Nova Report
Note: Line Update -2.5/144.5
The 7-6 Villanova Wildcats are on campus to battle the 10-4 Marquette Golden Eagles at 2:00 pm eastern. Nova is -3.5/145.5. (Line opened at Nova-1.5).
Shaka Smart has his youngsters (1-junior, 5-sophomores, 3-freshman) playing pretty well. Their losses have been to Purdue, Miss St, and Wisconsin (all close) plus a double OT loss at Providence (where they made an incredible comeback just to get it into OT). As far as a marquis win, they smacked around Baylor. They have 5 players averaging 9 points or more with Kam Jones leading the way at 16.2 ppg. Ighadaro is their glass cleaner plus he went 8 of 9 from the field last out. Shaka is a smart coach (no pun intended) and has certainly reviewed the Nova/ UCONN tape. So, his troops will be well prepared for the Cats.
Last out for Nova was an 8 point loss at Connecticut (14-0). They played better than they have been but clearly were one good shooter short offensively. Of course, a season high number of turnovers didn’t help. They did hold their own on the glass vs a much taller team. Whitmore struggled getting good shots while Dixon was a beast inside. Hopefully, their best player Justin Moore, is still on schedule to return in about 3 weeks.
What Will Happen
Marquette is 49th at creating turnovers. Based on Nova’s performance at UCONN, anytime one of the Cats freshman are handling the ball look for them to be double teamed to try to turn them over. Defensively, they will need Ighadaro to neutralize Dixon inside both scoring wise and rebounding wise. Offensively, they can’t ignore the Cats weakness in defending the 3. As they like to kick the ball out for a 3 anyway, look for more shots from deep than they normally take.
As for the Wildcats, just like Nova, Marquette can dig themselves a hole and fight hard to get back into the game. Nova needs to get off to a fast start and get the crowd into it. Everyone in the building knows Marquette beat the Cats twice last year and they want their pound of flesh today. Whitmore needs to be fed the ball and just let him drive to the basket. Getting Ighadaro in foul trouble needs to be a focus. Even though the Golden Eagles have played a tough non-conference schedule, these youngsters can still get rattled. Nova needs to press opportunely. And, as always, shooting 40% from 3 is a must. Lastly, the Cats have a big advantage on the foul line. I think this game sets up well for Villanova.
My Nova Pick: Villanova-2 (buying hook)
Nova Pick Record: 7-6