Connecticut Huskies (16-10, 6-8 Big East) At Villanova Wildcats (11-15, 4-10 Big East)

CONNECTICUT HUSKIES (16-10, 6-8 Big East) at VILLANOVA WILDCATS (11-15, 4-10 Big East)

Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Connecticut -3.5 & 137.5
Opening Line & Total: Huskies -3 & 137

Connecticut looks to grab an important conference road win to build on an increasingly underwhelming NCAA Tournament resume when it travels to Philadelphia to take on long-time rival Villanova on Monday night.

Usually perennial Big East powerhouses, both ‘Nova and UConn find themselves in unfamiliar territory this season in the bottom half of the conference standings. The Huskies look to bounce back from a 79-64 home loss to Marquette on Saturday—a crucial game in which UConn inexplicably lacked energy and passion. Connecticut has just two road wins all season (2-6 SU, 1-7 ATS), dropping four in a row (SU and ATS), but three of those losses came against teams in the top six of the Big East. Villanova’s struggles are unlikely to improve on Monday, with leading scorer Maalik Wayns (17.8 PPG—3rd in Big East) set to miss his third straight game with an MCL sprain. The Wildcats blew a 20-point lead at home in an eventual 74-70 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday. Villanova has now lost five of its past six games straight up, and hasn’t won ATS in seven consecutive games (0-6-1 ATS). As bad as UConn has been on the road, if the Huskies have any hope of grabbing a bid to the Big Dance, they will find a way to win this one.

UConn’s perimeter defense was exposed against Marquette, allowing the Golden Eagles to shoot 46% (10-for-22) from three-point range. In their last three losses, the Huskies allowed opponents to drain the deep ball at an alarmingly high rate of 49.2 percent (31-for-63). Despite all of the talent in the lineup, UConn still lacks a strong on-court leader. Leading scorer Jeremy Lamb (17.3 PPG) has regained his scoring touch after a midseason slump, scoring 18+ points in each of his past three games on 53% FG. The Huskies will need freshman center Andre Drummond (10.0 PPG, 7.4 RPG) to stay out of foul trouble in this game, after playing just 24 minutes in the loss to Marquette. Connecticut is 5-1 when Drummond posts a double-double this season.

Villanova has struggled mightily this season, and it doesn’t get more deflating than blowing a 20-point lead at home. Like the Huskies, the Wildcats were also haunted by poor perimeter defense against the Irish—allowing Notre Dame to sink nine of its 12 three-pointers in the second half. The ‘Cats have kept games close without Wayns in the lineup—losing by four points in each game—but there simply isn’t enough consistent secondary scoring to win close games. Villanova will need another strong outing from junior guard Dominic Cheek (12.6 PPG), who scored 19 points on 5-of-11 shooting in the loss to Notre Dame. Freshman forward JayVaughn Pinkston (10.2 PPG, 5.3 RPG) will be the X-factor in this game. After scoring a career-high 28 points against Providence two weeks ago, Pinkston dropped a team-high 24 (7-of-18 FG) against the Irish. UConn really struggled guarding versatile Marquette forward Jae Crowder on Saturday, and if Pinkston can hit shots on the perimeter, it will force the Huskies big men to play out of position.


BAYLOR BEARS (22-5) at TEXAS LONGHORNS (17-10)

Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Texas -2.5 & 137.5
Opening Line & Total: Longhorns -2 & 138

Slumping Baylor looks for a big road win when it visits Austin on Monday for a showdown with Texas.

The Bears have lost three of four and are a woeful 2-8 ATS in their past 10 games. But Baylor is 5-2 (SU and ATS) in the past seven meetings with Texas and the reason it only beat the Horns by five on Jan. 28 in Waco was because J’Covan Brown somehow dropped 32 points. Baylor owned the paint though, winning the rebounding battle 37-24 as Perry Jones III (22 pts, 14 reb), Quincy Miller (18 pts, 6 reb) and Quincy Acy (10 pts, 10 reb) had a field day down low. The Bears are 7-2 on the road, while the Horns are 4-7 ATS at home and 5-9 ATS in the Big 12.

Perry Jones III (13.5 PPG, 7.5 RPG) is the biggest reason for Baylor’s recent slump. The Bears blew a nine-point lead and lost at home to Kansas State on Saturday, 57-56, with little help from Jones III, who fouled out with just four points and four rebounds. Jones has scored five points or fewer in each of his team’s past three defeats. While the Baylor star has slumped, freshman Quincy Miller (12.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG) has stepped up with 16.0 PPG and 6.0 RPG in his past three games. Frontcourt mate Quincy Acy (12.2 PPG, 6.9 RPG) has been the rock of this team, scoring in double figures in 11 of his past 12 games. Pierre Jackson (12.3 PPG, 5.9 APG) has done a nice job manning the point this year. He has 28 assists and 14 turnovers in his past five games, but has made just 7-of-22 FG in his past three contests.

Texas is 14-2 at home this season, losing to Kansas and Missouri by a combined four points. But the school is 0-6 against ranked opponents this season, and is coming off a 90-78 loss at Oklahoma State on Saturday. The Longhorns have been a solid defensive team all season (65.9 PPG, 40.6% FG), but they allowed 5-foot-9 OSU guard Keiton Page to score 40 points on 8-of-14 FG and 20-of-20 FT. Offensively, the Horns played pretty well against the Cowboys, shooting 49% FG and making 8-of-16 threes. Freshman Myck Kabongo (10.3 PPG, 5.0 APG) led the team with 22 points (8-of-12 FG) and leading scorer J’Covan Brown (19.7 PPG) added 20 points. Kabongo is averaging 16.0 PPG in his past three contests, but also has more turnovers (15) than assists (12) in this span. Starting with his 32-point night in Waco on Jan. 28, Brown has scored 17+ points in seven straight games, averaging 21.6 PPG in these contests. But he has made more than 50% of his shots just once in this nine-game span and is shooting 41.9% FG this season. Despite leading the conference in scoring, Brown is shooting a woeful 31% FG in Big 12 home games this season. Freshman Sheldon McClellan (11.3 PPG) was a non-factor against Baylor (0-for-4 FG), but he has been a great scorer in his past five games, hitting double-figures in each contest and averaging 14.2 PPG in this span.