NCAA Basketball Betting – DePaul Blue Demons vs. Villanova Wildcats

DePaul Blue Demons (7-7 SU, 5-4-1 ATS) at Villanova Wildcats (12-1 SU, 9-3 ATS)

Wednesday, January 6: 8:00 p.m.

Here Are Some Betting Trends Which May Impact This Game:

• DePaul: 4-0-1 ATS on the road
• DePaul: Total has gone UNDER in their last 2 games
• Villanova: 7-1 ATS at home
• Villanova: 8-3 ATS as a favorite

Villanova came into this season as the favorite in the Big East betting odds, but they’ve struggled a bit early. Despite the slow start, they seem to be playing their best basketball of late. They’ll get to build on their strong play Wednesday night as they host a DePaul team that will amount to a free meal for the Wildcats.

Villanova gets it done with a group of high-scoring guards. Leading the way is senior Scottie Reynolds, who’s led this team for four years now, and is in the process of capping off one of the greatest careers in program history.

Reynolds averages 17.6 points and 3.9 assists, but is hardly the only guard worthy of mention. After being suspended for the first half of the season, senior Reggie Redding is back as well, and he averages 14 points and over seven assists a game. In the frontcourt, Antonio Pena and Taylor King lead the way, as they both average double-figures. On the season, Villanova is 12th in college basketball scoring with 83 points per game.

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As for DePaul, it is another tough season for the Blue Demons, who finished in last place in the conference last year. Guard Will Walker leads DePaul in scoring, but their most versatile player is junior Mac Koshwal, who averages 14.7 points and a team high 11 rebounds.

Despite the input from Walker and Koshwal, the Blue Demons are struggling to score points. They average just 59 points per game, which ranks an abysmal 315th in college basketball, and dead last in the Big East. They’ve lost three of their last four games, and didn’t score more than 61 points in any of those games.

It is hard to see Villanova losing this game, especially at home, so the question becomes, how many points will the Wildcats win by? They seem to have an advantage at virtually every position except maybe small forward where the slight edge might go to Koshwal over Pena. Even still, the Wildcats are averaging 24 more points per game than DePaul, so a blowout seems in store.
Look for Villanova to jump out to an early lead, control the game well into the second half, and then rest their starters as the game goes on. Don’t expect Reynolds, Redding, Pena or any of their other key players to play more than 30 minutes.

Because of it, this game will likely end up being a bit closer than the final score might indicate. Expect DePaul to cover the college basketball betting odds, even if they need a late game comeback to do it. Villanova still will win quite comfortably straight up.

Aaron’s Pick: Villanova by 13