The No.8-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles travel to take on Xavier in the final game before the Big East tournament. Marquette hosted Xavier on February 25th, dominating the Musketeers with a 24-point victory. It is time to continue our men's college basketball odds series with a Marquette-Xavier prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.
Marquette fell to No.2 UConn on Wednesday, their second loss in a row without the services of Tyler Kolek. Senior Kolek is the second-leading scorer on the team, one of four players averaging double-digits. Kam Jones leads the team with 16.2 points, but Kolek is their best offensive player, averaging 15 points and 7.6 assists. Kolek's status for the Big East tourney is a big question mark for the Golden Eagles, as they look like a different team without him.
Xavier will have their Senior Day on Saturday as they look to end the season at .500 in Big East play. Xavier was on a two-game winning streak before losing to Butler on Wednesday night. They need a win, plus a UConn and Creighton victory on Saturday, to avoid playing in the 8-9 seed matchup during the tournament. Quincy Olivari hopes to lead the Musketeers on an upset run in the conference tournament, as the grad student leads the team with 19.1 points per game.
Here are the college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Basketball Odds: Marquette-Xavier Odds
Marquette: -2.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -140
Xavier: +2.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +116
Over: 157.5 (-110)
Under: 157.5 (-110)
How to Watch Marquette vs. Xavier
Time: 5 PM ET/2 PM PT
TV: FOX
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why Marquette Will Cover The Spread/Win
Marquette's offense is a good matchup for Xavier, as we saw when they put up 88 points against the Musketeers two weeks ago. The Golden Eagles are 54th in the nation, averaging 79 points per game, and are one of the most efficient teams, shooting 48.2% from the floor. Marquette shoots a high volume of three-pointers, nearly 26 per game. They hit 35.4% of those shots.
Marquette has an interesting trend going over their last ten games, where they have identical 7-3 records outright and against the spread. Their three losses came as underdogs, while their seven wins came as favorites. When Marquette is favored, they do well at covering the spread but also get blown out when playing superior opponents.
Why Xavier Will Cover The Spread/Win
Xavier's offense can keep them in this game, as they average 76.2 points. The Marquette defense is above-average, allowing just 69.5 points, but that number jumps to 73 on the road. Marquette has allowed over 80 points in two straight games on the road, which coincidentally were both outright losses.
The absence of Marquette's top distributor has impacted the Golden Eagles' offense. They scored 91 points against Providence in the initial game, but they've scored just 75 and 67 points since. Xavier's offense will do enough to cover and possibly win outright if they can hold Marquette to these numbers.
Final Marquette-Xavier Prediction & Pick
Xavier has a lot to play for in this game. Marquette is still in contention to get second in the Big East, but Xavier winning to avoid the eighth vs. ninth game will be important for the Musketeers. The Musketeers offense will be able to keep up with Marquette in this game, especially with the absence of Tyler Kolek. Xavier may not win this game outright, but they should do enough to keep it close and cover the spread. Take Xavier to give the fans a show on Senior Night and send Shaka Smart's boys to the Big East tournament with some doubts.
Click here for more betting news and predictions
Final Marquette-Xavier Prediction & Pick: Xavier +2.5 (-110)
Follow Us
Subscribe