The Villanova Wildcats will open their Big East schedule when they visit the Seton Hall Pirates on Tuesday night at Prudential Center in Newark. Villanova enters this game with a 9-2 overall record, having closed the non-conference portion on a high note with an overtime win over Wisconsin. Seton Hall sits at 11-1 and are eager to prove that hot start is no fluke with a win here. Before tip-off from New Jersey, I've got you covered with my Villanova vs Seton Hall prediction.
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Seton Hall’s impressive 11-1 record is a testament to their overachievement so far, with the Pirates’ defense often dictating games by forcing turnovers. In their latest outing, Tajuan Simpkins delivered 22 points and Stephon Payne III posted a double-double to secure a hard-fought win against Providence. The Pirates will try to pass a second straight Big East test to get to 12-1 for the year.
Villanova closed out non-conference play with a quality overtime victory at Wisconsin, with Tyler Perkins leading the Wildcats in scoring and Duke Brennan anchoring things on the boards. Despite missing guard Chris Jeffrey due to knee surgery and Wade Chiddick also sidelined, Villanova’s depth has helped them to overcome their injury issues. Both teams enter with plenty of momentum, but this game will come down to whether or not the Villanova offense can break down the elite defense of The Hall.
The winner of this game will still be unbeaten early in Big East play. While there are plenty of twists and turns left in the Big East basketball season, remaining one of the four teams still undefeated in conference play will set the winner up to control its own destiny for Big East tournament seeding as the year progresses.
Score Projection: Villanova 74 – Seton Hall 72
Win Probability: Villanova 52%, Seton Hall 48%
This should be an incredibly close game between Villanova and Seton Hall in Newark. I am going to take the points with the Villanova Wildcats in this contest, as they should do just enough offensively to get the better of a Seton Hall team that ranks outside of the top 100 in offensive efficiency by KenPom.
Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.
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