Odds Favor West Virginia In Blockbuster Match-Up Vs. Villanova

Sports News - February 8th, 2010 - Written By John Ritter

Helmets on.

In their first game back in Morgantown since pelting Pittsburgh's players and coaches with pocket change, West Virginia hosts no. 2-ranked Villanova with a chance to ascend into the top-two of the Big East. The pair square off in Monday's only match between two top-10 teams, as the Mountaineers look to extend their four-game win streak over the Wildcats.

West Virginia is favored by 5 1/2, according to Sportsbook, with a 150-point over/under. The home team has covered the spread in six of the last eight meetings, and the game has hit the over in seven of the last 10.

Their last home stand was marred by the throwing escapade in which Mountaineer fans tossed objects onto the court in such excessive amounts that head coach Bob Huggins grabbed the arena mic and asked for a truce.

"That's stupid," he told the fans.

The Coliseum is intimidating of a place for Villanova as it is. The Wildcats haven't won at West Virginia since 1999.

Villanova lost it's first conference game last Saturday, allowing 103 points to Georgetown on the road in their first match-up against a top-10 team since 2006. The Wildcats managed to score 59 points in the second half, but that wasn't nearly enough to overcome a 23-point deficit that ballooned in the first half.

“That was not one of our better performances, but you’ve got to give Georgetown most of the credit. They jumped on us,” coach Villanova Jay Wright said. “I think just getting down like that early here and playing that team from behind is really difficult to do.”

Senior point guard Scottie Reynolds leads the team with 18.7 points, but he was overwhelmed by West Virginia's Da'Sean Butler last year in an ugly 93-72 loss. Butler netted a career-high 43 points while Reynolds was limited to only 12, which was actually three points better than his career average against the Mountaineers.

Butler is white hot at the moment, dropping seven three pointers en route to a 33-point day against St. John's on Saturday.

“It’s always good when the other four guys are looking for Da’Sean,” Huggins said. “That makes us better.”

Villanova, however, has had success recently, according to College Basketball Betting Lines, covering the spread in nine of it's last 12 games overall. The Wildcats high-scoring offense has broken the over in 13 of their last 16, and seven of their last nine against Big East foes.