Nova Report
The 6-3 Villanova Wildcats take on the 6-2 Kansas St Wildcats in Manhattan, Kansas at 7:00 eastern on ESPN 2.
Nova is -2.5/141.5.
Kansas St has won 3 straight and are 5-0 at home. They most recently just got by Oral Roberts and N.Alabama but may have been looking ahead to this game. They have hit the portal and their top 3 are Arthur Kaluma (Creighton, 15.1 ppg), Tyler Perry (N.Texas, 17.3 ppg) and Cam Carter (Miss. St., 16.5 ppg). 6’11” McNair (Philly native) and 6’9” N’Guessan (Va Tech) give them length and rebounding. These Wildcats are known for aggressive rebounding and hoisting 3’s. They don’t foul much but are prone to not defending the 3’s well.
For the Villanova Wildcats, they come off of two head scratching losses to St. Joes and Drexel. Both clubs were poor shooting from 3 (low 20%) but vs Nova shot well over 50%. The Cats responded by shooting well under 20% from 3 in those games. Only Eric Dixon has shown some consistency so far. Moore, Burton and Bamba all struggled in those games. Mark Armstrong didn’t even take a shot last game.
One thing is certain, Nova plays up or down to their competition. We have two clubs in search of consistency tonight. If Villanova plays to their potential, they have the better team. It will take some strong rebounding and drives to the rim to get the W.
Nova Pick: Nova -137 ml
Nova Pick Record:5-4