Game Time: 9:00 AM ET, Saturday, December 3rd, 2021

Venue: Finneran Pavilion, Villanova, Pennsylvania

Where to Watch: FS1

DraftKings: 

BetMGM: 

PointsBet:  N/A NL  

(if you live in WV, TN, NJ, PA… do some voting for sports gambling in your area)

St Joseph’s: 0-0 conf, 4-3 overall (Atlantic 10) 

Villanova: 0-0 conf, 5-2 overall (Big East)

St Joe’s has won two straight games… with a loss to #20 USC before that.  They are a quality basketball program that will matchup poorly with Villanova.  Their only chance to win is if the Key players step up.  Conference play hasn’t started yet… but Nov. is gone and it’s all about to get real.

Villanova has also won their last two games with a loss to the Purdue Boilermakers before that.  They play in a basketball heavy conference with the Butler Bulldogs, Connecticut Huskies, and Syracuse Orange.  Sure, they won’t have to worry about a contest with Gonzaga unless they go deep in the NCAA tournament… but at #6 in the nation they have to win these games now to get there.  The problem with being dominant early is they will have to sustain it.

Talk about consistent! Ben Burns just wrapped up a winning November. He's "produced profits in six of the past seven months." He was 83-52 last December and that included an AWESOME 37-17 (69%) COLLEGE HOOPS RECORD, good for $15K in earnings. As per usual, Ben is DOMINATING the college hardwood. He's 4-1 this week and 21-11 this season. LET'S GO!  Get Ben Burns’ picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

St Joe’s is 4-3 on the season and 4-3 ATS.  They have logged 4 Overs and 3 Unders. This will be their first official road game, so they are 0-0 on the road.  They have played 2 games at neutral sites and the result is 1-1.  

Villanova is 5-2 on the season, but 3-4 ATS.  They have notched 4 Overs and 3 Unders.  They are 2-0 at home.  

St Joe’s is 176th in points per game with 72.9 per, 136th in rebounds with 34.6 per, and 184th in AST/TO ratio with 1.0.  This will not get it done.  They need to excel in all these categories against Villanova’s superior defense and it is hard to see that happen.

Villanova is 65th in points per game with 79.4 per game, 237th in rebounds with 31.7 per, and 7th in AST/TO ratio with 1.9.  The accelerated scoring and AST/TO ratio is why they are low on rebounds… They shoot 45.8 FG% which is why there are simply less rebounds to scoop.  They are also shooting a wonderful 40.9% from the arc.

Our prediction for Saturday, December 4th is .. Villanova 88 - St Joe’s 69

Easy win for Villanova.  They are simply head and shoulders above St Joe’s.

Don't miss our champion handicappers' Free NCAAF Picks and Premium Selections every day here at Bigal.com. Just click on Shop Picks for our Best Bets, or click on Shop Subscriptions to join for a week or a month. And if you enjoyed this Hawks/Wildcats preview, be sure to bookmark Bigal.com for our daily Game Previews and Predictions.

The Hawks haven’t beat Villanova since 2011.

St Joe’s: No injuries to report.

Villanova: G B. Antoine (Knee) Out

 St Joe’s: PG Erik Reynolds II, SG Cameron Brown, SF Jordan Hall, PF Taylor Funk, C Ejike Obinna

Villanova: PG Collin Gillespie, SG Brandon Slater, SF Justin Moore, PF Jermaine Samuels, C Eric Dixon

St Joe’s

Points: Taylor Funk 17.4

Assists: Jordan Hall 5.9

Rebounds: Jordan Hall 7.4

Steals: Jordan Hall 1.3

Blocks: Dahmir Bishop 1.0

Villanova

Points: Collin Gillespie 17

Assists: Collin Gillespie 3.6

Rebounds: Jermaine Samuels 6.1

Steals: Collin Gillespie 1.4

Blocks: Jermaine Samuels 0.7

St Joe’s: Billy Lange.  Coach Lange has had the St Joe’s job since 2019… there was some covid-19 that disrupted college basketball in that span… he came out of it with a 13-41 record.  He was previously the coach at Navy.  He won’t be here much longer if St Joe’s wants to win games… maybe they don’t?

Villanova: Jay Wright>  Coach Wright has had the Villanova job since 2001. He has NCAA tournament wins in 2016 and 2018… He has 3 final fours… He has 8 Big East regular season championships. His Villanove record is 494-192!! Whatever he is paid… It is not enough.  Some are wondering why he hasn’t taken an NBA job?... but if you like what you do and run through the NCAA tournament every year… why leave?