Nova Report
The 15-10 Villanova Wildcats are in Providence to take on the Friars at 6:00 pm eastern on CBSSN. Nova is -2.5/142.5
Providence (11-14) has been injury riddled with Hopkins and Abdul-Rahim out for the season. They also have 3 players who are day to day: Floyd (whiplash from car accident), Cardet (knee) and a bench player who has been sick. Despite this, their role players and bench picked up the offense vs Xavier but a 22-0 Xavier run did in the Friars in a 90-81 loss. They are led by guard Pierre (12.8 ppg) and Joseph (12.8 ppg). However, 6’10” Ehrenmwuse had his best game of the season with 14 points as did bench player Fernandez with 15 points. The Friars can rebound but turn the ball over too much and don’t get to the foul line. When these clubs played a month ago Nova won by 2.
For the Cats, they come in beating #9 St John’s on Wednesday. They have UCONN on deck so this looks like a trap game. However, with the Providence injuries can the Friars step up again…they shot nearly 55% last game.
For Nova, Perkins has emerged as a scorer. Add in Dixon, Poplar and Longino and it may be too much for a porous Providence defense.
Nova Pick: Villanova-2 buying hook
Nova Pick Record:11-14