Xavier Musketeers vs. Villanova Wildcats NCAA, betting trends & tips

Xavier (11-7) vs. Villanova (13-4) – 8:30 PM EST, Friday, January 18 at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA

Betting Line: Michigan State -1
Over/Under: 146.5 at Bovada

The 22nd-ranked Villanova Wildcats host their Big East foe, the Xavier Musketeers, in a NCAA conference game that has a ton of betting action going on at Bovada.

After losing two straight Xavier has rebounded to win their last two games and they shit at 3-2 in conference play. Their last two games were at home and on the road this season the Musketeers have played four games and only have one win. The team ranks in the middle of the pack in both points per game and points allowed and they have lost both of their games to top 25 teams.

Villanova has won five in a row after two straight as well, but they are the only team that has yet to lose in conference play (4-0) and they throttled Xavier in the two games facing them last season.

This season Villanova is 6-2 at home and the Xavier is 1-3 on the road.

This season Xavier is 6-10-2 ATS and they have an Over/Under record of 8-10-2 and Villanova is at 10-7 ATS with an Over/Under record of 3-11-2.

This is the first game between these teams this season and last season Villanova beat Xavier twice winning each game by double figures.

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In their last game Xavier was down 10 points with only four minutes left, but had a big comeback in their 700-69 home win over Butler. They outscored Butler by six points in the 2nd half and while they shot a lower overall FG% (47.3% to 39.3%) they outscored the Bulldogs by 11 points from the free throw line had 17 offense boards.

Paul Scruggs led Xavier in the win over Butler going for 23 points on 8/15 shooting and Naji Marshall and Kyle Castlin combined for 26 points. On the season Scruggs and Marshall both lead the team averaging 13.2 ppg and three other players for the club are averaging in double figures. Scruggs has really been up-and-down in his last few games and facing a ranked Villanova team with a solid defense he and Marhsall have to score the rock and shoot a solid FG%.

In their last game Villanova was on the road and their offense was clicking in a 90-78 win over Creighton. They were down four points at the half, but blew up in the 2nd half outscoring Creighton 52-36.

In the win over Creighton the Wildcats were hot shooting 53.4% from the floor and 44.4% from beyond the 3-point arc and the Bleujays shot 45.2% from the field and only took nine free throws. Phil Booth went big for Nova with 28 points in the game on 9/14 shooting and also had seven assists and Eric Paschall had 21 points and seven rebounds.

Booth (18.6 ppg) and Paschall (16.5 ppg) are the two leading scorers for the Wildcats, who only have three players averaging in double figures on the season. Booth has averaged 24.7 ppg in his last three games and Paschall has scored 21 points in four of his last five games including his last two.

Xavier betting trends

• 2-5 ATS in their last seven road games
• 5-11 ATS in their last 16 games after a win
• Under record of 10-4 in their last 14 games

Take advantage of these betting trends with the best online bookies

Villanova betting trends

• 18-7 ATS in their last 25 home games
• 36-17 ATS in their last 53 games
• Under record of 10-1-1 in their last 12 home games

Xavier Musketeers vs. Villanova Wildcats betting prediction

We would love to take Xavier here to upset Villanova, but that will not happen.

The Wildcats are the hotter team and they are at home. They will stay perfect in Big East play with a win in this game.

Nova will play good D and win pretty easily, which is why they are also the pick to cover the spread.

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