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The 3^rd ranked Villanova Wildcats host the 15^th ranked Xavier Musketeers in a Big East game that will take place at The Pavilion in Villanova, Pennsylvania at 7 PM ET. Xavier has won 13 of their 15 games on the season and they have covered the spread in nine of their 14 games that have had a posted line. Villanova has won 15 of their 16 games this season and they have also covered the spread in nine of the 14 games that have had a posted line.
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Xavier is coming off a 97-82 win over St. John’s in their last game where they covered the 13.5-point line. The total number of points scored in the game was 179, which was well over the closing line of 151.5. The Musketeers have covered the spread in their last four games and in their last two games the total has gone over while in the previous three games the total went under. Overall, Xavier has won six games in a row since suffering back-to-back losses to a ranked Baylor team and Colorado.
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Villanova is coming off a 93-81 win over Marquette in their last game where they covered the 11.5-point line. The total number of points scored in the game was 174, which was well over the closing line of 149. The Wildcats have covered the spread in two of their last three games and previous to the Marquette game the total had gone under in five straight games that had a posted line. Previous to the Marquette game Villanova suffered their first loss of the season against a ranked Butler team.
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Offensively, Xavier is putting up 78 points per game on a 46.6% FG average. On the defensive side of the ball the Musketeers are allowing 66.5 points per game on a 42.1% FG average.
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Villanova is putting up 79.3 points per game on a 50.5% FG average, which ranks 8^th in the nation. On defense the Wildcats are allowing 63.5 points per game on a 42.1% FG average.
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Last season these teams split the two games facing each other with each winning at home.
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