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The Cincinnati Bearcats (6-0) and Villanova Wildcats (4-4) tangle Tuesday with the opening tip at Finneran Pavilion at 6:30 p.m. ET (FS1). Let’s analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s college basketball odds around the Cincinnati vs. Villanova odds, and make our expert college basketball picks and predictions.
Cincinnati, which is No. 14 in the USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll, last played Wednesday when it defeated the Alabama State Hornets 77-59. The favored-by-28.5 Bearcats led by 27 inside the 5-minute mark but failed to cover after a late run by ASU. UC clobbered the Hornets on the boards, hauling down 14 offensive rebounds and clocking an overall plus-20 in rebounds. The Bearcats have been a double-digit plus in rebounding in 3 of their last 4 games.
Villanova covered as a -19 in its last game, a 72-48 triumph over Rider Broncs on Wednesday. The Wildcats had 15 made 3-pointers and are shooting 43.3% from beyond the arc over their last 3 games. VU has covered in 3 of its last 4 at home.
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Cincinnati at Villanova odds
Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list of college basketball odds. Lines last updated at 7:07 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Cincinnati -178 (bet $178 to win $100) | Villanova +146 (bet $100 to win $146)
- Against the spread (ATS): Cincinnati -4.5 (-102) | Villanova +4.5 (-120)
- Over/Under (O/U): 138.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Cincinnati at Villanova picks and predictions
Prediction
Cincinnati 68, Villanova 65
Moneyline
The Wildcats would be more of a live wire at +160 or better. PASS.
Against the spread
The Bearcats are 2-0 ATS on the road this season, but last season UC went just 3-5 ATS as a road favorite. Since 2020, Cincinnati has gone 7-13 ATS as a road favorite.
Peg Cincy as being due a fairly heavy dose of regression, and that’s a key part of Villanova being the value side of this one. Heading into this game, the Bearcats rank No. 1 in NCAA-I in effective field-goal percentage (61.4%) and defensive effective field-goal percentage (38.5%). And while Cincinnati is talented at both ends of the floor, it figures to be living, in part, on some shooting luck.
Villanova is solid offensively and trending the right way in that department. The Wildcats are an excellent rebounding team (that facet of the game figures to be an evenly-matched, big-body contest on Tuesday), and being a high-frequency perimeter-launch team, their recent 3-point shooting numbers are encouraging.
‘Nova has a fighting chance for an outright win and a better-than-solid probability of keeping a losing margin to one possession. TAKE VILLANOVA +4.5 (-120).
Over/Under
The Under has cashed in 5 consecutive UC games.
Both teams are at the slow end of the pace spectrum, and neither generates many looks from the foul line. A typical second-chance rebounding advantage for both figures to cancel out. And while Cincinnati may be due some defensive regression, it is really good at forcing suboptimal looks on field goals.
In Villanova’s last 5 games as a home underdog, the Under has gone 4-1, and the UNDER 138.5 (-110) is the value side of this game.
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