The Villanova Wildcats haven't quite matched the expectations that were set out for this program at the outset of the season. But there's quite a ways to go before this college basektball season is over, and thus there is time to get a few of the wrinkles out.

They may find a favorable matchup for themselves with the UCLA Bruins, who come to the Wells Fargo Center with a record of 6-2. The Wildcats hopes they can get break a three-game losing streak with some home cooking

In the odds established on this game by the folks at BetOnline, Villanova is favored:

Villanova Wildcats -4 (-116)
UCLA Bruins +4 (-104)

Over 128 points -115
Under 128 points -105

Villanova is only 6-4 for coach Kyle Neptune, who took over from the legendary Jay Wright, who guided them to two national titles. They had lost early in the schedule to the Ivy Leaguers from Penn, and have been beaten consecutively by St. Joseph's, Drexel and Kansas State. So they're not doing real well in the Big Five. The last one, to K-State, was an excruciating overtime affair, in which the 'Cats lost 72-72 despite getting 16 points off the bench from Jordan Longino.

But they have also shown themselves capable enough to beat North Carolina. That happened in the Bahamas, and it was a marquee performance from Villanova's most effective player, Eric Dixon, who had 34 points.

Dixon has scored fewer than 20 only once this season, and at 6'8" and 255 pounds, he's not a shot-blocker but has the kind of bulk that may allow him to bang with UCLA's standout 6'10" big man Adem Bona, who's averaging 13.4 points and 6.1 rebounds. And perhaps most importantly, Dixon could get him in foul trouble. In UCLA's last outing, a 66-65 nailbiter win over Cal-Riverside, Bona played just 14 minutes and fouled out.

UCLA has lost only to Marquette and Gonzaga, the team that knocked them out of the Big Dance last year in the Sweet Sixteen. They've had nine days between games, but have been practicing without coach Mick Cronin, who is now just getting over Covid-19 and should be on the sidelines.

Here we have a game between two squads who let their opponents shoot a lot of threes. But the difference is that Villanova shoots a load of threes (half their field goal attempts, in fact), while very few teams shoot triples with less frequency than the Bruins. Cronin says that his team is not going to go out and win on the road "with jump shots." Villanova isn't necessarily all that accurate (32%), but in a game that is likely to have a slow pace, the volume will mean something.

Add to that the fact that the Wildcats aren't about to let the Bruins play the "foul game" in the waning stages, inasmuch as they are the best in the country at the line (82.4%) and we point squarely in Nova's direction.

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