2022 NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: No. 2 Villanova Wildcats vs. No. 11 Michigan Wolverines
How to Watch:
- Date: Thursday, March 24
- Time: 7:29 p.m. ET
- Location: AT&T Center in San Antonio, TX
- TV: TBS
- Live Stream: NCAA.com
Tale of the Tape:
| No. 2 NOVA | STAT | No. 11 MICH |
| Big East | Conference | Big Ten |
| 28-7 | Record | 19-14 |
| 72.6 (150th) | Points Per Game | 73.0 (134th) |
| 63.1 | Points Allowed Per Game | 69.9 |
| 0.6394 (6th) | RPI | 0.5768 (49th) |
| 16th | Strength of Schedule | 5th |
| Automatic Bid | Bid | At-Large Bid |
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Villanova leaders:
- Collin Gillespie, G, SR: 16.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.1 APG, 42.8% 3PT
- Justin Moore, G, JR: 15.0 points, 5.1 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.0 SPG
Michigan leaders:
- Hunter Dickinson, C, SO. – 18.3 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.4 BPG
- Eli Brooks, G, SR. – 12.3 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.2 SPG, 38.9% 3PT
Odds, Lines, and Past Performance:
- NOVA Moneyline: -210
- MICH Moneyline: +175
- Spread: Nova -4.5
- Over/Under: 135.5
- ATS Record: NOVA 18-16-1, MICH 15-18
- Over/Under Record: NOVA 17-18, MICH 21-12
Odds courtesy of Draftkings. For the latest odds, click here.
The Pick:
- This is a re-match of the 2018 National Championship game (which Villanova won 79-62) and should be another showdown between two strong teams. The Wildcats are one of the more complete teams in the tournament, ranking 11th in KenPom’s ratings with the 8th-rated offense and 29th-rated defense. However, despite the Wolverines being an 11-seed, they rank 27th in KenPom’s rankings with the 19th-ranked offense and 78th-ranked defense.
- This is a Wildcats team that has four players in double-digits and makes the 25th-most three-pointers per game in the nation, shooting 36.4% as a team. They shot 46.4% from three against Delaware before cooling off a bit against Ohio State and shooting 34.8%, so the Wolverines will need to guard them behind the arc if they have any hope of pulling off an upset.
- Meanwhile, the Wolverines are a really poor three-point team, which has been on display in the tournament. They shot just 28.6% in their round one win over Colorado State before putting up a respectable 37.5% against Tennessee on just 16 attempts from deep.
- The Wolverines will try to win by slowing down the pace and playing bully ball inside. They are 218th in the country in adjusted tempo and allow the 14th-fewest rebounds to opponents, which was on display in round one when they outrebounded Colorado State 36-25 and then against Tennessee 36-33. That should be interesting because the Wildcats are not a great rebounding team and likely won’t get many second-chance points in this matchup.
- Another thing working in the Wolverines’ favor is the extra five days for point guard DeVante’ Jones to get healthy. The senior missed round one with concussion symptoms and then was forced to leave round two at halftime, but should be good to go by Thursday. They’ll need him because the Wildcats are an experienced team that is not likely to shirk from the challenge of the upstart Wolverines on the big stage.
