Villanova hosts Creighton Wednesday night

How to Watch

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Watch: CBSSN

Gerry’s Gamblin’

Info: Villanova is favored by 9, the over/under is 152.2, ML is +/- 110

My Take: Villanova has covered the past couple home games, The over is a healthy call and Villanova by a country mile

Gerry’s Take: Never bet on these kids they throw games

Preview

Last time these teams played, monster outings from Eric Paschall and Phil Booth carried the Wildcats to a 90-78 over the Bluejays in Omaha.

Phil Booth and Eric Paschall? Leading with poise. Collin Gillespie? On fire, dropping 30 last game. Jahvon Quinerly? Starting to get in rhythm. Saddiq Bey? It’s called Bey-Watch for a reason. Villanova has been on a tear, going undefeated in conference play, and have the chance to go 10-0 to start the Big East season, a first in a very long time.

Creighton is coming off bad news. Marcus Zegarowski is out indefinitely with a broken hand in the win over Xavier. Creighton has won three of the last four though, and Martin Krampelj has played extremely well along with Mitchell Ballock.

This time, Creighton (and my McDermott/Wragge nightmares) enter the Finn in a mid-week matchup. Creighton sits at 4th in the conference and will hope to knock off the top dog. As a team, shooting percentage, assists and rebounds are marginal. Going by the numbers, both are two of the most efficient teams on offense in the nation, with Villanova at seven and Creighton at 15 (KenPom). However, defensively, Villanova shines in comparison.

Some of the key matchups for the game will be Ty-Shon Alexander and Phil Booth. I think both guards will flex some muscle on the offensive end of the floor and show off their skills defensively as well. Martin Krampelj against a combination of Eric Paschall and Saddiq Bey will be another fun matchup to see.

The key contributors for Creighton are their name brand guys. Gor a Creighton victory, they have to take and make amazing shots against a solid Villanova perimeter and potentially give Samson Frolling extra minutes.

Villanova needs a boost from Saddiq Bey, and Joe Cremo needs to get on the stat sheet. Bey is going to be the lead guy on Krampelj. I want to see Jermaine Samuels get some extra minutes to develop as a stretch 4/5 as well. Villanova will have their hands filled on Wednesday, but they have the upper hand.