The Villanova Wildcats (7-0) play the Oklahoma Sooners (5-0) at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Action gets underway at 7:00 pm ET on Monday, Dec. 7 and will air on FS1.
The Wildcats beat Saint Joseph’s 86-72 in their last game. Josh Hart led all scorers on the team with 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting. The Sooners are coming off a 111-68 win against Central Arkansas in their last game. Jordan Woodard was the game’s top scorer, registering 24 points on 8-for-10 shooting.
Villanova is a four-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 145 points. The Wildcats are looking to build on their records of 7-0 Straight Up (SU) and 5-1 Against The Spread (ATS). Few teams in the nation have a higher assist-to-turnover ratio than Villanova, which ranks sixth at 1.78. Crossing over to the defensive side of the court, the Wildcats prevent teams from making three-pointers, ranking 38th in the nation with 39 total three-pointers allowed (5.0 per game).
As for their opponent, the Sooners have come out of the gate playing well with records of 5-0 SU and 3-0 ATS. The Sooners are a force on the boards, grabbing an average of 48.6 rebounds per game. Shifting to the other side of the court, teams seem to consistently miss shots against the Sooners, who are the top team in the nation in terms of opponent field goal percentage allowed at .326.
Villanova and Oklahoma have not played one another in a regular season matchup in recent years.
Predictions: SU Winner – Vill, ATS Winner – Okla, O/U – Over
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Villanova’s last 5 games.
The Oklahoma Sooners have the best defense in the country, giving up just 84.0 points per 100 possessions. The Villanova Wildcats rank 36th in offense, scoring 117.1 points in the same number of possessions.
With 67.5 possessions and 1.171 points per possession, the Villanova Wildcats perform worse on both metrics than the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma averages 74.9 possessions and 1.177 points per possession.
This season, Villanova has averaged 31.0 three pointers and Oklahoma has averaged 20.0. When Villanova and Oklahoma attempt at least 20 three pointers, both teams are undefeated. The Villanova Wildcats are 7-0 and the Oklahoma Sooners are 3-0.
The sixth-ranked team in the category, Villanova has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.78 this season. Oklahoma ranks 81st with an A/TO of 1.26.
Ranked second in the nation, Oklahoma averages 48.6 rebounds per game. Villanova ranks lower at 116th with 39.0 RPG.
The Oklahoma Sooners rank 75th in offensive rebounds. The Villanova Wildcats rank 115th in the nation in defensive rebounds.
Opponents have had an average turnover percentage of 23.7% when playing Villanova this season. Oklahoma is undefeated (1-0) when its TO% is 23.7% or higher.
