Eckel picks the game of the night: Villanova at Seton Hall, the biggest hoops matchup at The Hall in a quarter-century

Villanova at Seton Hall (-4), 8:30 p.m.

The game of the night involves No. 8 Seton Hall hosting No. 14 Villanova in a revenge match for the Wildcats.

Seton Hall (21-7, 13-3) won for the first time in forever on the road against Villanova, 70-64, last month and now hosts the ‘Cats at The Rock.

If you’re looking for trends here they are all over the place.

Villanova (22-7, 11-5) is a pedestrian 13-14-2 against the spread this year, but is an impressive 10-3-1 ATS as an underdog.

Seton Hall is 18-10 ATS, but is just 2-5 in its last seven games as a favorite and 1-4 in in its last five as a home favorite. The Pirates have actually been a better road team than a home team this season. Not only have they beaten ‘Nova on the road, but Butler, Xavier and Marquette as well.

This will be Seton Hall senior Myles Powell’s last home game and the Pirates fans will want to see him walk away with a win. But the Wildcats might have something to say about that.

The Pick: Both teams are looking to improve their NCAA seedings in this one. Seton Hall is the better team, but it’s not real smart to bet against Jay Wright in a big game. So we’re going to opt out from picking a winner here and take the under 140 total in a game where both teams may stress defense.