The Penn Quakers (5-6) and Villanova Wildcats (3-5) collide Wednesday in Philadelphia. The opening tip at Finneran Pavilion will be at 7 p.m. ET (CBSSN). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Penn vs. Villanova odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Penn enters off consecutive against the spread (ATS) losses. The Quakers’ last 2 games were also straight-up overtime losses. Both games — Nov. 30 vs. Saint Joseph’s (85-80) and Saturday vs. La Salle (84-81) — soared past game totals, and the Over is 8-3 across the team’s last 11 games.
The Wildcats are at home for a 2nd straight game. Villanova covered as a 3-point favorite in a 70-66 triumph over Oklahoma Saturday. The ‘Cats are 3-0 at home this season and 15-1 over their last 16 games at Finneran Pavilion.
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Penn at Villanova odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:25 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Penn +575 (bet $100 to win $575) | Villanova -950 (bet $950 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Penn +13.5 (-115) | Villanova -13.5 (-105)
- Over/Under (O/U): 139.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Penn at Villanova picks and predictions
Prediction
Villanova 74, Penn 63
Moneyline
There is no value on Villanova (-950) here. PASS.
Against the spread
Penn is 3-0 ATS in its last 3 meetings with Villanova. The Wildcats are 1-7 ATS across their last 8 games against under-.500 teams and the underdog is 5-2 ATS in the last 7 games of this series.
The Quakers have come up just short in 2 previous games in the Big 5 series, the city series amongst a quintuplet of Philly-area schools (La Salle, Penn, Saint Joseph’s, Temple, Villanova). A couple of comp-adjacent games from their record — Nov. 11 at Missouri and Nov. 26 vs. Colgate — were ATS wins.
This point spread looms large in what figures as a slow-tempo contest, so BACK PENN +13.5 (-115). Consider a partial-unit play unless the price drops to -110 or better.
Over/Under
Penn totes 4 straight Overs into this contest, but that was on the strength of some hot shooting on home hardwood.
Free throws, 2nd-chance points, and pace point to shading this one on the low side. Perimeter shooting is the wildcard: ‘Nova launches a lot of triples and Penn has been making them at a hefty rate (36.2%).
TAKE THE UNDER 139.5 (-110).
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