The Wildcats will try to keep rolling when No. 9 Villanova visits the Providence Friars on Saturday for a Big East showdown. The Wildcats have won five in a row to improve to 15-3 and they have beaten three ranked teams. The Friars have lost two in a row to ranked conference foes and sit at 11-9. Villanova has a strong core of starters, with five players averaging double figures in scoring, led by sophomore forward Saddiq Bey. The Friars are led by multi-talented senior guard Alpha Diallo. 

Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, R.I. The Wildcats are a 1.5-point favorite in the latest Villanova vs. Providence odds, while the over-under for total points scored is 136.5. Before considering any Providence vs. Villanova picks or college basketball predictions, make sure to see what the proven SportsLine Projection Model has to say.

This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, has crushed its top-rated college basketball picks against the spread the past three years, returning $2,770 to $100 players. It also enters Week 12 of the 2019-20 season on a 6-2 run on top-rated college basketball picks. Anybody who followed it during that span has seen some handsome returns.

Now, the model has set its sights on Villanova vs. Providence. You can visit SportsLine now to see the picks. Here are the college basketball lines and trends for Providence vs. Villanova:

  • Villanova vs. Providence spread: Wildcats -1.5
  • Villanova vs. Providence over-under: 136.5
  • Villanova vs. Providence money line: Wildcats -129, Friars +111
  • VILL: The Wildcats are fifth in the nation in free-throw percentage at 79 percent.
  • PROV: The Friars shoot 36.6 percent on 3-pointers at home (27.8 on the road).

Why Villanova can cover

Villanova has a strong nucleus, and the Wildcats face a Friars team that is 0-5 against the spread in their last five as an underdog. Bey scores 15 points per game, and junior guard Collin Gillespie is right behind at 14.9. Gillespie also averages 4.6 assists and 1.3 steals and makes 36.6 percent from 3-point range. Bey averages 5.1 rebounds and makes 46.4 percent of shots from long range.

Providence also is 1-8 against the spread in its last nine after a loss, and Nova forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl scores 10.8 points and hits the boards hard. He pulls down 9.8 rebounds per game, with 7.1 on the defensive end. Forward Jermaine Samuels averages more than five rebounds and chips in 11.1 points and 1.1 steals. The Wildcats average 15.4 assists per game.   

Why Providence can cover

But the Wildcats aren't a lock to cover the Villanova vs. Providence spread. The home team is 5-2 against the spread in the last seven meetings, and Diallo is extremely versatile. The senior averages 14 points and 8.3 rebounds, and he also dishes out 2.6 assists. Sophomore guard David Duke runs the offense, averaging 3.8 assists and scoring 12.8 points. Nate Watson, Luwane Pipkins and Maliek White each average more than eight points.

The Friars score just 71.4 points per game, but they are strong on defense, and they face a Wildcats team that has covered the spread just once in its last eight games as a road favorite. Providence gets 9.2 steals per game, led by Diallo (1.9) and Duke (1.4) as five players average at least one per game. The Friars also force 16.2 turnovers per game. 

How to make Villanova vs. Providence picks

SportsLine's model is leaning over on the total, with the model predicting Pipkins will go well over his scoring average for the Friars and the Wildcats to get close to their season scoring average. It also has generated an against-the-spread pick that cashes almost 60 percent of simulations. You can only get the pick at SportsLine.

So who wins Villanova vs. Providence? And which side of the spread is hitting almost 60 percent of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Providence vs. Villanova spread to jump on Saturday, all from the advanced model that has returned more than $2,700 on its top-rated college basketball picks, and find out.