West Virginia Mountaineers at Villanova Wildcats 2011 NCAA Basketball Preview, Odds, and Predictions: Head basketball coach Bob Huggins will lead his No. 25 West Virginia Mountaineers on the road to the Wells Fargo Center Villanova Pavilion to take on No. 12 Villanova Wildcats on Saturday at 12 Noon ET on ESPN in a heated Big East Rivalry. The Mountaineers enter the game winning their last 2 to get to (15-6, 6-3) tied for third with the Wildcats who won their last outing and come in at (18-4, 6-3 Big East) and the teams split their 2 meetings last season. This is the only matchup scheduled for this season between the Top 25 teams.
“They’ve got their big guys so much more involved now than probably they did a year ago,” Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins said. “I think they’re very, very good and I think they’re well deserving of being one of the top 10 teams in the country.” “Villanova doesn’t win too many games because of their inside game, and I think we did,” coach Jay Wright said. “I thought Mouph was outstanding and ‘Tone was great. You just never know when it can turn around in this league,” Wright said. “The good thing about this league is, if you do turn it around, you’re going to be playing a top-10, top-15 team and you’re going to look good quick.” . The odds makers at JustBET have the Villanova Wildcats a -5 point favorite at home against the West Virginia Mountaineers.
The Villanova Wildcats are coming off a victory 75-70 at home over Marquette to move to 10-8 ATS for the season. Center Mouphtaou Yarou led the Wildcats with 18 points and 5 rebounds while forward Antonio Pena scored 14 points and pulled down 10 boards for a double-double. Guard Corey Fisher added 17 points and 6 dimes while Corey Stokes chipped in 14 points and 3 boards. The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Villanova’s last 5 games at home and Villanova is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing West Virginia.
West Virginia is coming off a 56-44 victory over Seton Hall at home to move to 8-9 ATS for the season. Forward Kevin Jones led the Mounties with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Forwards John Flowers 10 points and 7 boards, Cam Thoroughman 10 points and 4 boards, and Deniz Kilicli 10 points and 7 rebounds off the bench rounded out the double digit scoring for WVU. . Vegas odds makers have the West Virginia Mountaineers +12500 to win the 2011 NCAA Championship.
I predict a WVU upset on the road!
Note: Rich Fritz is a Blog Writer on NSAwins.com and not a pro handicapper. For expert NFL Football Predictions against the Vegas spreads please visit the NSAwins.com homepage for top predictions today from the National Sports Advisors.