanogo is a second double-figure scorer (15.1) and leads the team in rebounding (8.6) and Martin is a third double-figure scorer (13.6). n. In 26 games this season, the Huskies have had eight games in which five players scored in double figures. In the entire season last year (23 games), that only happened twice.

UConn ranks in or near the Top 20 in several Division I categories. The Huskies rank 2nd in blocked shots per game (6.7) and total blocks (175). They are 4th in offensive rebounds per game (14.15), 6th in total rebounds per game (41.46), 9th in rebound margin (7.8), 19^th in scoring margin (11.5), 20th in total rebounds (1,078), and rank 22nd in field goal percentage defense (.396).

Game Trends

Wildcats are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
Wildcats are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games following a straight up win.
Huskies are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games overall.
Huskies are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games following a ATS win.
Huskies are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Huskies are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up win.
Road team is 7-2-2 ATS in the last 11 meetings.