Villanova Wildcats vs Creighton Bluejays Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 12/21/24

The last time a downtrodden Creighton team returned home to welcome in a red-hot opponent, the Blue Jays dispatched then-top ranked Kansas back on December 4 in what was the best performance of the season for Greg McDermott’s squad. Saturday’s game against Villanova marks a very similar situation for Creighton, as the Blue Jays continue to be in the midst of a disappointing season, having just dropped consecutive games against Alabama and Georgetown (the latter of which wasn’t even remotely close). Add in the fact that Creighton is dealing with a couple of key injuries, most notably losing Pop Issacs for the season with a hip injury, and it seems like things can’t get any tougher for the Blue Jays. That’s exactly why I’ll be taking McDermott’s team to bounce back in a massive way at home against a familiar conference foe.

For the second consecutive season, Villanova got off to a terrible start and it appeared as those Kyle Neptune’s team was headed for another disastrous campaign. However, the Wildcats were able to bounce back in a major way, having won 5 straight entering this contest. With that in mind, this feels like a good spot to sell high on Villanova away from home, especially in one of the toughest places to play in the country. With Ryan Kalkbrenner patrolling the paint, Creighton should be able to slow contain Eric Dixon from putting up another 25-point, 10-rebound performance. Dixon is the focal point for the Wildcats on offense, and he’s a big reason why they are 10th in adjusted offensive efficiency this season while sitting at 335th in adjusted tempo per KenPom. The Blue Jays are also shooting much better from beyond the 3-point arc at home compared to on the road, so I’m expecting a big of positive shooting regression for Creighton following a couple of poor performances away from home. At the end of the day, the strength of schedule disparity between these teams is massive and certainly warrants consideration in the handicap as well. Let’s take the Blue Jays to win and cover at home.

Villanova vs Creighton prediction: Creighton -4 available at time of publishing. Playable to -4.5

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