Villanova vs Marquette | College Basketball Odds, Best Bets & Prediction

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The late game in college basketball on Wednesday is the second Top 25 matchup from the night as No. 12 Villanova visits No. 24 Marquette with the Wildcats as 4.5-point favorites on the NCAAB odds.

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

When: Wednesday, 10 PM ET
Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
TV: Fox Sports 1
Stream: Fox Sports Go
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: Villanova -4.5 (total 134)

Last Meeting

They met on Jan. 19 at Villanova and Marquette was a 57-54 upset winner. Justin Lewis’ fifth 3 of the game came with 11.5 seconds left was the winner to snap the Wildcats’ 29-game on-campus winning streak. The Golden Eagles stormed the court and mobbed each other in wild celebration after Villanova’s last-second heave was well off the mark. Lewis hit five 3s and scored 21 points for Marquette. Greg Elliott made four 3s and scored 14 points. Marquette hit 13 3s to Villanova’s six. Eric Dixon led Villanova with 15 points, and Justin Moore had 13. Villanova hadn’t lost at the Pavilion since November 2018.

Nova leads the all-time series 27-13.

Why Bet on Villanova?

Villanova (16-5) beat St. John’s 73-62 on Saturday for its third straight win. The Wildcats put it away with a decisive 19-2 run and nine 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. Justin Moore hit a 3 to start the run, one of five 3s during the game-changing charge that put the Wildcats in control.

“We were moving the ball and making extra passes,” coach Jay Wright said. “It’s easy to say that as a coach, but when you’ve got guys in, you smacking at the ball, it’s hard to have your head up and see. We had a period there where we had our heads up, making the extra passes and getting the open shots. The rest of the game, we did not.”

Collin Gillespie’s 17 points paced Nova, which also got 15 points each from Caleb Daniels and Eric Dixon. When Daniels scores in double digits this season, Villanova is 7-1 (.875). Freshman Jordan Longino made a key contribution in the win, scoring a season-high six points. His production helped replace that of junior guard Bryan Antoine, who suffered a left ankle injury in practice on Jan. 28, and did not play against the Red Storm.

One big plus for Villanova was how careful it was with the basketball. It committed 11 on the day against St. John’s and its swarming pressure.

“You look 11 assists and 11 turnovers and that’s really not that good against most teams,” Wright said. “But against them it’s not bad. You saw it – any time we turned it over they were out and they’re gone. They’re great at it and it’s hard to do. They run hard, they give the ball up.

Moore enters this game with 998 career points. A total of 69 Wildcats have scored 1,000 or more points in the Blue and White, including current Wildcats Gillespie (1,624) and Jermaine Samuels Jr. (1,086).

The Wildcats are 4-3 (.571) thus far in 2021-22 vs. The Associated Press Top 25. Nova is No. 5 in the NCAA NET rankings with a record of 4-5 vs. Quadrant 1; 3-0 vs. Quadrant 2; 5-0 vs. Quadrant 3; and 4-0 vs. Quadrant 4.

Villanova leads the nation in free-throw shooting at 82.4 percent.

Why Bet on Marquette?

Marquette (15-7) had a seven-game winning streak snapped Sunday at No. 17 Providence, 65-63. Nate Watson was fouled on a dunk and completed the three-point play in the final minute. The Friars avenged an 88-56 loss at Marquette on Jan. 4. Providence held a 22-1 edge in second-chance points for the game.

Trailing by a basket with 14 seconds remaining, Marquette had a chance to tie, but Tyler Kolek came up short on his jumper and a putback layup by Justin Lewis trickled off the rim.

“We were able to get downhill, but Tyler didn’t get an angle,” Golden Eagles coach Shaka Smart said. “Justin did a heck of a job going to get the rebound. We’ll take that shot. We just didn’t make it.”

Darryl Morsell finished with 14 points and Kolek and Justin Lewis added 13 to lead Marquette offensively. The Golden Eagles led by as many as nine points early in the second half before the PC rally. Marquette had been the first team in Big East history to lose its first three league games and then win seven straight. The last team to do so from a current major conference was Vanderbilt in 1987-88.

MU, which has already faced 10 nationally ranked squads in 2021-22, is in the midst of a stretch that could feature 6-of-7 outings versus top-25 opponents.

Wednesday’s 11th top-25 matchup of the year against Villanova will mark the most since the team competed in 11 games during the 2010-11 regular season. MU is 132-211 all-time against top-25 teams, including 49-127 effort against the Top-10. Earlier this year, for the first time in school history, MU claimed three-straight against AP Top-25 opponents (Seton Hall, Villanova, Xavier) in consecutive outings in the regular season.

Wednesday features the league’s top-two scorers in Big East games. Villanova’s Collin Gillespie tops the conference with 18.0 points per game and Justin Lewis is right behind at 17.5 points. MU’s Kolek tops the league in assists-per-game and is sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3). Kolek is dishing out a league-best 6.1 assists-per-game, which ranks 12th nationally.

Guard Greg Elliott continues to be one of Marquette’s most consistent perimeter shooters, thanks in large part to his team-best 50.9 percent (27-of-53) effort from behind the 3-point line.