NCAA Tournament: Villanova Meets Kansas in Elite Eight
The Saturday edition of the Elite Eight concludes, when the No. 2 seeded Villanova Wildcats play the No. 1 seeded Kansas Jayhawks with the winner punching their ticket to the Final Four. The current line has Kansas favored by 2.5 points with the over/under point total sitting on 145.5.
The two will meet at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Over its past 10 games played, Villanova is 8-2 straight up and 5-5 against the spread. Kansas over its past 10 games played in 10-0 SU and 7-3 ATS.
Both teams have played impressively over their first three games in the tournament. The winner will win the South Region. Kansas has won its three games thus far in the tournament by 26, 12 and 16 points. Villanova has won by 30, 19 and 24.
Kansas has not reached the Final Four since 2012. Villanova has not been in the Final Four since 2009. Kansas has won 17 straight games heading into this contest, while Villanova has won 15 of its past 17 overall.
Villanova beat Miami by 24 points in their Sweet 16 game on Thursday, hitting 63% of their field goals and 10 of their 15 shots from 3-point territory. Four Villanova players scored in double figures making the Wildcats a hard team to defend.
When Kansas won the national championship in 2008, the Jayhawks beat Villanova in the Sweet 16. Perry Ellis a star forward Kansas must have a game like he did versus Maryland on Thursday with 27 points, for the Jayhawks to beat the Wildcats.
Brannen Greene will once again miss the game for Kansas due to back spasms.
The winner of this game meets the winner of the other Saturday Elite Eight game between Oklahoma and Oregon in the Final Four.
Josh Hart leads Villanova in scoring but scored just 10 points against the Wildcats only Big 12 opponent this season on December 7, when Oklahoma routed Villanova by 23 points.
Landen Lucas a junior forward has not featured much of late for Kansas, but has averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds in the first three tournament games.
Prediction: This should be a highly competitive game, that will go down to the wire. However, Kansas will have the edge in size and depth. The Jayhawks will wear down the inside big men for Villanova as the game enters its last stages. Lean on the Jayhawks here.
