Big East basketball is here on Martin Luther King Jr. Day with an afternoon matchup between the Villanova Wildcats (11-5, 4-1 Big East) and the #11 Marquette Golden Eagles (11-5, 2-3 Big East). Villanova is coming off an easy home win over DePaul 94-69, winning and covering as 19.5-point favorites. Marquette just lost a home game to Butler 69-62, getting upset as 11.5-point favorites. Marquette won both matchups against Villanova last season. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:30 EST from the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, and can be found on FOX.
Are your basketball picks feeling stale? Try our NCAAB Betting picks and make a score!
The Villanova Wildcats are right at the top of the Big East standings, as only three teams in the league have only one loss. The one-loss teams are Seton Hall, UConn and Villanova. Nova's lone loss was a home matchup against St. John's, they defeated DePaul twice, won a home game over Xavier, and grabbed a road win over #12 Creighton. In their last game against DePaul, Nova got out to a 10 point lead at half and never looked back. They were led in scoring by Eric Dixon with 24 points in the win.
?????? ??????! @Tyler_Burton1 finds @BigEballer_ for the strong finish down low. This is our Old Dominion Freight Line Play of the Game from our Win over DePaul! @ODFL_Inc | #BestintheGame pic.twitter.com/Epkju0k3hF
— Villanova MBB (@NovaMBB) January 14, 2024
Dixon is the leading scorer for Villanova at 15.3 PPG, while adding another 6.5 RPG as a 6'8, 255-pound senior forward. Dixon has had 12 or more points in his last five games including a 32 point game in the big win in Creighton. Justin Moore is working his way back into the lineup after an injury, his first game back was their last outing against DePaul, where he only scored two points in 23 minutes. Moore is averaging 12.3 PPG as a 6'5 senior guard and adds another 3.4 RPG and 2.3 APG. TJ Bamba is another 6'5 guard, the senior is a physical player and scores 9.5 PPG on the perimeter. Tyler Burton is a 6'7 forward who scores 8.9 PPG and leads the team with 7.7 RPG. Villanova can space the floor, none of their top four scorers are elite shooters, but they are all capable, as they all have between 17 and 22 made threes on the season.
Villanova is currently ranked 25th overall according to KenPom. They rank 44th in the nat ion in offensive efficiency and 28th in defensive efficiency. The Wildcats play slow, their tempo is ranked 305th out of 362 Division I teams.
Injury Report:
Questionable: G Justin Moore (12.3 PPG), G Jordan Longino (8.7 PPG)