A No. 1 seed has never fallen to a 16 so it would be foolish to think New Orleans has much of a chance. The Mountaineers sneaked past the New Orleans Privateers in a First Four matchup so it has felt the rush of winning an NCAA Tournament game, but this is where their run will end.
Villanova is a heavy favorite and the real drama will be whether it can cover the spread. Mount St. Mary’s may not have as many nerves since it has already played one game on a national stage, which could help it try to stick around as long as possible.
At 7:10 p.m. ET, tune into CBS for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Thursday, March 16, 2017, at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.
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College Basketball Odds
Villanova went 31-3 straight up and 19-15 against the spread during the season. The Wildcats played in eight neutral court games and covered in half of them. Villanova was 19-15 against the spread as the favorite during the season as it didn’t have one game where it was the underdog. The Wildcats figure to be favored in most, if not all, of their March Madness games as well.
Mount St. Mary’s is 21-15 straight up and 6-3 against the spread. The Mountaineers have played in two neutral court games this season and have covered in both of them. Mount St. Mary’s has gone 3-0 against the spread as the underdog on the year, including an slight upset of New Orleans in the First Four.
Player to Watch
Josh Hart -- Mount St. Mary’s hasn’t seen many players with this much talent. Hart, the Big East Player of the Year, is averaging 18.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He played a critical role in leading Villanova to last year’s title and would love to be one of the rare players to repeat.
He is shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from three-point range. Hart had 29 points and six rebounds last time out as Villanova beat Creighton for the Big East tournament crown. Mount St. Mary’s is only allowing 68.6 points per game but because of players like Hart on the court, they figure to give quite a bit more in this matchup.
Key Stat
Three. That’s the number of ranked teams Mount St. Mary’s played during its non-conference slate in an effort to prepare in case it made this run to the Big Dance. The results weren’t good, but the experience of facing off against more athletic opponents should help.
The Mountaineers opened up the season against West Virginia and were blown out by a score of 87-59. They turned around and played another ranked team the next time out in Iowa State and fell by a score of 73-55.
Mount St. Mary’s third matchup against a high-major ranked opponent came a couple weeks later against Michigan and once again the score was lopsided, with the Wolverines picking up a 64-47 victory.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
The Mountaineers had the memorable First Four victory which it can be proud of, but the run will end there. Villanova is one of the favorites to win the national title and should have no trouble in this one.
Mount St. Mary’s played teams that are worse than the Wildcats in the regular season and couldn’t hang. Expect Hart to have a big game and for Villanova to cruise to a win. The road will get harder moving forward but the Wildcats won’t have to sweat this one out.
College Basketball Odds: Villanova 81, Mount St. Mary’s 62
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