Nova Report
The Wildcats are in Newark to take on the Seton Hall Pirates at 8:30 eastern. It?s Senior Night at the Rock and the Hall will be honoring maybe their best player ever in Myles Powell. Add in a win for the Pirates will give them the Big East regular season Championship and you know the Rock will be rocking. The Hall is -4/141.
On February 8, the Pirates invaded Philly and beat Nova by 6 as they connected on 41% from 3 while Villanova hit on 25% from 3. In fact, in all 7 of the Cats losses, they shot under 30% from 3.
Last out they shot well under 20% from 3 in a 4 point loss to Providence. On the flip side, the Pirates have not only been riding the back of Powell but Mammu has been on fire averaging 19 ppg over his last 3. If you believe Senior leadership wins big games, then you have to back the Hall.
For Nova to win, it?s obvious. Fill the hoop from beyond the arc. Their second best 3 point shooter, Collin Gillespie, has shot about 9% from 3 and 20% overall since he was injured 4 games ago. On paper, it looks dire for the young Wildcats.
What will happen tonight? For sure, Nova will slow the pace down while Seton Hall will go up tempo. They will rebound well and take care of the ball. One would think the law of averages would help their shooting %. For the Pirates, it?s all about Powell and Mammu. Keep feeding them the ball and make sure you rebound. However, sometimes emotions can get you too jacked up and cause you to misfire long on shots. I think in the end Seton Hall will win but I just can?t see Nova not keeping it close.
My play: a 5 point teaser of Nova+9/Under 146