Villanova Wildcats 16-5 (7-3) vs Seton Hall Pirates 16-6 (6-5)
Where: Finneran Pavilion (Villanova, PA)
When: Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 6:30 PM
Betting Line: Villanova -6.5 (subject to change)
How to Watch: Peacock
How to Listen: Villanova Sports Radio Network
Net Rankings: Villanova 33, Seton Hall 49 (Quad 2)
KenPom: Villanova 28, Seton Hall 49
Torvik: Villanova 32, Seton Hall 52
About Seton Hall: The Pirates are 5-4 since the first meeting against Villanova, coming off of back-to-back home wins against Xavier
and Marquette.
In the first matchup, Seton Hall was without freshman center Najai Hines. The 6’10” big man has regressed statistically since this point (and conference play as a whole), only averaging 5.2 points per game.
On the flip side, Adam “Budd” Clark has been coming on of late. The 5’10” transfer from Merrimack only had 4 points against the Wildcats on 1/11 shooting, battling foul trouble for much of the day. The junior is averaging 13.7 points per contest since that point. Villanova was able to hold Clark and sixth-man Tajaun Simpkins (11.1 points per game) to a combined 10 points on 3/22 shooting.
Notes on Nova: The ‘Cats look to increase their lead on third place in the Big East, while keeping hopes alive to catch both St. John’s and Connecticut. Coming off of nearly a week off, Villanova put together a good showing against the Friars. With a win against the Hall, the Wildcats will have a golden opportunity to be 10-3 in conference play entering the road game at Creighton on Valentine’s Day.
One thing to note is that freshman Chris Jeffrey made his return against Providence, so hopefully he will be able to ramp up more in this one. The guard only played 3 minutes in his first game back.
