Our college basketball picks series continues as the rest of the regular season winds down. This upcoming matchup takes place in the Big East Conference as the No. 6 Marquette Golden Eagles (23-6) visit the Butler Bulldogs (14-15). The Golden Eagles look to close the season strong and end as the top dog in the Big East. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Marquette-Butler prediction and pick.
The Marquette Golden Eagles continue to sit atop the Big East in first place and can finish their season as such by notching a win in one of their last two games. They'll have a great chance to do so against a Butler team they beat earlier in the season. In the last 10 games, the Golden Eagles are 9-1 and have impressive wins over No. 16 Xavier and No. 19 Creighton. A win against Butler would seal first place in the conference for them.
The Butler Bulldogs are in ninth place in the Big East and don't have a chance to make the March Madness Tournament. While they've won three of their last five games, but have failed to string along any meaningful runs. They recently topped No. 13 Xavier, so Butler will be motivated to win out and end this season above .500.
Here are the Marquette-Butler college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Basketball Odds: Marquette-Butler Odds
Marquette: -8.5 (-110)
Butler: +8.5 (-110)
Over: 142.5 (-110)
Under: 142.5 (-110)
How To Watch Marquette vs. Butler
TV: FS1
Stream: Fox Sports App, fuboTV
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET/ 3:30 p.m. PT
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Marquette Could Cover The Spread
The Marquette Golden Eagles continue to play inspired basketball and have earned their ranking with their play this season. They're finding ways to score the ball with ease and have avoided any bad upsets for the most part. As a team, they're shooting just under 50% from the field and scoring in a number of ways. Cam Jones and Tyler Kolek continue to be huge spark plugs for the Golden Eagles. Most impressively, Marquette is averaging 17.7 APG as a team.
Marquette loves to spread the ball around and play with a fast pace. They've done well in coming back from large deficits this season and have conversely been able to fend off opposition trying to do the same. Marquette is 18-10 ATS on the season and have gone 8-3 ATS on the road. They'll certainly have the momentum, but will have to rely on the fundamentals to cover this decent-sized spread.
Why Butler Could Cover The Spread
Butler will have to be better rebounding the basketball and hope their threes can land if they want to have a shot in this one. In their losses to Villanova and Georgetown, the Bulldogs were severely mismatched on the glass and shot terribly from three. Their offense seemed stagnant even though their defense put up a good game. They rallied late to beat DePaul in their last game, but still shot just 17% from three. If they want to have any chance against Marquette, they'll need some threes to start falling.
Butler is 10-5 SU at home this season and has gone 10-15 ATS. As the home team, the Bulldogs have managed to go 8-6 ATS as they enjoy shooting on their home rims. They'll be at a disadvantage down low, so it'll be crucial for the Bulldogs to focus on boxing out. If they turn in another poor rebounding performance, they won't have a chance to topple Marquette.
Final Marquette-Butler Prediction & Pick
This spread is a fairly wide margin, but Marquette is good in all the areas that Butler struggles with, particularly on the defensive glass and causing turnovers. Butler will have to be perfect to stay in this game, but it'll just take one mistake for the Golden Eagles to blow a lead wide open. Let's go with Marquette to cover in this one.
Final Marquette-Butler Prediction & Pick: Marquette Golden Eagles -8.5 (-110)
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