No. 8 seed Providence (18-14, 8-11) vs. No. 1 seed Villanova (22-9, 13-5)
Big East Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, Madison Square Garden, New York; Thursday, 11 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Providence is set to take on Villanova in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. Villanova won both of the regular season matchups earlier this season. The teams last played each other on Feb. 13, when the Wildcats shot 51.9 percent from the field while holding Providence to just 42.1 percent on their way to the 18-point victory.
SENIOR STUDS: Villanova's Phil Booth, Eric Paschall and Collin Gillespie have combined to account for 62 percent of the team's scoring this season and have scored 64 percent of all Wildcats points over the last five games.
OFFENSIVE THREAT: Booth has either made or assisted on 47 percent of all Villanova field goals over the last five games. Booth has 34 field goals and 20 assists in those games.
PERFECT WHEN: The Wildcats are 13-0 when they hold opposing teams to 65 points or fewer and 9-9 when opponents exceed 65 points. The Friars are 8-0 when they hold opponents to a field goal percentage of 40.3 percent or worse, and 10-14 when opponents exceed that percentage.
ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Wildcats have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Friars. Villanova has an assist on 40 of 69 field goals (58 percent) across its previous three matchups while Providence has assists on 45 of 84 field goals (53.6 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Villanova has made 10.7 3-pointers per game as a collective unit this year, which is second-best among Big East teams.
