MetroBet takes a look at a pair of college basketball games for Wednesday night with Villanova taking on Georgetown and Xavier facing Seton Hall.
Villanova Wildcats (-5.5) at Georgetown Hoyas
Moneyline: Wildcats -240, Hoyas +200
Betting Total: 149.5
Time (Eastern), TV: 6:30 p.m., FS1
The Big East rivalry between the Villanova Wildcats (20-6) and Georgetown Hoyas (15-10) has been about as uncompetitive as it can get of late. Jay Wright’s squad has won nine straight dating back to Feb. 2015 (6-3 against the spread). These programs met as recently as Feb. 3, and the 17th-ranked Wildcats won by 12. A similar result should be expected on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena.
Villanova is seeking to rebound once again after an upset loss to St. John’s on Sunday. Their starters shot almost too poorly to be believed. Guards Collin Gillespie and Phil Booth and forward Eric Paschall combined to go 5-for-30 (16.7 percent) from the floor, yet their team only lost by six on the road.
“You’re not going to make shots every night,” Wright told the Philadelphia Inquirer after the game. “You’ve got to get to the foul line. You’ve got to get stops defensively. You’ve got to get other guys to step up. We’ll learn from this.”
Wright will seek to regain his composure too after receiving a technical foul for arguing with an official in the midst of a 20-5 Red Storm run. But bettors should treat Sunday as a blip on the radar for the Wildcats.
Nova is 8-2 against the spread in their last 10 in conference play and have covered in 20 of their last 28 games following a straight-up loss (per Covers.com). Meanwhile, the Hoyas have dropped three of their last four games and are 9-20-1 against the spread in their last 30 contests. Senior center Jessie Govan models coach Patrick Ewing on offense (18.1 points per game), but his club’s 255th-ranked home defense (79.3 points allowed per game) is highly exploitable.
The play: Wildcats spread
Xavier Musketeers at Seton Hall Pirates (-5)
Moneyline: Musketeers +180, Pirates -220
Betting Total: 141 points
Time (Eastern), TV: 7 p.m., CBSSN
The Xavier Musketeers (13-13) are a woeful 3-7 on the road this season, and it looks like they’ll be 3-8 after Wednesday night’s tilt with the Seton Hall Pirates (16-9) at the Prudential Center.
When these Big East programs met at Cintas Center on Jan. 2, Seton Hall was a convincing 10-point victor. Xavier had no answer for junior guard Myles Powell, who notched 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Powell is currently on a tear, averaging 24.6 points per game over his last five outings.
The Musketeers, who are 1-4 against the spread in their last five road games, struggle offensively away from home. Their overall points per game is 72.1 (155th), but on the road it plummets to 66.3 (199th). Expect the Pirates to cruise to a fifth straight cover here.
The play: Pirates spread
