The last time these two teams met, the Villanova Wildcats won the NCAA tournament title with a 79-62 victory in Dayton. Now, just seven months later, the Michigan Wolverines are out for revenge, but how do these two teams stack up head-to-head?
Now, Duke is the talk of college hoops and the title game between these two programs is a distant memory, but that changes on Wednesday night when this rematch gets center stage and a nationally televised audience.
The Wolverines have come out of the gate struggling against lesser teams while Villanova has played well. This, however, will be the first real test for either team in the 2018-2019 season with their revamped rosters. There’s no doubt this game will be a fun one to watch and taking part in the live betting opportunities available at BookMaker.eu only adds to the intrigue.
NCAA Basketball Betting at Bookmaker.eu
Michigan Wolverines vs. Villanova Wildcats
Date and Time: Wednesday, November 14, 2018, 6:30 p.m. ET
Location: Finneran Pavilion, Villanova, Pennsylvania
College Basketball Odds: Check Back Later
Wolverines vs. Wildcats TV Coverage: FS1
Villanova and Michigan meet again on Wednesday night a rematch of the NCAA Tournament championship game, but these two teams both look quite a bit different than the last time they met.
One thing that is the same, however, is elite defense on the side of Michigan. The Wolverines rank No.20 in the recent rankings released and that’s primarily on the way the team ended last year and the defense they’ve shown early this season.
Offensively, this team has struggled to put points on the board. They’ve managed just 56 points in their latest game against Holy Cross and scored only 63 the game prior against Norfolk State.
At home on Saturday against Holy Cross, the Wolverines shot 5-for-24 form the floor in the first half and trailed the Crusaders 24-18 at the half. A better offense in the second half helped them eventually get a 19-point victory, 56-37, but as a whole the team managed to shoot just 36-percent from the floor and were 3-for-19 from beyond the arc. Save for Charles Matthews, the team was 1-for-13 from three point range.
Matthews scored 20 points in the win and put up 10 against Norfolk State. Ignas Brazdeikis held down the front court with 19 points, shooting 5-for-9 and sinking all eight free throws.
While the offense has been terrible the defense remains elite. One of the biggest strengths for Michigan last year was the defense and that appears to be the same though they’ll get a real test on Wednesday against a very strong Villanova team.
The Wildcats did lose four starters from last year, including three first round NBA draft picks and one second round pick. That’s a load of talent to bid farewell, but Coach Jay Wright has done well recruiting players to replace his stars.
The team now a deep backcourt of Phil Booth, Joe Cremo and Collin Gillespie. Inside, Eric Paschall has taken on a leadership role while Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree already has six blocks in two games.
The Wildcats appear to be the more balanced team compared to Michigan, despite the talent loss. Booth has 40 points in those two games. Paschall has 37 and four other players already have a double-digit game under their belts.
Live Betting
We’ve seen some great defense from Michigan early this year, but the offense has been bad. The team is missing a ton of open shots and hasn’t been able to shoot much better than 30-percent from the floor even against shorter, less talented teams. They’re likely to struggle even more against Villanova.
The Michigan defense has proven to be strong, albeit against lesser teams. Keep an eye early on how that defense holds up in its first true test of the season as well as how the Michigan team is shooting as a while. The Wolverines have the defensive edge and if they’re able to get hot shooting the ball, they could keep this close or get the upset against the early season No.8 team. If that’s the case, they may be worth backing at BookMaker.eu. Otherwise, based on how the teams have both played early, this should be Villanova’s game.
Key Player
With Moe Wagner, Duncan Robinson and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahman gone, Charles Matthews is the star left on the Michigan roster. While he explored the idea of going into the NBA draft, he ultimately opted to return and should be considered one of the best players in the Big Ten, if not all of college hoops.
Matthews was instrumental in the team’s run in the NCAA Tournament last year and went quiet in the final, a significant part of the reason the Wolverines ultimately fell to Villanova. He’s even more important now.
The wing will have to play well outside against the likes of Phil Booth and Joe Cremo, a strength of the Villanova team.
On a team that’s struggled to score so far against Holy Cross and Norfolk State, he’s scored a combined 30 points the last two games. Michigan as a team has only scored 119.
Wolverines vs. Wildcats Live Betting
While the Wildcats have had a lot of turnover from last year’s national championship team, they’ve still got plenty of talent and a great coach in Jay Wright.
Here in the early going, the Wildcats have looked better than the Wolverines. Look for Michigan to play tough defensively, but they’ve struggled shooting all season and those struggles should continue. With the Wildcats playing at home and Michigan struggling shooting the ball, look for a win both SU and ATS for Villanova in this one, denying the Wolverines from any revenge for the NCAA Tournament win last season.
Check out all of the live betting at BookMaker.eu for Monday’s college basketball.
NCAA Basketball Score Prediction: Villanova 71, Michigan 61
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