Nova Report
It?s the Cats vs. Dogs as VILLANOVA takes on the Huskies of UCONN at noon eastern in Philly. Nova is -9.5/136.5. UCONN is coming off of a tough Double OT loss to ranked Wichita St. while Nova barely beat De Paul in OT. At 10-6 and playing in the American Conference, this is one of the few shots at a ranked team UCONN will get. If Danny Hurley?s squad has NCAA Tournament aspirations, they need to win today..and they know it.
The Huskies are led by Christian Vital who will need his best game of the year for UCONN to win. Bouknight at guard will really have to step up his game and overall the team will need to shoot well from the perimeter which has been an issue for them. As they just don?t matchup well with Nova inside, the only other option is to drain threes. My guess is UCONN will play a slow pace and work for open shots.
On the Wildcat side, they still can?t hit the broadside of a barn. Fortunately, one starter per game has been hot which has carried them to win 6 of 7 during this shooting slump. Defensively, they have been making improvements but not for all 40 minutes except for Robinson-Earl who has been a defensive gem. The other issue has been slow starts. We?ll see if they gameplan to go inside to start with and see if they can?t pile up fouls on some of UCONN?s taller players.
I think this is a good spot for the Cats. UCONN, knowing this is a must win, may be pretty tight and make mistakes. I like a teaser here. Nova-4.5/Under 141.5.