NCAA Basketball Best Bets for January 17: Villanova & Providence Stay ‘Under’
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Willie Bee
- January 17, 2025
Top NCAAB Pick: Providence/Villanova Under 141 (-105) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
Let’s call these college basketball picks ‘Phriday in Philadelphia’ with a couple of games on the Atlantic 10 and Big East slates taking place in the City of Brotherly Love. Can VCU survive a stern test at St. Joe’s, and will Providence avoid dropping below .500 in a stop at Villanova? Let’s find it out before heading to the top-rated sportsbooks.
Virginia Commonwealth Rams vs. Saint Joseph’s Hawks
Friday, January 17, 2025 – 07:00 PM ET at Michael J. Hagan ’85 Arena
It’s going to be a chilly Philly evening, but the fans should be packed inside the old Alumni Fieldhouse for a hot A-10 showdown between the Saint Joseph’s Hawks and visiting VCU Rams.
Everyone begins the weekend chasing George Mason atop of the conference ranks, and a win for VCU would give the Rams a share of the lead. Saint Joseph’s is a game-&-a-half behind in a 5-way tie for fourth as the league standings are just as tightly packed as the crowd will be for this game.
St. Joe’s Coming Off Some Hot Shooting
The Rams spent last week at home where they came away with a pair of league victories over Fordham and Saint Louis. The win over Saint Louis was the first A-10 loss of the season for the Billikens, and the Rams led for all but about 22 seconds of the contest.
Ryan Odom employs a smallish squad with it rare for VCU to have more than one player over 6-foot-5 on the floor at any time, but the Rams make up for that with quickness and rank 10th in the country in scoring defense (62.8 ppg).
The Hawks began last week with a tough overtime loss at Duquesne where St. Joseph’s was small road chalk. Billy Lange’s bunch bounced back in admirable fashion at home with a 93-57 rout of Loyola Chicago.
They were asked to beat a 5.5-point spread against the Ramblers, and the Hawks had that covered roughly 6 minutes into the affair. St. Joseph’s outscored Loyola Chicago 54-24 from beyond the arc, hitting 18-of-33 from long range.
‘Under’ Cashes 5 of Last 7 Meetings
Last year’s lone regular season matchup took place down in Richmond where VCU overcame a long scoring drought in the first half to come from behind for a 73-69 victory. The Rams and Hawks then got together in the semis of the A-10 tourney where VCU posted a 66-60 decision.
The regular season contest just got past the total while the conference tourney meeting fell comfortably short of the number. Virginia Commonwealth owns a 6-game win streak in the rivalry, and a 12-5 lead in the series.
Top-rated sportsbooks are favoring VCU by 1.5-2, and I’ll be happy to take St. Joseph’s and the bucket as the Hawks win outright, 72-70.
NCAAB Pick: Saint Joseph’s +2 (-108) at Heritage Sports (visit our Heritage Sports Review)
Providence Friars vs. Villanova Wildcats
Friday, January 17, 2025 – 07:00 PM ET at Finneran Pavilion
While we’re in Philly, we might as well shoot out into the ‘burbs for the clash at Villanova where the Wildcats host the Providence Friars in a key Big East matchup.
Taking place at equally-intimate Finneran Pavillion, BetOnline is listing the Wildcats as 8.5-point chalk with 141 for the scoreboard target.
‘Nova Looking to Break 2-Game Skid
An 84-64 loss at Creighton on Sunday slid Providence to 9-9 on the season, and 3-4 in Big East play. The Bluejays grabbed the lead 3.5 minutes into the clash and pulled away the Friars behind Ryan Kalkbrenner, who registered a double-double (20 pts, 10 reb) and blocked 6 shots.
That loss halted a modest 2-game win streak for Kim English’s team which continues to play without leading scorer Bryce Hopkins due to a knee injury. Providence also has Rich Barron in concussion protocol at the moment.
Kyle Neptune’s crew is back home after consecutive road losses, the first of those coming last Saturday at Madison Square Garden to St. John’s by an 80-68 count. The Red Storm were favored by 6.5 and closed with a 14-3 run over the final 2.5 minutes to cover the NCAAB odds.
The Wildcats then traveled to Cincinnati where they blew a 10-point lead on Tuesday to drop a 69-63 decision to Xavier. Ryan Conwell took charge late by scoring 16 points during the final five minutes to give him a game-high 34 for the Musketeers.
Schools Meet for 116th Time
Villanova won and covered both matchups a year ago, easing to a 68-50 triumph at home as 5-point chalk and then closing out the regular season with a 71-60 decision as a small underdog in Providence. The Wildcats own a 72-43 advantage over the Friars all-time.
Both contests a season ago finished ‘under,’ and expectations are for a repeat of that outcome in Friday’s matchup.
NCAAB Pick: Providence/Villanova Under 141 (-105) at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
