Hopkins, No. 23 Providence Friars square off against the Villanova Wildcats

Published Jan. 29, 2023 3:42 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Providence Friars (16-5, 8-2 Big East) at Villanova Wildcats (10-10, 4-5 Big East)

Philadelphia; Sunday, 12 p.m. EST

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Villanova -1.5; over/under is 139.5

BOTTOM LINE: Bryce Hopkins and the No. 23 Providence Friars take on Caleb Daniels and the Villanova Wildcats on Sunday.

The Wildcats have gone 6-2 at home. Villanova ranks sixth in the Big East in team defense, allowing 68.4 points while holding opponents to 44.1% shooting.

The Friars are 8-2 against Big East opponents. Providence ranks seventh in the Big East shooting 33.9% from downtown. Jayden Pierre leads the Friars shooting 55.6% from 3-point range.

The matchup Sunday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Daniels is shooting 35.2% from beyond the arc with 2.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Wildcats, while averaging 16.6 points and 3.2 assists. Eric Dixon is averaging 15.8 points and 6.6 rebounds over the past 10 games for Villanova.

Jared Bynum is averaging 8.8 points and 4.4 assists for the Friars. Hopkins is averaging 16.5 points over the last 10 games for Providence.

LAST 10 GAMES: Wildcats: 5-5, averaging 70.4 points, 30.2 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 6.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 43.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.0 points per game.

Friars: 8-2, averaging 77.2 points, 36.9 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 6.5 steals and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.5 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.