Villanova Wildcats versus Rutgers Scarlet Knights Pick Prediction NCAA College Basketball Odds Preview 2-18-2013

The 13-11 Rutgers Scarlet Knights will travel in Big East play when they face the 16-10 Villanova Wildcats in an NCAA college basketball game on Monday night. Tip time from Villanova is scheduled for 9PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by ESPNU.

The college basketball odds from this NCAA game has the home team Villanova Wildcats favored by -9 ½ points with an over under line of 130 ½ points Early money has landed on the road underdog Rutgers Scarlet Knights as Villanova opened up as a -10 point favorite a few hours ago.

The teams met twice last season with Villanova winning and covering the point spread in both games. One game was held at Rutgers and the other was played at Madison Square Garden in the Big East tournament.

Rutgers has a true road record this season of 3-6. The team is 4-9 against Big East competition. On the road in conference the Scarlet Knights have a win at St Johns with losses at Syracuse, Notre Dame, Connecticut, Cincinnati and on Saturday a 75-69 defeat at the DePaul Blue Demons as a +1 ½ point underdog. The total came in at under 144 ½ points. Rutgers shot 46.3% from the floor along with 5 of 12 from three. They give up 45.8% shooting to DePaul and pulled down five less rebounds than the Blue Demons. Myles Mack had 28 points and four rebounds on 11 of 19 shooting for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are a mid-pack team in college basketball on the defensive end of the court as they give up 66.8 points a game and 42% shooting.

The Wildcats are 9-4 straight up on their home court on the year. Villanova is 7-6 facing the Big East. At home on the season the team has wins against St Johns, Louisville, Syracuse and South Florida with losses to Pittsburgh and Providence. They have won three of four games following a 70-61 road win at Connecticut on Saturday as a +4 ½ point underdog. The total came in at under 133 points Villanova pulled away in the second half by outscoring the Huskies. They shoot 40.3% from the floor along with 9 of 21 from three. The Wildcats gave up 47.8% shooting to Connecticut and still win because Villanova crushed Connecticut on the glass by a 40-24 margin. JayVaughn Pinkston had 14 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for Villanova in the win. The Wildcats struggle with their shooting this season as the team connects on just 41.6% from the field which ranks in the lower third of college basketball.