Nova Report
The Villanova Wildcats are in Baltimore to do battle with the Virginia Cavaliers at 5:00 pm eastern on TNT. Nova is surprisingly-4.5/129 after coming off another loss. This time to rival St. Joseph’s. The Cavs are 2-0; disposing of Campbell and Coppin St by 9 and 17 respectively.
Virginia has struggled offensively so far but has been air tight on defense. They matchup pretty well height wise and skill wise with Villanova. They spread the scoring between Forward Elijah Saunders, Guard Dai Dai Ames, Threepoint specialist Isaac McKneeley and 6’11” Blake Buchanan. They play a zone and rely on three point shooting.
For the Wildcats, in their two losses, they are giving up nearly 50 points per game in the second half. Offensively, they rely on Dixon, Poplar and Brickus. They are still struggling from 3 and have been playing too much one on one in the paint. If we see the Cats moving the ball around smartly, they will win this game. If not, its another loss.
I expect Nova to up its defensive intensity in this game and get more open shots than usual as Virginia’s defensive weakness is the kick out to an open 3 point shooter. Nova will have to lock down McKneeley who is a streaky 3 point shooter. They also need to pile up fouls on Ames as the Cavs are light on point guards. This looks like a dead even match. The pundits all favor Virginia and Under.
Nova Pick: 5 point teaser Nova+1/2 /Under 134
Nova Pick Record: 2-2