College Basketball Betting: Providence at Georgetown
Two of the leaders in the the new look Big East Conference will be on display Wednesday night in college hoops action. The 16-6 Providence Friars travel to the nation’s capital to play No. 24 Georgetown, co-leaders in the league standings. Providence is 2-4 on the road, dropping their last away trip 75-66 to St. John’s. The Hoyas are 10-2 at home and fresh off a crushing road win over Creighton that saw them hold the Blue Jays to 40 points on 20.8% shooting. Meanwhile, the Friars have come a long way since their embarrassing 58-38 loss to top-ranked Kentucky on November 30. Winners of five of their last seven, they sit .5 game behind Georgetown and Villanova. Here’s a preview and prediction.
PROVIDENCE AT GEORGETOWN -7
The Friars took the first meeting in overtime. 60-57. The inside-outside duo of LaDontae Henton and Kris Dunn combined to score 35 points, and the team converted 21-30 from the free-throw line. Leading-scorer Henton is mired in a terrible slump from beyond the arc, hitting only 2-20 in his last four games. Despite the cold spell, Providence is 3-1 during the stretch, due in large part to Dunn, who has notched 20-plus in all four starts. This marks only the second meeting against a Top 25 opponent this season, and recent history has seen the school lose 31 in a row to ranked competition on the road. Most of their woes can be attributed to horrific shooting. If Henton is still off, the likes of Tyler Harris and Jalen Lindsey must pick up the slack. Providence has dropped five straight in the series and is 20-43 in 63 all-time meetings.
Georgetown has been paced all season by junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, who leads them in scoring, assists, and free-throw percentage. John Thompson III’s roster goes nine deep, and has a 20-point victory over Villanova and narrow defeats to Wisconsin and Kansas on their tourney resume. They are also one of the best shot-blocking defenses in the country, led by senior forward Mikael Hopkins’ 39 rejections. How he fares versus Providence’s seven-foot rim protector, Carson Desrosiers, will be a matchup to monitor. Desrosiers has swatted 67 shots, including 24 in his last seven outings. The Friars would be better served trying to win the game from the perimeter, because venturing into the paint could be problematic. The Hoyas’ hopes of avoiding the March Madness bubble means a strong finish down the stretch, starting with this game. With Villanova, Butler, and two against Seton Hall on the horizon, a slip up here could be costly.
Friars are 11-6-2 ATS overall and 4-3-2 ATS away from home, including neutral site games. Hoyas are 8-9-1 ATS overall and 5-6-1 ATS at home. If Georgetown brings the same defensive intensity from their last game, this will be a blowout. Look for Providence to put up a fight, but come up short.
Bet Providence +7
