Akron vs. Villanova, 2015 Preseason NIT Tip-Off: Game time, TV schedule, odds, and 3 things to watch

How to watch, listen or stream

Game Time: 4:30 p.m. ET

TV: FS1

Radio: 610 Sports Radio (Villanova) || Akron IMG Sports Network, WARF 1350 AM (Akron)

Live Stream: Streaming is available for this telecast via FOX Sports GO where available.

Gamblin' Info

Odds: The Villanova Wildcats open as a 14.5-point favorite over the Akron Zips via OddsShark.

You may find spreads at 15 points in other places.

Records ATS: The 'Cats and Zips are unbeaten ATS through this point in the season, each posting a 2-0 record.

O/U: The o/u opened at 142.

Moneylines: Moneylines for Akron-Villanova are quite lofty.

The 'Cats are at -2500 on OddsShark. Elsewhere, they can be had for -1500 (BetOnline, SPORTS Betting), -1400 (5Dimes) and -1425 (sportbet).

The Zips, meanwhile, are ambitious in the other direction. On OddsShark, it opened at +1150. Elsewhere, they can be had for +975 (BetOnline, SPORTS Betting), +1075 (sportbet) and +1100.

Make what you will of that.

3-point preview

1. Pursuing #33: "Scottie Pippen" is in sight for the Villanova Wildcats on Sunday afternoon. Friday night's win against ETSU marked the 32nd consecutive victory for the 'Cats inside the confines of their home campus venue, The Pavilion. Not since Providence walked into the venue in 2013 has Villanova taken a loss on their home court and they'll look to go from "Magic Johnson" to Michael Jordan's right hand man on Sunday afternoon if they take care of business against the Zips.

2. Will Villanova improve their free throw rate?: It's been a very successful start to the year for 'Nova. They're averaging 88 points per game. They're only allowing 56 points per game. Perhaps the one low mark is that... the Wildcats are not getting to the free throw line a lot. They're ranked 285th in the early goings in FTRate, a measurement that takes free throw attempts and divides them by field goal attempts to measure how often a team will get to the free throw line relatively to how many field goal attempts they have. The Wildcats' FTRate is merely 29.2 percent, ranking ninth in the BIG EAST with only Creighton's 26.5 percent mark trailing. The Zips are allowing teams to get to the line 45 percent of the time through their first three games of the year. Perhaps on Sunday afternoon, the Wildcats will take a step towards improving their exceptionally low FTRate.

3. A big advantage on the boards: Scourging through the matchup page on KenPom.com - there's an endorsement for ya - one thing struck me in particular. That was the fact that the Wildcats have built up a big advantage in Offensive Rebounding% this year over what the Akron defense is allowing thus far in the early portion of the year. The Wildcats have posted a 36.4 percent mark in OR%, with the leader in the clubhouse being, you guessed it, Daniel Ochefu who has the fourth-best mark in the country at 26.0 percent. Akron is omitting an OR% of 36.9 percent, good for 288th in the nation. Considering that so far the D1 average is 30.4, that... is a sight for sore eyes. Villanova could have a big day on the boards if those numbers hold true in this game to say the least.