Nova Report
The Villanova Wildcats are in Portland, Oregon taking on Iowa State in the Phil Knight Invitational. Nova is -1.5/127.5. Tip is 3:30 pm eastern.
Iowa St is 3-0 beating Milwaukee, IUPUI and NC A+T. They are stocked with transfers: Jaren Holmes (St Bonaventure), Osun Ossuniyi (St Bonaventure) and Hasan Ward (VCU). They play 7 Seniors and 2 Freshman. They are noted for their defensive prowess. Shooting wise they prefer inside the arc as they are shooting under 27% from 3. Pace wise, they are slower than the deliberate Wildcats.
Nova comes off of a 2 point loss at Michigan St and played their best ball of the season in the last 5 minutes of that game. The Cats are still struggling both offensively and defensively as they try to define their playing roles. Guard play has been pretty poor as assists are few and far between.
What Will Happen
For the Cyclones, Holmes is the best player on the court and everything will run through him. Ossuniyi is 6’10” and will give the Cats fits on the Boards. They will stick to what has worked which is drive to the hoop and get offensive rebounds. The pace will definitely be slow. For Nova to win, Slater, Daniels and Dixon ALL must have big games (scoring 15 or so each). They also will need to take advantage of the foul prone Cyclones as the Cats shoot 88% from the line. Way too many pundits are picking ISU. Nova has better players and, hopefully, they will play more as a team today. Nova should win a close one.
My Pick: Nova ml -130
Nova Pick Record:2-2