College Basketball Odds - Butler Bulldogs at Villanova Wildcats Live Betting Preview

The Villanova Wildcats are playing some of the best basketball in the nation, and they're probably three or four wins away from locking up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They've won six in a row and have covered four of their last five heading into Saturday's home date with the bubble-bound Butler Bulldogs.

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SCHEDULING

Butler is coming off of a good win over Creighton on Tuesday, a win which it really had to have to have any reasonable chance to stay above the cut line for the time being. A loss in this game wouldn't be the end of the world, but somewhere along the way, you'd like to think that the Bulldogs will have to get a big win to dance.

Villanova has to be happy to be back at home in this one after dominating a game at Temple on Wednesday. The Wildcats do have a relatively quick turnaround here, but it's not like the trip to the other side of Philadelphia was all that taxing.

KEY MATCHUP

Ryan Arcidiacono really is the heart and soul of this Villanova squad, and as he goes, so too will his team in live betting. The Wildcats' point guard had 11 points, four assists and three boards against Butler the first time around, but he also turned the ball over three times.

Arcidiacono will have his work cut out for him against a very tough Butler defense, but he's really been playing better ball than his stats suggest. Sure, he only has scored 27 points in his last three games combined, but he also has 15 assists. More important though, is the fact that the Wildcats haven't turned the ball over more than 10 times in any of those three games. Arcidiacono is at the center of that for sure, as he only has four turnovers in this three-game stretch.

Butler's defense is sneakier than 69.8 points per game suggests. There's a reason the Wildcats were held to just 60 when these two teams met the first time this year, and if the pace of play stays slow in this one, live bettors will want to keep an eye on the Villanova turnovers. If the Wildcats are on a pace to cough the ball up more than a dozen times or so, this game could end up getting mighty interesting as it was in January in Indianapolis.

KEY STATS & TRENDS

Butler probably has an NCAA Tournament resume right now, but it's certainly close. The Bulldogs only have one win this year against the RPI Top 50, and here in the Big East, they're 0-4 SU and ATS against Providence, Xavier and Villanova. That's bad news for a team which badly needs a win like this to get into the dance. This is the Bulldogs' last chance to beat a top flight team until the Big East Tournament, and live bettors will have to keep an eye on their motivation in this game.

Winning here at Villanova isn't likely, but there's definitely a chance, and the closer this game stays, the more belief Butler is going to have that this is its lucky day.

Though Villanova has won six games in a row, it isn't really showing a lot to live bettors in terms of consistency. The team is 4-2 ATS in those six wins, though it should be noted that all six covers were by relatively comfortable margins. Under backers are also 4-2 in this run, though each of the last five have featured at least 132 points.

These two teams combined for just 115 in January.

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Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The showdown between the Butler Bulldogs and Villanova Wildcats will start at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 20, 2016, at The Pavilion. The contest will be broadcast on FOX.