It’s hard to imagine which scenario is worse, the Villanova Wildcats losing to St. Johns, or the Providence Friars dropping a game to DePaul. Nova and Providence are both at the top of the Big East standings while DePaul and the Johnnies have struggled. But life in the Big East is never easy. Nova came back with a win over Butler and looks to extends PC’s misery on Wednesday.
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Things were going so well for Villanova that the Wildcats spent several weeks as the No. 1 team in the country and likely have a No. 1 seed already locked up for the NCAA Tournament. With that comes a big bullseye on their back and teams in the Big East are taking their best shot. After their first loss of the season at the end of December, the Cats reeled off nine straight wins going 6-3 ATS, with seven of those victories by double-digits and five by at least 20 points and they’ve cashed the over in each of their last five games.
It’s looking like a good time to fade the Friars after dropping three of their last five games, including a horrible 80-63 loss to a DePaul club that had just two Big East victories entering Saturday’s matchup. Three of the losses were by double-digits, including a 20-point setback at Villanova to start the current slide. The Friars are just 1-4 ATS in that span.
Injury Report
There were some extenuating circumstances that led to PC’s loss on Saturday. Starter Jalen Lindsay, the team’s fourth-leading scorer with 10.1 points per game, was sidelined with a concussion and several players were slowed by the flu.
The bug just happened to strike some of the more formidable players on the team and their production was severely impacted. Kyron Cartwright scored just eight points and finished with two assists, well below his season average. Leading scorer Rodney Bullock finished with six points on 2 of 7 shooting.
It all added up to the worst home loss in Ed Cooley’s tenure, but the coach wasn’t using that as an excuse. “We were bad. Man we were bad,” Cooley said after the game. The Friars lost by 20 to Villanova earlier this season and if the health of the players doesn’t improve by game time, we could see something similar.
Player to Watch
On a team that has the likely Big East player of the year in Jalen Brunson and a top prospect in Mikal Bridges, it’s not often freshmen with limited playing time get the spotlight. But that’s the case for Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels, who came up big in a comeback victory over Butler.
The Cats have some injury issues of their own with starters Phil Booth and Eric Paschall both sidelined and they’ll likely miss Wednesday’s game. That’s where the first-year players come in. Nova’s bench isn’t deep and key reserve Donte DiVincenzo has stepped into Booth’s starting role.
With Paschall out, Gilliespie got the start and contributed five points and four rebounds in 21 minutes. Samuels played 19 minutes with two points and five boards and the two held their own while on the floor.
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The Friars are in a rut and playing Nova isn’t the prettiest situation for them. They do get the game at home, which will help make the score closer than the 20-point blowout we had in Philly a few weeks back. And hopefully for PC their issues with the flu bug have passed.
Still, the Cats are a top-ranked team for a reason. They aren’t deep and the bench is being tested with Booth and Paschall out, but the other guys more than make up for the loss. Brunson and Bridges are studs and Omari Spellman has come into his own. I don’t see Providence winning the game, but they can keep it close.
College Basketball Odds: Villanova 81, Providence 77
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