The Jimmy V Classic will give us a great matchup this Tuesday night. The Gonzaga Bulldogs had their best season ever last year, making a run all the way to the championship game before losing to North Carolina in the final. The year before that, the Villanova Wildcats knocked off the Tar Heels in the championship game in a buzzer beater that will forever be replayed over and over in March. Gonzaga and Villanova have great teams once again and both may be poised for yet another run during March.
This war on the floor will go down Tuesday, December 5, 2017, at 7 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The game will be televised live on ESPN. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Tuesday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Villanova is one of the few undefeated teams left in the country. The Wildcats romped through the field at the Battle 4 Atlantis and smashed their two city rivals in the first week of the Philadelphia Big 5. They have now covered four in a row and are 6-2 ATS on the season. This will be Villanova’s fifth neutral site game this season and the Cats are 3-1 ATS in those games.
Gonzaga is fresh off of a big win over Creighton and has not been afraid to schedule the big boys in non-conference action. The Bulldogs are 7-1 SU with the lone loss coming in double overtime to a very good Florida team. This will be the third power conference team Gonzaga has faced this season and it is 3-1 SU and 3-1 ATS.
Key Stat
Few teams are as good at shooting the rock as Villanova. It’s a common theme under Jay Wright, but the Wildcats are one of the most efficient teams in the country and according to Ken Pomeroy, the only team with a better offense is Duke.
Each of Villanova’s top three scorers has been very solid from the floor this season. The Wildcats don’t rely on any one player too much in this system and distribute the ball well. Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, and Donte DiVincenzo are all shooting at least 50 percent from the floor, 77 percent from the line, and 40 percent from behind the three-point line.
Those three set the tone for the team. As a whole, the Wildcats are hitting more than half their field goals and over 40 percent of their threes. That makes this team extremely tough to beat.
Players to Watch
Josh Perkins had one of the worst nights of his career against Creighton on Friday night. The four-year starter didn’t hit a shot from the floor and sat for a good chunk of the first half after picking up his third foul with around seven minutes to play. Perkins was arguing with officials in search of calls for most of the night and that’s just not a good look for anyone. You can be sure Mark Few talked to his veteran guard after the game.
Gonzaga is hopeful that Corey Kispert will be able to play in this game. Kispert sat out the win over Creighton with an ankle injury, but his versatility would come in handy against a team like Villanova. He is just a freshman, but had been coming along nicely before the injury and played in all of the crunch time minutes against both Florida and Texas.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Villanova is going to be favored in this one. It’s a much shorter trip for the Wildcats to get to the Big Apple than the Bulldogs and the crowd should be largely in their favor.
Guard play will be the key in this one and Villanova will ride its guards to a comfortable victory over Gonzaga.
College Basketball Odds: Villanova 81, Gonzaga 73
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