WALDRON GRAIN & FUEL

03/19 03:43 CDT Villanova Wildcats take on Utah State Aggies in opening round of NCAA Tournament Villanova Wildcats take on Utah State Aggies in opening round of NCAA Tournament By The Associated Press Utah State Aggies (28-6, 18-5 MWC) vs. Villanova Wildcats (24-8, 15-6 Big East) San Diego; Friday, 4:10 p.m. EDT BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Aggies -1.5; over/under is 147.5 BOTTOM LINE: Villanova squares off against Utah State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats have gone 15-6 against Big East teams, with a 9-2 record in non-conference play. Villanova ranks sixth in the Big East with 9.4 offensive rebounds per game led by Duke Brennan averaging 4.0. The Aggies are 18-5 against MWC opponents. Utah State is the best team in the MWC scoring 14.1 fast break points per game. Villanova averages 77.2 points, 6.8 more per game than the 70.4 Utah State allows. Utah State has shot at a 49.9% clip from the field this season, 4.9 percentage points higher than the 45.0% shooting opponents of Villanova have averaged. TOP PERFORMERS: Bryce Lindsay is shooting 34.6% from beyond the arc with 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Wildcats, while averaging 11.9 points. Tyler Perkins is averaging 15.1 points and 5.9 rebounds over the past 10 games. Mason Falslev is averaging 16.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and two steals for the Aggies. Michael Collins Jr. is averaging 1.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Wildcats: 7-3, averaging 76.2 points, 28.9 rebounds, 16.6 assists, 8.0 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.3 points per game. Aggies: 7-3, averaging 78.8 points, 28.6 rebounds, 16.7 assists, 8.0 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.9 points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.