Villanova vs Purdue 3/23/19 - NCAA Basketball Picks & Predictions

The No. 5 seeded Villanova Wildcats will meet the No. 3 seeded Purdue Boilermakers at XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut for an NCAA Tournament South Region second round matchup. The Wildcats defeated the Saint Mary’s Gaels on Thursday 61-57 in their first round matchup. Phil Booth led Villanova with 20 points as the Wildcats were able to hold off a late charge by the Gaels in an upset bid.

Purdue defeated Old Dominion in its first round matchup on Thursday 61-48. Carsen Edwards led the Boilermakers with 26 points. Edwards hit just 7 of 23 field goal attempts in the win, but played an all-round big game pulling down seven rebounds and handing out four assists. An 11-0 run at the end of the first half gave Purdue a 32-19 halftime cushion. Phil Booth leads the Wildcats in scoring and assists with averages of 18.6 points and 3.8 assists per game. Eric Paschall leads in rebounds with an average of 6.2 per game. Villanova is shooting 43.9% from the field and 35.3% from 3-point territory.

Carsen Edwards leads Purdue in scoring with an average of 23.0 points per game. Nojel Eastern is the leading rebounder with an average of 5.8 per game, while Ryan Cline leads the team in assists with an average of 3.3 per game. Purdue is shooting 44.6% from the field and 36.4% from 3-point territory.