Saturday’s college basketball schedule gets started with an old-school Big East matchup between the no. 17 Connecticut Huskies and the no. 12 Villanova Wildcats. With both teams losing earlier this week, both will be trying to avoid dropping back-to-back games in the tight Big East race. At home, the Wildcats are favored by six points, with the over/under set 132.5 points.
Villanova heads into Saturday’s game fresh off a loss to Marquette. In fact, Marquette has handed the Wildcats two of their three losses in Big East play. However, at 9-3 in conference play, Jay Wright’s team is just one game behind Providence for the top spot.
UConn, on the other hand, is 2.5 games out of first place in the Big East. The Huskies are coming off a disappointing midweek loss to Creighton at home despite being favored by 10.5 points. It was a huge setback for Dan Hurley’s team, which had won five in a row before that and now sit at 15-5 overall and 6-3 in conference play.
Going Cole
The Huskies have been led all season by senior R.J. Cole, who leads the team with 16 points and 4.5 assists per game. However, the rest of the UConn backcourt failed to show up against Creighton and has faltered lately. Tyrese Martin averages 13.2 points per game but has scored seven points or less in three of his last five games, while Andre Jackson has gone cold, and Jordan Hawkins and Jalen Gaffney have become non-factors over the last few games.
Fortunately for the Huskies, they have a budding star in the frontcourt in Adama Sanogo, who averages 15 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Sanogo is arguably the most improved player in the Big East, while senior Isaiah Whaley is coming off a 20-point performance in the loss to Creighton. However, Tyler Polley has hit a slump, scoring just five total points over his last two games, hurting UConn’s depth and scoring versatility.
The Power of Three
Depth is also a concern for Villanova, although the Wildcats have three talented guards and three reliable forwards in their rotation. In the frontcourt, Jermaine Samuels is steady, averaging 10 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, while Eric Dixon provides muscle as the team’s leading rebounder at 6.5 boards per game. Meanwhile, the Cats are hoping that senior Brandon Slater has officially broken out of his slump after scoring 18 points in the loss to Marquette.
Of course, Villanova’s biggest strength is in the backcourt with last year’s co-Big East Player of the Year Collin Gillespie. The super-senior is averaging 17.1 points per game and is starting to get more support from Caleb Daniels, who has come off the bench to score at least 12 points in three of his last four games. The caveat is that Justin Moore has hit a slump, as he’s scored 15 points over his last two games despite averaging 15.1 points per game on the season.
Cat Fight
With both teams desperate to avoid consecutive losses and each one having key players fighting through slumps, this is bound to be a competitive game. Being at home should give Villanova a little bit of an edge, but the Wildcats may not have the depth to put UConn away, especially with Moore struggling. Bet on the Huskies to beat the spread and potentially pull off a surprising road win.
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