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Books look concerned over a possible Villanova cover Saturday evening.
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Most books had moved down to -3.5 and none were moving back to -4. By Noon Eastern Time, BetOnline and Heritage had each dropped to -3 favoring Purdue.
With some 75% of the spread action on Villanova as a live dog, books are either fearful that the Wildcats will cover or are simply looking to balance the action out.
There is no obvious opinion here. Moving the line upwards to -4.5 would be an indication that the books feel comfortable with Purdue covering the spread. So far, we have not seen this occur.
Purdue faces quite the obstacle in its path toward a third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance in the form of reigning national champion Villanova.
Purdue and Villanova recorded impressive defensive performances in their first-round victories. The Boilermakers limited 14th-seeded Old Dominion to a 26.9-percent effort from the field in their 61-48 win on Thursday while the Wildcats grinded out a 61-57 triumph over 11th-seeded Saint Mary's.
"I would much rather (have) a 20-point win," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "That would have been much nicer. But it is good to play a game like this in the NCAA Tournament."
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com (The Associated Press was also used for this article)
