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The Sweet 16 offers a Great Matchup with Baylor Facing ‘Nova

Bears Look To Take Next Step

A spot in the South Region final is on the line when the top-seeded Baylor Bears take on the fifth-seeded Villanova Wildcats at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Saturday.

Baylor (24-2) had an easy time with Hartford and Wisconsin in its first two tournament games. The Bears’ defense was solid, holding their opponents to an average of 59.0 points.

Mark Vital of the Baylor Bears goes up for a dunk during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images/AFP

Coach Scott Drew’s squad has been consistently good, with just a couple of hiccups in the latter part of the campaign. The Bears reached the Sweet 16 in both 2014 and ’17 and came up short, but they won Sweet 16 contests in ’10 and ’12 to advance to the Elite Eight.

Villanova (18-6) has persevered despite the loss of point guard Collin Gillespie to a season-ending knee injury in early March. After dropping their first two games without the senior, the Wildcats have won their last two — over Winthrop and North Texas — to advance to the Sweet 16.

This is the third time in the last five NCAA Tournaments that Villanova has advanced to the Sweet 16, with the team winning the national title both times, in 2016 and ’18. The Wildcats lost in the second round in both ’17 and ’19.

The winner of this game will face either Arkansas or Oral Roberts in Monday’s South Region final to advance to the Final Four.

Looking at the college basketball odds for this contest in our online sportsbook, Baylor is a 7½-point favorite, with the over/under set at 141.

Backcourt Strength

The Bears may have the best three-guard combo in the country, with all three averaging in double figures and deadly from 3-point range. Jared Butler leads the way with 16.9 points per game as well as averaging 4.8 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. The junior is shooting 41.5% from 3-point range and has made a team-high 66 from beyond the arc.

Senior MaCio Teague is right behind Butler with 16.1 points per game. He also adds 4.1 rebounds per game and has hit 54 3-pointers. He’s also a dangerous player to send to the line, as he hits 85.1% of his attempts from the charity stripe.

Junior Davion Mitchell is chipping in 14.1 points, a team-high 5.4 assists, 2.0 steals, and 2.7 rebounds per game. He’s also hitting 46.1% of his 3-point attempts, connecting 59 times.

As good as those three are, it was junior forward Matthew Mayer who made the biggest impact in the win over Wisconsin. Coming off the bench, Mayer had a team-high 17 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes of playing time, making key plays to keep the Badgers from making it a game.

Leading the Way

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was already an important part of Jay Wright’s offense, but with Gillespie’s injury, the pressure on Robinson-Earl to produce has risen. The sophomore forward has come through, though, averaging 20.0 points, 6.0 assists, and 8.5 rebounds in the Wildcats’  NCAA Tournament wins.

Robinson-Earl averages 16.0 points per game while grabbing 8.3 rebounds. He’ll need to continue to lead by example if the Wildcats are going to advance.

Also key to the Villanova effort will be sophomore guard Justin Moore, who has averaged 15.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in the NCAA Tournament. Moore suffered an injured ankle late in the regular season, but it hasn’t affected his play in the postseason. Moore has to be more of a ball-handler without Gillespie on the floor, and he’ll get plenty of pressure from the Baylor backcourt.

Senior forward Jermaine Samuels can also be an interior scorer for Villanova, having averaged 11.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Samuels is averaging 13.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in the two NCAA wins. Additionally, to check out more specific information about the NCAAB props available for the Minnesota vs Nebraska matchup.

Too Much To Bear

Baylor is getting back on a roll after stumbling a bit after a long COVID-19 pause. The Bears rank fourth in the nation in scoring at 83.8 points per game, and Villanova just can’t match up with that, especially playing shorthanded.

The Wildcats will make it a game for a little while, but the Bears have their eyes on the national championship prize, and Drew has them playing at their best right now.

When making your college basketball picks, take Baylor to win and cover to advance to the Elite Eight.

 

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