Is it possible that a team that has won two national championships in the last three seasons could be going on a Cinderella run toward contention once again? We don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but if the Villanova Wildcats can pull a minor upset over the favored Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday night, they can pick up quite a bit of momentum. This game, which takes place at the XL Center in Hartford, tips off at approximately 8:40 PM ET, and while TNT is providing the live television, BetAnySports customers can take advantage of Live Betting Ultra to make real-time wagers.

Villanova had a tough out in the first game when it drew the very deliberate Saint Mary's Gaels, who had just come off a thrashing of Gonzaga, and they went pretty much down to the wire but got 20 points from Phil Booth and kept mistakes to a minimum as they scored a 61-57 victory. There wasn't a lot of attacking of the basket; the Wildcats shot only nine free throws and took more than 40% of their shots (20 of 49) from three-point range.

We've got news for you - they are actually more dependent on three-point shooting than that, as they have heaved up triples on 53.2% of their tries. And this is naturally going to be a challenge for Purdue, which has a few holes on the defensive end, including the ability to thwart opponents on a consistent basis from the outside.

In the NCAA Tournament betting odds that have been posted on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, the defending champions are getting points:

Purdue Boilermakers -3
Villanova Wildcats    +3

Over 138 points -110
Under 138 points -110

Really, the question for Villanova is whether they can get some good shots against this Purdue defense. And since the Boilermakers seem to allow a very high percentage of shots from beyond the arc (almost 43% of those taken by the opponent), we would venture to say "yes."

Now, be cautioned - Villanova is not one of the elite teams in the nation when shooting the three-ball. They hit just 35.4% of their shots. But they are unquestionably going to pose a bigger challenge than Old Dominion in that regard, because they can, at any given time, put four or five players on the floor who can drop it from downtown.

As far as Purdue is concerned, has Carsen Edwards emerged from his slump? He hit 4 of 12 from three-point range against Old Dominion, and now over the last twelve games, he is only 27 of 114 when it comes to the triple (23.7%). For a guy you know is going to get his share of shots, and then some, that could leave a hole in the offensive production. Ryan Cline also likes to shoot long balls, and in his last six games he is just 30.4%.

The guy they can most rely on here might be Matt Haarms, the 7-3 center who has the highest Offensive Rating in either team's starting lineup, and what Villanova (whose tallest player is 6-8) might do to slow him down is anybody's guess. Haarms has nailed 13 of 18 shots in his last two games, and he's blocked 2.8 shots per game over his last twelve.Wh

at you sometimes get to do when you have a guy that big against a smaller team is to cheat a little on defense, going out to the perimeter more with your other players. And maybe that's the kind of thing that makes shots just a little more difficult for Villanova - difficult enough that their one-dimensional nature works against them. We obviously acknowledge that the Wildcats have some people with championship experience still around, but with all due respect, not the best ones, and you have to recognize that Purdue takes good care of the ball and is pretty aggressive going after misses (21st in offensive rebounding percentage). So, slight edge here to the Boilermakers.

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