Villanova vs. Xavier prediction and odds for Tuesday, February 21 (All about the Wildcats)

The 2022-23 season has been a rough one for the Villanova Wildcats, but they have looked better as of late, winning three of their last four games with guard Justin Moore back in the lineup.

Villanova is going to need to win the Big East Tournament to earn an NCAA Tournament berth, and one of the team’s it will likely need to go through is Tuesday’s opponent, the Xavier Musketeers.

Xaviers is just 3-2 since star Zach Freemantle went down with an injury, and both he and Kam Craft are expected to miss this game. The Musketeers are still a top-25 team, but they haven’t been dominant as home favorites, going 7-6 against the spread on the season.

The Wildcats love to slow the pace and shoot the 3, but can they do that effectively against the Musketeers?

Xavier won the first meeting between these teams by eight, and it is laying six points without Freemantle on Tuesday.

Let’s dive into the odds and a pick for this Big East matchup:

Villanova vs. Xavier odds, spread and total

Villanova vs. Xavier prediction and pick

Even though Villanova has not been great this season, the Wildcats are 4-2 against the spread as road dogs.

They struggled in Moore’s first three games back (0-3), but since then they are 3-1, rattling off wins over DePaul, Seton Hall and Butler. Moore is starting to find his game again, scoring in double figures in four of his last five matchups and averaging 12.6 points per game.

The Wildcats are 340th in the country in adjusted tempo, so their chance to keep this close comes by slowing Xavier (24th in adjusted tempo) down on offense.

If this game turns into a half court slog, the Wildcats should be able to hang around.

Xavier’s recent play is concerning, and the team needed 29 points from Freemantle to beat the Wildcats the last time these teams played.

With the star big out, I’ll ride with Villanova to cover in this game.

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.