Butler Bulldogs vs Villanova Wildcats Prediction, 12/16/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Butler Bulldogs vs Villanova Wildcats

Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Location: Finneran Pavilion in Villanova, PA

TV: FS1

Odds/Point Spread: Butler (+12)

Finneran Pavilion is the site where and the Villanova Wildcats (5-1) will take on the Butler Bulldogs (1-0) on Wednesday. The spread on this contest has Villanova as 12-point favorites. The over/under opens at 132.5.

Butler enters this matchup with a record of 1-0 this season. The Bulldogs are shooting 25.0% on shots from 3-point land (5 of 20) and 62.5% from the charity stripe. They average 66.0 points per contest (265th in the country) while hitting 40.4% from the floor. They turn it over 6 times per contest and as a team are committing 14 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Butler is grabbing 32 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 7 assists so far this year, which is 322nd in the country in terms of passing the rock. On defense, the Bulldogs are forcing their opponents into 13 turnovers per game while drawing 19 personal fouls. The Bulldogs defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 46.0% (23 of 50) and they surrender 34 boards per contest as a group. They currently rank 12th in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 13 conceded this season. They concede 50.0% on 3-point shots and they are ranked 53rd in college basketball in opponents PPG (62.0).

The Butler Bulldogs played the Western Michigan Broncos and earned the victory with a final of 66-62 in their last game. Butler finished the game with a 40.4% FG percentage (23 of 57) and made 5 out of their 20 three-point attempts. From the free throw line, the Bulldogs converted 15 of their 24 shots for a percentage of 62.5%. Pertaining to rebounding, they earned 30 with 5 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 7 assists for the contest while earning 7 steals and 2 blocked shots. Regarding defending, Butler allowed 40.4% from the floor on 23 of 57. Western Michigan distributed 13 assists and 2 steals in this contest. In addition, the Broncos snagged 33 rebounds (1 offensive, 32 defensive) and got 2 blocks. Western Michigan finished shooting 70.0% at the charity stripe by making 7 of 10 tries. They also buried 9 of their 18 shots from distance.

Aaron Thompson is someone who was pivotal for this contest. He accumulated 21 points on 6 of 9 shooting. He was on the court for 38 minutes and also grabbed 2 rebounds. Thompson finished the game shooting 66.7% from the field and recorded 4 dimes. One more player that was a major factor in the game for the Bulldogs was Jair Bolden. He grabbed 9 rebounds and also had 2 dimes. He finished the game at 40.0% from the field in the game by hitting 6-of-15 (15 points). In all, Bolden was on the court for 31 minutes.

Villanova has a win-loss record of 5-1 so far this season. As an offensive unit, the Wildcats are shooting 46.4% from the floor, which ranks 135th in college hoops. Villanova has accounted for 463 points on the season (77.2 per contest) and they average 36.2 rebounds per contest. They are earning an assist 13.3 times per game (183rd in college basketball) and they turn the ball over 8.5 times per contest. The Wildcats commit 17.0 personal fouls every game and they connect on 70.8% from the free throw line. The Wildcats defensively are ranked 124th in college basketball in points allowed per contest with 67.0. They are forcing 11.3 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 44.1% from the field (212th in D-1). The Villanova defense gives up 34.5% on shots from distance (49 of 142) and their opponents are connecting on 66.2% of their free throw shots. They have relinquished 9.7 assists and 32.2 total boards per game, which is ranked 37th and 80th in D-1.

In their last game, the Villanova Wildcats took home the win by a final score of 76-63 when they faced the Georgetown Hoyas. The Wildcats were able to snag 25 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 33 for this contest. They rejected 2 tries while earning 3 steals in the matchup. The Hoyas earned 17 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Wildcats to the free throw line for 17 tries. They were able to knock down 11 of the free throw tries for a rate of 64.7%. In relation to shots from distance, Villanova converted 15 of their 39 tries (38.5%). When the final whistle was blown, the Wildcats finished shooting 25 out of 60 from the field which gave them a rate of 41.7%. The Wildcats permitted the Hoyas to make 26 of 61 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 42.6% for this contest. They finished shooting 30.4% from three-point range by hitting 7 of 23 and finished the game at 4 of 4 at the charity stripe (100.0%). With respect to cleaning the glass, Villanova allowed Georgetown to grab 35 overall (9 on the offensive glass).

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl ended up being a factor for the Wildcats for the contest. He buried 3 out of 9 for this contest for a field goal rate of 33.3%, which gave him 9 points. Robinson-Earl pulled down 4 boards in his 36 mins and had 2 dimes in the matchup. Another guy who saw a lot of action for Villanova was Collin Gillespie. He walked away with 18 points in 35 minutes on the court via 5 of 10 from the floor for this contest. Gillespie wrapped this one up going 50.0% from the floor as well as earning 6 assists and 4 total rebounds.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Villanova (-12) and over 132.5 points

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