Villanova vs Kansas State Odds, Pick
| Villanova Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-2.5 -110 | 143.5 -105o / -115u | -145 |
| Kansas State Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+2.5 -110 | 143.5 -105o / -115u | +120 |
We have yet another edition of the Big East-Big 12 Battle on Tuesday in Manhattan, Kansas. It's also the battle of Wildcats, as Villanova will be traveling to Bramlage Coliseum to take on Kansas State.
Villanova lost a home game as a 12-point favorite to Drexel on Saturday. Meanwhile, Kansas State squeaked out its second consecutive overtime victory, this time against North Alabama.
Remarkably, Jerome Tang's Cats have played in three overtime games to begin the year, which is the most in the country. However, Kyle Neptune's team will head into Manhattan hungry for a bounce-back win.
Here's Villanova vs Kansas State odds and a pick for Tuesday.
Villanova Wildcats
A huge reason as to why Nova lost on Saturday was its 3-point shooting. The Cats were 5-of-27 from beyond the arc, which is slightly below 20% for the game.
They love to chuck up 3s, as they're fourth in the country in 3-point attempts. This group essentially lives and dies by the 3, which was evident in their loss on Saturday.
Luckily for these Cats, things should be a lot smoother in this matchup, as they'll be facing a weak 3-point defense. This could all be due to small-sample variance, but Kansas State is 242nd in 3PT% allowed, which tells me it's allowed a lot of clean looks from that area of the floor.
Considering this Villanova offense is consistently firing from deep, I was a little taken aback to see it's shooting 32% in that department. Justin Moore and Eric Dixon are bound to get on a hot streak eventually.
The Cats love to stretch the floor, as every member of their starting lineup has shown the ability to let it rip from deep. That's a huge edge against most opposing teams, considering many forwards or big men don't have the ability to defend outside of the paint.
I also really like how this team takes care of business at the charity stripe. The Wildcats are top-five in the nation in free throw percentage, shooting 82% on the season.
Nova also does a good job of protecting the basketball, an area that Kansas State won't be able to exploit.
I think Villanova is due for a bounce-back offensive game, and it should be able to exploit Kansas State out on the perimeter.
Kansas State Wildcats
This will be a real step up in class for Kansas State, and it'll need to play much better than it has as of late.
The Cats have only one power-conference win thus far, and that was against a rebuilding Providence team. They've suffered losses to USC and Miami.
Offensively, they're pretty similar to Villanova. They take a ton of 3s and like to get out in transition.
Due to their lack of size, they have to rely on a ton of ball screens to create mismatches.
Just like Nova, they haven't gotten off to the best start from beyond the arc. Again, this could be because of a small sample size, but they haven't been an excellent shooting team thus far.
Tylor Perry and Cam Carter love to let it fly, as both of them have 56 or more 3-point attempts. Perry is shooting an average of 34%, but Carter is only shooting 30%.
This is an area Kansas State will need to capitalize on, considering Villanova is even worse defensively against the deep ball than it is. I could see KSU having some success in this matchup.
The Wildcats also need to clean things up in the turnover department. This group is 248th in offensive turnover percentage, which could be their ultimate downfall in this game.
Defensively, I have a hard time envisioning how they'll match up with Nova down low. They've been excellent at crashing the offensive glass, but the issue is that Villanova has been great at preventing second-scoring chances.
Tang is a great coach, but unfortunately, I think Nova's depth and size will be too much to overcome.
Villanova vs. Kansas State
Betting Pick & Prediction
I already alluded to this above, but I expect a nice bounce back from Villanova in this game. KenPom makes Kansas State a slight one-point favorite, but I'm going to go against him here.
Villanova has proven it can compete with some of the best teams in the nation thus far this season, despite losses to Penn, Saint Joe's and Drexel. Let's be real: I don't expect the Wildcats to shoot 18% from 3 in this game.
I'm sure Kansas State will be a bit fatigued after back-to-back overtime games against inferior opponents. This isn't a very deep team, so I expect some tired legs in the second half.
I'm rolling with the Wildcats … from Villanova.
Pick: Villanova +1 or Better
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