Kansas @ Villanova preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 15, 2018 ) Villanova 71, Kansas 74

With one of the top offenses in the country, No. 1 Kansas will provide a major test for No. 14 Villanova when the teams collide Saturday in Philadelphia. The visiting Jayhawks have not lost since their season opener against Duke, winning nine in a row with three 90-point efforts in the last four contests.

Kansas is coming off a 98-75 rout of UMKC, the team's eighth double-digit win in 10 games this season. David McCormack stole the show with a career-high 28 points after totaling 16 points over his previous three games. Kansas and Villanova met twice in 2018 with the Wildcats rolling to a 16-point win in the Final Four and then the Jayhawks exacting some revenge with a three-point win last December. Villanova enters this contest with four consecutive victories, most recently an eight-point triumph against Delaware.

TV: Noon ET, FOX

ABOUT KANSAS (9-1): Devon Dotson added 18 points against UMKC for the Jayhawks and leads the team in scoring (19.6), followed by Udoka Azubuike (14.2 points, team-high 8.1 rebounds) and Ochai Agbaji (11.4 points). Sophomore forward Silvio De Sousa (4.1 points) has struggled to make an impact this season but is coming off one of his best games of the campaign (nine points, seven rebounds, three blocks against UMKC). “He was better,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “He actually is pretty good at catching it at the high-post area and driving it. He was able to do that a couple of times. He made some good blocks down there protecting the rim."

ABOUT VILLANOVA (8-2): Five Wildcats scored in double figures, led by Jermaine Samuels (18 points) and Justin Moore (16), in the 78-70 victory over Delaware. "Guys like to score. It's a normal human characteristic," coach Jay Wright said after his team reached 70 points for the ninth time in 10 games this season. "They're feeling good right now." Saddiq Bey (16.3 points) is the top scorer on the team while Collin Gillespie averages 14.4 points but has struggled with his shooting in three of the last four games.

TIP-INS

1. Azubuike is 11-of-11 from the field in the last two games and is shooting 83.1 percent on the season - by far the best in the nation.

2. Dotson has been held below 17 points only once this season.

3. Since scoring 22 points versus Mississippi State late last month, Villanova F Jeremiah Robinson-Earl has been held below 14 points in each of his last five games.

PREDICTION: Kansas 82, Villanova 72