Villanova Wildcats 15-5 (6-3) vs Providence Friars 9-12 (2-8)
Where: Finneran Pavilion (Villanova, PA)
When: Friday, Jan. 30 at 7:00 PM
Betting Line: TBD
How to Watch: FS1
How to Listen: Villanova Sports Radio
Network
Net Rankings: Villanova 35, Providence 87 (Quad 3)
KenPom: Villanova 27, Providence 71
Torvik: Villanova 32, Providence 72
On Providence: This is the first rematch of the season for the ‘Cats, who took down Providence 88-82 at their place on January 13th. In that game, the Friars were missing their leading scorer, Jason Edwards. The 6’1” senior has remained out since that point, missing the last four games (1-3 record). Providence is coming off of an 87-81 loss at Connecticut on Wednesday, where freshman Jamier Jones produced similarly to how he did against the Wildcats. In the five games without Edwards, the 6’6” forward is averaging 18.4 points and 6.2 rebounds on 57.9% from the floor. The majority of the production in that span has come from the same three sources it did against Villanova: Jones, Jaylin Sellers and Stefan Vaaks. Center Oswin Erhunmwunse has picked it up though since the loss to the Wildcats, averaging 11 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks per contest.
Notes on Nova: The Wildcats are coming off of a six-day break and difficult overtime loss at UConn, so it will be interesting to see how they come out. There could be some risk of rust, especially with Providence playing a close game against those same Huskies less than 48 hours prior. It will important to match the energy early on, more so than it usually is. Hopefully the rest will outweigh the rust, as there won’t be more than four days off in between games for the rest of the regular season. It was encouraging to see Matt Hodge perform like he did against the championship-contending Huskies, as he has been inconsistent over the past few weeks. On the other side of things, the starting backcourt couldn’t possibly need a great performance more. Especially Bryce Lindsay, who continues to struggle since the Creighton game. Outside of an encouraging second half against the Hoyas, Lindsay hasn’t shown signs of coming out of his slump. Acaden Lewis, on the other hand, is coming off of a 1/13 performance against Connecticut (and two games before that a 1/7 showing against St. John’s). Those tough assignments will be back soon enough, and answers will be given at that time. In the interim, it would be good to just get some confidence built back up.
