Villanova looks to keep one of the top seeds in the NCAA Tournament when it travels to Georgetown in a big rivalry matchup. The Wildcats will be the first overall seed in the Big East tournament next week after smacking down Creighton earlier this week. The Hoyas are looking to end a four-game skid that nearly sent them to the cellar in the conference, and two of those losses came against the abysmal DePaul and St. John's squads. Tipoff is set for 12:00 PM Eastern time and it can be seen on FOX and the FOX Sports Go mobile app.
No. 2 Villanova (27-3, 14-3 Big East)
The defending champions continue to impress this season. While they've been swept by Butler in the regular season, that loss to the Bulldogs last weekend was the only defeat they've had in the last nine contests. The Wildcats were an abysmal 4-of-19 from downtown in their recent 79-63 win over Creighton, but they made up for it by getting to the foul line and converting 17-of-22 free throw attempts.
Sophomore forward Eric Paschall (7.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg) had a team-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and he hit three free throws. Senior guard Josh Hart (18.6 ppg, 7 rpg) was the only player that struggled from the charity stripe but made up for it by going 7-for-11 from the field and finishing with 16 points and seven boards.
Georgetown (14-16, 5-12 Big East)
Most of the season has been focused on head coach John Thompson III's job security after another miserable season for Hoyas. They're certainly reeling after losing six of their last seven games, and former players are now expressing that things must change for the school. Barring a surprise run in the conference tournament, it doesn't look like Thompson will be with the program for much longer.
Georgetown's offense has faltered to just 70.8 points on average in the last five games. In their defense, six of their last nine games have been on the road. While the most recent loss to DePaul is inexcusable, their three prior results in the friendly confines have been blowout wins over Marquette and Creighton along with an overtime loss to Seton Hall.
Villanova is a 7-point favorite in this contest, and the O/U is set at 140. The Wildcats have won the last five meetings against the Hoyas, and they are 15-14 against the spread this season.
