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Closest to the Pin Round 10: Butler

Once again, no one came close to picking the score in this one. Both Vegas and the VUHoops crowd were way off the mark. However, there are always winners in the Closest to the Pin contest, and in this round we had four, including one first-timer. Of significance, pacADAM maintained his hold on first place. The evening was bittersweet knowing that James Bell, Tony Chennault and Nick McMahon would never again grace the Pavilion floor in a game as student-athletes. However, it was nice to send them off with a win. Hopefully they will have a chance to play plenty more basketball before they take off their 'Nova jerseys for the last time. Go Cats!

By Ed Donohue
Andy Lyons

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RESULTS:  With the Cats sloppy, grind-it-out win in another low-scoring game over Butler, 67-48, we congratulate four VUHoops readers who earned points in this round.

  1. Jack The Tripper (Nova 65, Butler 60) awarded 5 points
  2. kevin.pulsifer (Nova 73, Butler 59) awarded 3 points
  3. StephDon (Nova 72, Butler 60) awarded 3 points
  4. Corollary (Nova 72, Butler 61) awarded 1 point

The updated leader board after ten rounds is provided below.

VUHOOPS vs. VEGAS:  Based on the average predicted scores of the VUHoops Crowd and the posted Vegas line, we would have not bet the spread,  but would have bet the OVER (LOSS).  After ten rounds, we would be up $300.

LEADER BOARD

Player Points
pacAdam 13
Kantcant 8
NovaEngineer 8
jnmurf16 7
Jack The Tripper 6
jwscones 6
NovaDave 6
novanation63 6
BosshogHazzard 5
Gkaram01 5
Original Honey Badger 5
ryanshock24 5
schitzengigles10 5
speedracer33 5
trevor.pleasant 5
Villanovafan152 5
kevin.pulsifer 4
sjkqw 4
villanovakevin14 4
Ed Dechellis 3
efgvu1977 3
NewIsAlwaysBetter 3
Nova'85 3
novAbrasion 3
StephDon 3
Steve 92 3
Wildecat15 3
Corollary 2
Mike J 2
BrendanColliton 1
Brian Ewart 1
Ed Donohue 1
Lahey 1
Novabrasion2 1
Ryan Boggio 1
tk1434 1
Wildcat91 1
Zachary Rahn 1

UPDATE (February 26, 8:00 PM, Tip-off) ... In the early going, here's how the VUHoops Crowd sees this one:

# Reader Predictions: 40

% Picking Cats to Win: 100%

Wisdom of VUHoops' Crowd Prediction:

o   Spread: Villanova -15.0

o   Over/Under: 147.0

o    Final Score: Cats 81 - Butler 66

Vegas Odds Makers' Prediction:

o   Spread: Villanova -15.0

o   Over/Under: 136.0

o    Final Score: Cats 76 - Butler 61

SCATTER PLOT OF PREDICTED SCORES

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Window Opening (February 25): The window is now open for our readers to post their predicted final scores for Wednesday's game vs. the Butler Bulldogs in the tenth round of the Closest to the Pin Contest. PacAdam remains in first place after nine rounds. Click HERE to see the full leader board and HERE to see the official contest rules.

Villanova (24-3, 12-2 conference) is ranked #8 in the AP Poll, #4 in the RPI and #20 SOS. The Cats average 79.9 PPG while giving up an average of 67.9 PPG.

Butler (12-15, 2-13) is not ranked in the AP Poll but is ranked #149 in the RPI and #71 SOS. The Bulldogs average 69.5 PPG while giving up an average of 68.4 PPG. Butler comes into town riding a six-game losing streak and losers of nine of their last ten. In their Big East opener, the Bulldogs lost vs. Villanova in overtime (-3). Butler's two conference wins have come vs. Marquette (+12) and at Seton Hall (+7). Other than Villanova, Butler's conference losses have come against Xavier (twice, -9 and -14), vs. DePaul (-5), Georgetown (twice, -3 and -8), Creighton (twice, -28 and-5), Providence (twice, -9 and -8), St. John's (twice, -17 and-25), and at Marquette (-7).

Enter your predicted final score in the comments section in the format: Nova xx, Butler yy. Good luck to you all!

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