Two Plays For Tonight's College Hoops Slate

College Basketball has been going for a couple of weeks now, but I don't think it has gotten much coverage right now. Obviously, it dominates March, but there are some good games that happen early in the season - we have seen some this week! As football starts to wind down, and the excitement from the start of the NBA and NHL seasons wanes, we should turn some attention to the college ranks where we see the next wave of professionals coming. I've got a few games that I've put my attention on for tonight and am going to share the plays with you.

Butler vs. Michigan State, 6:30 ET

At one point in time, Butler was one of the top names in college hoops. That was mostly due to Brad Stevens being in charge. He has been gone for years, and the program really hasn't had the sustained success that he brought to the school. They are off to a nice start this season even though they haven't faced any impressive competition. So what makes it a good start? Well, they are shooting 50% from the field and they have won each game by 30+ points. Yes, the competition is beneath their level of play, but they still took care of business. Michigan State is not off to a great start if you look at their record, but things aren't exactly bleak for the Spartans. They are still the #18 team in the country. Their opening night loss was kind of embarrassing that they lost to James Madison University. It was one of those games where you come out and assume you're going to win and then you get punched in the mouth and really don't know how to turn on the things needed to get the win. Ultimately they lost in overtime. Their other loss was against Duke in a more competitive game this week. What I like about the Spartans is their team averages match up against Butler's pretty well and they've obviously played a tougher schedule in a shorter stretch. If Michigan State, who will be at home in this game, can attack the paint and slow down the hot shooting starts that Butler has had, they should be able to cruise based on talent alone. I do think both teams are more offensively gifted than they are defensively oriented and I'll take the over in this game. 139 points seems like a low total for them.

VILLANOVA, PA - FEBRUARY 8: Jay Wright, former Head Coach of Villanova Mens Basketball talks to the media after Jalen Brunsons jersey retirement on February 8, 2023 at Finneran Pavilion in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mary Kate Ridgway/NBAE via Getty Images)

Maryland vs. Villanova, 8:30 ET

Maryland has quite the up-hill battle tonight as they take on Villanova. On the season, Maryland started with a rather unconvincing win over Mount St. Mary's, and then two very close losses to Davidson and UAB. Both of the losses were one-possession games. What has gone well for them? Defensively they are actually pretty good. They've only allowed 61 points on average to opponents. Yes, they aren't great teams, and they've lost two games, but I think they are controlling the pace and keeping the opponents working for good shots. Villanova is just 2-1 and has to be kicking themselves for the loss they suffered at the hands of Penn earlier in the week. Losing to that team has to be a lack of focus more than anything. They lost the game by four points and it was a back-and-forth battle the whole time. It was a combination of things. Villanova had 16 more field goal attempts in the game but shot 17% lower than Penn and allowed them to get 12 more free throw attempts. This should be a game for Villanova to get right though. I am expecting them to be more efficient on offense, especially at home, and be able to keep their level of defense that they normally have. I think they win this game by 10 points and cover the -6.5 spread tonight.

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