Nova Report
The 14-3 Villanova Wildcats face their toughest Conference game of the season as they take on 12-5 St. John’s in Philadelphia. St. John’s is -2.5/149.5. Tip is 8:00 pm eastern on Peacock. This is a HUGE game for both programs. For St. John’s it would allow them to stay a game behind UCONN in the Big East Conference and add another quad 1 win to their resume. For the Wildcats, it would pretty much get them into the NCAA’s with a win.
St. John’s has lost to some pretty good teams: Alabama, Kentucky, Iowa State and Auburn. Recently, they’ve been steam rolling over Big East foes by an average win of over 18 points a game. Pitino switched to a taller lineup and the results have spoken for themselves. The Red Storm are led by the best player in the Conference, Zuby Ejiofor (6’9”, 16.2 ppg, 59% from 2, 30% from 3). Bryce Hopkins is another scorer at 13.3 ppg but is foul prone. Oziyah Sellers has been on fire lately averaging 12.7 ppg and shooting 41% from 3. Mitchell has also been improving lately (8.5 ppg) and is a ball of energy. They don’t really have a true point guard which teams try to exploit. They take care of the ball and rebound well. They definitely will want to speed up Villanova and beat them in transition.
Villanova is not playing their best ball. Lindsay, their best shooter, is in a slump. There have been too many defensive lapses and unnecessary fouls. Nonetheless, except for a hiccup vs. Creighton who shot 73% in the second half, the Cats have won 7 of 8 and are 5-1 in Conference. Today would be a good day to put all the pieces together.
To beat Villanova you need a good man to man defense, solid rebounding and get the ball out quickly in transition. To beat St. John’s you need ball security, rebounding, keeping Brennan in the game and shoot 40% from 3. Both clubs know the importance of this contest and I expect it will be played like an NCAA game. My belief is that Nova will finally get all 4 of their shooters hitting 3’s and Brennan getting layups in the paint. The Red Storm are due for a regression in shooting. Ejiofor and Sellers will get their share but Nova should shutdown everyone else. It’s time for a signature Wildcats win with the fans storming the court.
Nova Pick: Villanova +2.5
Nova Pick Record: 9-7-1