Nova Report
The 16-14 Villanova Wildcats are at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly to take on the red hot #14 Connecticut Huskies (23-7). Connecticut is -2.5/138.5. They are led by likely Big East Player of the Year Adama Sanogo (17.2 ppg) and likely 2023 NBA Lottery Pick Jordan Hawkins (16.1 ppg). The Huskies crushed DePaul last out shooting about 55% from the field and 45% from 3. Sanogo went 11 of 14 in just 23 minutes (rested for this game). Nova outlasted Seton Hall last game and shot about the same percentages as UCONN did vs. DePaul. Nova has beaten 2 ranked opponents in their last 3 games (Xavier and Creighton). They have two paths to the NCAA’s. Both difficult, but winning today keeps both paths alive.
For UCONN, they rebound well and shoot well except for the foul line. They can turn the ball over at times and are foul prone. But when you score just under 90 a game (in their last 3) it covers quite a few issues. For Nova, they have improved immensely defensively since Moore and Longino came back. They still don’t shoot well but are improving.
What Will Happen
Expect the Cats to bomb away from 3 at the beginning hoping to make a few and get the crowd into the game. After that, they will go after Sanogo to get him to pick up some fouls. Whitmore should have an advantage if UCONN has Karaban cover him. Whitmore is pretty competitive and I suspect he’ll want to show Hawkins who is the better NBA lottery pick. Moore will control the game for the Cats to keep them calm. Dixon will go after Sanogo inside. Nova likely to get balanced scoring from Moore, Whitmore, Dixon, Daniels and Whitmore. Additionally, the Cats can go 10 deep so they can absorb a lot of fouls.
For UCONN, Hawkins absolutely scorched Nova way back on December 28. He has been money from 3 lately. They’ll play an inside out game with Sanogo and Hawkins…and why not as they are both future NBA players. Coach Hurley will warn them about fouling. We’ll see if they can avoid them.
Needless to say, the Cats will take the air out of the ball and the Huskies will push the pace. It’s tough to anticipate if both teams will shoot well; my belief is they won’t. This will be yet another improbable win for Villanova.
My Nova Pick: Villanova +3 (buying hooker)
Nova Pick Record: 14-15-1