Game 33: Big East Tournament Quarterfinal – No 11 Georgetown Hoyas (15-17) vs No 3 Villanova Wildcats (24-7)
Where: Madison Square Garden
TV: FS1 (Gus Johnson, Bill Raftery)
Radio: Team 980 AM (Rich Chvotkin), Sirius App (Hoyas), Ch 204 (Villanova)
All- Time Series: Villanova leads 53-47 and swept the Hoyas this season.
BET History: Georgetown leads 6-2.
KenPom Rankings: Villanova 30, Georgetown 81
KenPom Odds: Villanova has a 74%-win probability with a projected score of 75-68.
DraftKings Line: Georgetown +7.5, o/u 140.5 ML +275
Villanova Report: After a three-year absence from the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats are set to get back to the Dance and are playing for seeding thanks to solid NET and KenPom numbers. Acaden Lewis gave Georgetown problems in two games earlier this season while Duke Brennan is a walking double-double.
With last night’s victory over DePaul, Georgetown advanced in the BET for the first time since winning the 2021 edition. That was of course the COVID tourney so you have to go back even further to find the last time Georgetown played in the quarterfinals with fans in attendance. Back in 2016 the Hoyas beat DePaul before falling to top seeded Villanova in the quarters in DSR’s final college game.
Kevin Willard has done a great job in his first season at Villanova. That being said, what he’s done the best is winning the games he’s supposed to win and not losing to any duds. The Wildcats finished 15-5 in the league. After taking out the four losses to No. 6 UConn and No. 13 St. John’s, Willard’s squad won 15 out of 16 vs teams not in contention for at-large NCAA bids.
After strong performances last night a trio of Hoyas are in the mix for all tournament honors should they score another win tonight. Vince Iwuchukwu had 17 points and 14 rebounds, Jeremiah Williams had 17 points with just one turnover in 25 minutes and Malik Mack scored 16 while handing out four assists and grabbing six rebounds.
Iwuchukwu mentioned in a post game interview that he felt snubbed for some postseason awards. If the senior big can channel that energy into high level play the Hoyas could find themselves with something meaningful to do on Friday night at MSG.
Historically the BET numbers are kind to Georgetown entering tonight’s match against the Wildcats.
6-2 vs Villanova in the BET
23-12 in the quarterfinal round
The winner will advance to take on the winner of 10 Xavier vs 2 UConn on Friday night at 8 PM on FS1.