The Villanova Wildcats are the reigning champions are go into this game as a ranked team, but are the fringes of the top-25 due to some lackluster shooting and some spotty play early. They’ll travel to take on the rival Penn Quakers on Tuesday night in the City of Brotherly Love.
Looking to replace a plethora of talent that left via the NBA Draft, Nova has been slow to gel as a team. They’ve been playing better basketball of late, but we’ll see how that holds up in the rivalry contest with a constantly underdog Penn team. Can the Quakers exploit a clearly weakened Villanova program or will the Wildcats continue their historical dominance over Penn with yet another lopsided win?
While Villanova has taken a clear step back, the Quakers have looked surprisingly strong this season, starting the year 8-2, an identical record to the Wildcats.
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Villanova Wildcats vs. Penn Quakers
Date and Time: Tuesday, December 11, 2018, 7 p.m. ET
Location: The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
College Basketball Odds: Check Back Later
Wildcats vs. Quakers TV Coverage: ESPN2
This Villanova team lost Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincezo and Omari Spellman, all three of whom were first round NBA draft picks. They also lost Jalen Brunson in the second round, leaving them with holes that were once filled by four NBA players. That’s quite a loss.
The team has adding some quality young talent, but the team’s taken some time to get to their top of their game and it shows with the team losing to Michigan and then to Furman in mid-November. After four games, this team was 2-2 and looked to be in trouble. Fortunately for the Wildcats, however, they’ve seemingly bounced back with six straight wins and some solid defense. They’ve allowed more than 60 points once in the last six games.
Offensively, the Wildcats have struggled a bit shooting the ball. The reigning champs are shooting a meager 44.1-percent from the floor and are averaging just 75 points through the team’s first 10 contests.
Of course, it’s hard to replace so much talent in one year. Being a national champion helps with recruiting, of course.
Senior Phil Booth has stepped into a leadership role. He was a solid player last year with 10 PPG, but has 15.6 PPG this year. He’s the leader in the backcourt and is a good all-around player able to set his teammates up for key shots when needed and even able to sprinkle in a few rebounds.
Collin Gillespie is another strong guard and gives Villanova a pair of double-digit scorers outside.
Inside the paint, Eric Paschall is the team’s best scorer. He’s second on the team in PPG with 15. He’s shorter for a guard, but the whole team lacks a bit of height inside. Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree leads the team in rebounds and blocks, but is only 6’9” himself.
Of course, the Quakers aren’t exactly giants either. Michael Wang has some height, but he and A.J. Brodeur are far from a towering inside duo.
That said, Brodeur is still a dependable junior forward. He’s had at least 13 PPG each season, including this one where he’s notching 13.2.
He’s also proven to be a solid rebounder on a team that’s struggled to keep up on the boards. Even against a relatively shorter Villanova team, the Wildcats have averaged four more rebounds per game than Penn this season.
On the outside, Devon Goodman is the team’s leading scorer with 15.1 PPG. He’s been a solid defender on the outside with a number of steals, too. He’s also an excellent shooter with 52-percent from the floor and 40.9-percent from the floor.
Those numbers paint a far more efficient picture than the 42-percent or 44.4-percent shooting from the floor of Booth and Gillespie, respectively. Of course, the Quakers have shot better on the year, sinking 48.7-percent of its shots, despite shooting so much from three. Of course, it helps that the team is nearly 40-percent from beyond the arc, too.
Live Betting
Villanova is a top ranked team and the reining NCAA Tournament champion. This is one of the game’s elite programs and when it comes to the city of Philadelphia, they’re kings of the court.
These two teams have a regional rivalry, but it’s typically skewed towards Villanova. The Wildcats have won 48 of their 60 head-to-head contests, including a 90-62 win at home last year. Playing on the Quakers’ home wood could help narrow the gap a bit, but this is still a game leaning heavily in Villanova’s favor.
In order to have a chance in this one, Penn will need their three point shots to fall. That’s been a primary focus of the Quakers this year and the team’s shooting well outside with 39.2 percent falling from beyond the arc. Can they keep that going against a team like the Wildcats?
Watch how much success the Quakers have from three, if they’re finding ways of getting shots—and sinking them—early they may be an interesting bet to at least cover the spread. At any rate, there will be plenty of excellent live betting opportunities at BookMaker.eu.
Key Player
The Wildcats are the better team and should cruise to rather easy victory, even in this road game—of sorts. Villanova is still in its home city and while the court itself favors Penn, the Wildcats will have plenty of supports in attendance.
Villanova is loaded with talent, sporting more size and better defense than Penn. The two teams are nearly identical in scoring. With so much in Villanova’s favor, it’s hard to pinpoint one key player for them. Booth and Paschall are elite, Gillespie is a good players, too, but the roster is deep. For Pennsylvania, the key is Michael Wang. While Goodman and Brodeur are outscoring Wang, Wang is third on the team in scoring at 10.9 PPG and has come on of late, scoring 41 points over the last two games, sinking seven of 10 shots from three-point range.
Wang is also some good height on a team that thrives on the outside. He can shoot from the outside, but has the size to compete inside. He’s lacked the rebounds early this year, but has started collecting a few more of late.
Wang’s ability to play well defensively inside and his ability to maintain his strong shooting and rebounding improvement will be instrumental.
Wildcats vs. Quakers Live Betting
Look for a commanding win for Villanova over Penn in this one. The Wildcats are just too balanaced a team compared to the Quakers who live and die on the outside. When stacked up against top tier talent, the Quaker offense has disappeared given the lack of clear shots on the outside. Look for something similar against Villanova on Tuesday.
Count on some big performances from Booth and Paschall as the latter helps solidify a clear edge inside while the former shows how good he can be in a game that will be played heavily on the outside. Penn’s home court advantage doesn’t stack up in this one given Villanova is basically playing a home game, too.
There were some rough stops early for Villanova and Penn could certainly surprise like Furman did last month, but it doesn’t look particularly likely and the Wildcats have looked better over the last few games.
Be sure to check out all of the live betting at BookMaker.eu for Tuesday’s college basketball action.
NCAA Basketball Score Prediction: Villanova 84, Penn 59
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