College Basketball Betting – Marquette at (7) Villanova
Marquette Golden Eagles at No. 7 Villanova Wildcats (-14.5, 131 o/u)
Two teams on different kinds of streaks will meet tonight as the Marquette Golden Eagles (10-11, 2-7 Big East) face the No. 7 Villanova Wildcats (19-2, 6-2 Big East).
The Big East-leading Wildcats are currently riding a two-game win-streak after beating DePaul, 68-55, on Saturday. Ryan Arcidiacono led the team, scoring 18 points.
“In the second half, I just tried to be more aggressive catching the ball and shooting,” Arcidiacono told the Associated Press. “Then they feared my jumper and, off that, I was able to get by some guys [on drives]. After I made a couple of those, I felt pretty good.”
Added Wildcats head coach Jay Wright, “In the first half [DePaul] took advantage of everything we tried to do defensively. In the second half, we didn’t change anything. We just did a better job. We got a good feel for what they were doing to us.”
Now, Villanova will look to keep its 18-game home win streak alive when it faces Marquette. The Golden Eagles come in cold, losing their last five in a row. The team was dealt a hard 72-68 OT loss this past weekend by No. 25 Butler.
“We see how close the games are and how hard we fought,” said center Luke Fischer. “We know that we’re right there and can beat any team that we’ve played so far. That gives us confidence that we are good.”
As Fischer alluded to, Marquette has played a number of close games recently. Golden Eagles coach Steve Wojciechowski believes his team has the skill and desire to win the nail-biters, as long as they keep their spirits up.
“These are very difficult losses, and I’d be lying to you if I told you it didn’t hurt our guys,” Wojciechowski said. “Obviously we’ve shown that we can lose to anybody in our league, but I still believe we can beat anyone in our league. Poor morale is not allowed. It’s just not allowed.”
Tonight, look for the Golden Eagles to give the Wildcats a game, which is why the over (131) is the play.
(Photo credit: Quincy Roberts (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)
John Benson is a die-hard football and basketball fan who also dabbles in the dark art of entertainment betting. With over two decades of experience in the sports writing and betting industry, he brings a wealth of knowledge and a pint of wisdom to his diverse endeavors on SportsBettingDime.com.
