Xavier and Villanova will face off for the first time this season at the Wells Fargo Center. Which team will make take the lead in the Big East standings?
Matchup: No. 10 Xavier Musketeers at No. 1 Villanova Wildcats
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET on Jan. 10
TV schedule: Fox Sports 1
Location: Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA.
There are not many in-conference matchups in the country bigger than this one. Both Xavier and Villanova have proven themselves to be top-10 teams the nation this season and are led by outstanding duos. Head coaches Chris Mack (Xavier) and Jay Wright (Villanova) are two of the best in the business and they will have their teams fully prepared to do battle in this game.
Villanova Wildcats (14-1, 2-1)
Villanova has been the dominating force in the Big East over the past several years but they finally have a team that looks to compete with them for the title in the Xavier Musketeers. The Wildcats are led by juniors Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges. Brunson is known around the country as one of the best point guards in the nation. If it wasn’t for freshman phenom Trae Young, it is quite possible that people would be talking about Brunson as the best player in the country.
For the season, Brunson leads Villanova in scoring at 19.4 points per game and is also their leading distributor with 5.2 assists dished out per game. In addition to these per game averages, Brunson is one of the most efficient scorers in the country. He is currently finishing on 65.1% of his attempts inside the 3-point arc and is also deadly from deep, connecting on 49.3% of his trifectas.
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His running mate, Mikal Bridges, is also one of the top players in the nation. Bridges has risen incredibly quickly up NBA Draft boards this season due to his increased scoring and tenacity on the defensive end of the floor. The 6’7″ wing player is second on the team in scoring at 17.8 points per game. Just like Brunson, Bridges goes about his scoring very efficiently. He is shooting 51.6% from the field this year, including 45.2% on 3-pointers.
Other major contributors for Villanova include Donte DiVincenzo (12.5 points), Phil Booth (11.8 points), Omari Spellman (10.4 points, 7.7 rebounds), and Eric Paschall (9.9 points). Jay Wright’s team ranks among the best in the country in scoring at 88.9 points per game. In addition, the Wildcats are nearly posting 100 points per contest in Big East play.
Xavier Musketeers (15-2, 3-1)
In a similar fashion to Villanova, Xavier is also led by a two-headed monster in seniors Trevon Bluiett and J.P. Macura. Bluiett is one of the main contenders to potentially win Big East Player of the Year this season. Now in his final season, Bluiett is the top scorer for the Musketeers at 19.4 points per game. Standing at 6’6″ and a reliable scoring threat from anywhere on the floor, it is nearly impossible to stop Bluiett.
As for Macura, he is one of the most polarizing players in all of college basketball. You either love J.P. or hate J.P. and there is absolutely no in-between. However, even if you hate Macura, you have to respect his game. The senior is a dangerous scorer (13.1 points) with immense range. In addition, when he is at the top of Xavier’s 1-3-1 zone, good luck scoring.
After the top two, six more Musketeers score more than seven points per game. There is remarkable balance on this roster and that is a testament to the team play on the court. Watch out for Chris Mack to run several different players onto the court in order to keep fresh legs going against the rather thin rotation of Villanova.
Next: Where are Nova and Xavier in our latest projected bracket?
Although I believe these teams are very evenly matched, I give the edge to the home team in this one. Even though Villanova runs a smaller rotation than Xavier, they will be able to jump out to an early lead and stay ahead for the majority of the game. It is very hard to make a comeback on a team as good as Villanova is, so I think that Jay Wright’s team holds on in the end. This is clearly the top matchup of Wednesday night so be sure to tune in.
Final prediction: Villanova 88, Xavier 82.