JEFF ALLEN GAME PREVIEW: VILLANOVA at XAVIER
The two heavyweights out of the Big East square off tonight as the (24-3, 13-1) Villanova Wildcats travel to the Queen City
of Cincinnati to face the (24-3, 12-3) Xavier Musketeers. This is a huge revenge spot for the Muskies who were throttled
95-64 in Philly back on New Year’s Eve. Villanova has won 16 of it’s L17 while Xavier is 8-1 in it’s L9 so something has to
give. The line opened up at Villanova -1 with the total set at 144. The side is up half a click to Musketeers -1.5 and the over
was hit hard early climbing to 145.5 at this writing.
If there was ever a year that Jay Wright and the Wildcats would make a run at a National title, this would be it. This is a veteran
outfit that starts two seniors and two juniors and the freshman could arguably turn out to be the best of the bunch. Ryan
Arcidiacono (12.0, 2.8, 4.3) is a four-year starter with 131 games under his belt. A heady floor general that plays defense too,
he’s a prototypical college basketball point guard in the same vein as John Stockton. Daniel Ochefu (10.5, 8.2) does most of
the dirty work in the paint and on the glass.
Chris Mack might just be the best college basketball coach you’ve never heard of unless you follow full time. He’s 158-73 with
the X-Men, always a threat in the tournament and highly coveted by other programs including UNLV. The Cleveland native is well
taken care of and not likely to move on anytime soon but his teams always come to play and and this guy is a bettor’s friend,
rarely if ever taking his foot off the pedal. The Muskies are big, physical and deep with six players averaging 9.5+ ppg. The best
might be 6’6″ swing man Trevon Bluiett (5.3, 6.3, 2.8) who seemingly improves every game as he becomes more proficient as
an outside shooter.
Unlike Round One, this one figure to be an instant classic. This is No.1 vs. No.5 in the polls and two of the top six in RPI. The
game has a ton of seeding implications not only in the Big East but also for Big Dance in terms of seed and location. Villanova
must win to remain No.1 in the AP poll and lock up top seed in the Big East. Xavier needs a signature win. The Muskies have
wins over six teams in the Top 50 RPI but none vs. teams in the AP Top 25. Xavier is home and this would be a huge feather in
it’s cap. In the first meeting, Villanova shot 72% inside the arc and were 13-25 from downtown. That’s not likely to happen again
here. No call on the side or total here although you would think this would be good spot for Xavier to turn the tables on Nova.
Just going to sit back and enjoy this one in what could be an instant classic.