.jpg "Creighton-at-Xavier-(FOX)")
The Xavier Musketeers will be happy to be back on their home court. A two-game road trip did not go well for the Musketeers, with Xavier losing by nine to Providence before getting routed by 24 against Villanova on Wednesday night.
This weekend, Xavier will be squaring off against the Creighton Bluejays. Creighton has won four straight conference games and is sitting in first place in the Big East.
Whoever wins this game will pick up another quality win against a conference opponent.
This war on the floor will go down Saturday, January 13, 2018, at 2 p.m. ET at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The game will be televised live on FOX. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Creighton has been a solid team to bet on this season. The Bluejays have covered three of their last four and have been able to score at a fast pace because of their quality guards. That has helped the team get out to a 10-6 ATS record.
Over the last two weeks, it’s been the defense that has stepped up. Despite playing an up-tempo pace, the Bluejays have not allowed more than 74 points in each of their last four games. All four were victories and each one went under the total.
The Musketeers have been phenomenal at home this season. Xavier is 11-0 in the Cintas Center and is 8-3 ATS. In all three of those ATS losses, the team was favored by at least 14 points.
Xavier has not been able to keep up with its opponent in either of the last two games. The Musketeers shot less than 44 percent from the floor in both games and each one went under easily.
Matchup to Watch
It will be very interesting to see how the rebounding battle goes between these two teams. Both teams are averaging 40 rebounds an outing, but each side gets its rebounding done in different ways.
Creighton mainly relies on two players to clean up the glass. Martin Krampelj and Ronnie Harrell Jr. account for almost 40 percent of the team’s rebounds this season. Krampelj is the more traditional rebounder, while Harrell is a guard that shifts to the blocks a lot because he is 6’7.
As for Xavier, rebounding is a team effort. No one player is averaging more than six rebounds per game, but every rotation player but one is averaging at least three rebounds an outing.
Don’t be surprised if the Musketeers use their bigs in a more traditional manner in this one though. They have more size than Creighton, but have relied on their guard play all year. That might change against a four-guard lineup.
Player to Watch
Marcus Foster took over the team last season and is the undisputed leader of the Bluejays this year. He is the team’s leading scorer and has been extremely efficient in this offense.
Foster is hitting more than 50 percent of his field goals this season and has been fantastic from behind the arc too. He has hit 43.2 percent of his triples on the year, and he is 14-30 over Creighton’s last four games.
Foster and Khyri Thomas are the primary ballhandlers in this offense and will look to distribute often too.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
There are a variety of ways that Xavier can attack this Creighton team. The Musketeers probably have the better backcourt, and will have the athletic big men that can dominate the Bluejays. Although Creighton is 14-3, it has lost to the three best teams it has played and the team has yet to beat a ranked opponent. All that stacks up to a comfortable Xavier victory in my book. Back Xavier at home.
College Basketball Odds: Xavier 83, Creighton 73
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