A loaded slate of college hoops tips off early on Saturday in New Jersey where Myles Powell and the No. 10 ranked Seton Hall Pirates will attempt to continue their upward ascension in the rankings against an Xavier Musketeers outfit it already handled once this season in early January. Kevin Willard’s troops were installed underdogs at online sportsbooks in that one, but you can bet your bottom dollar linemakers will have the Pirates installed heavy chalk this time around with the X-Men winners in just one of their last six played games and The Hall out to build upon their current 10-game win streak that finds them atop the Big East.
This Big East showdown takes place on Saturday, February 1, 2020. Tip-off will be at 11 a.m. ET from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. The game will be broadcast live on FOX. So make sure to fill out your March Madness Bracket today!
CBB Betting Odds at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
The Musketeers were expected to make some noise this season with Naji Marshall, Paul Scruggs and Tyrique Jones all back from last season’s squad that closed the regular season out on fire and got some postseason experience playing in the NIT. Eight games into the Big East schedule, it hasn’t come to pass with Travis Steele’s kids 13-8 overall and just 2-6 in conference play. The team has been nothing short of a great fade since Big East play picked up having logged just one pointspread cover through eight tries. The team’s logged one true road win (TCU) and fallen at Wake Forest, Villanova, Marquette and Creighton by nearly 10 points per game.
Injuries and lapses at the defensive end of the court saw the Pirates get out to decent but not great 6-4 SU and ATS starts to the season. But since toppling Maryland at home as decided 7-point underdogs in the middle of December, the Pirates are yet to drop a single game. Though the 78-70 comeback win over Butler in Hinkle Fieldhouse is the best of the bunch, don’t for one second think this team has taken advantage of a weak schedule to get to this point. It hasn’t. They dropped tough decisions to both Oregon and Michigan State by an average of 2.5 points per game when not at full strength. They are now! The Pomeroy Ratings find them ranked No. 11 overall against the 11th toughest schedule in the nation. The fact that they’re 14-6 ATS in those matchups lets it be known just how impressive this team really is.
Recent Meeting
The Pirates were nothing if not brilliant in the first showdown between these teams in the Cintas Center. Seton Hall shot 53 percent as a team with Powell’s 24 points on 10 of 21 shooting leading the way for the visitors. Quincy McKnight dished off eight assists, while Romaro Gill swatted away five shots and pulled down four rebounds to help the Pirates win the rebounding battle 32-24. Xavier was held to a 44 percent success rate largely due to its ability to stymy Marshall who only scored 15 points on 3 of 10 shooting. The Hall concentrating their efforts to shut him down allowed for Jones to take advantage and score a team-high 19 points to go along with nine rebounds. As bad a 3-point shooting team Xavier is (No. 308), its ability to get anything done in the paint will go a long way in deciding this one. As tough Seton Hall is to score upon close to the rack, it’ll once again be an uphill climb for the Musketeers.
Prediction
Many are going to jump at the opportunity to jump on Seton Hall in this spot with the X-Men in the midst of another losing streak after dropping a double overtime decision at home to Marquette. I get it; Xavier is not a good team this season. However, linemakers are going to force you to eat a ton of chalk and the Pirates recent body of work has seen them fail to cover two of the last three games. It should be three straight; just ask those that took the points with Providence back on January 22. If you don’t have the stomach to back the ugly dog for the full game, I’d at least get involved in the first half. This is going to be an early game for both sides, and it could take some time for either squad to get going. The Hall hasn’t covered the 1H line in any of their last four games, and I expect that streak to be kept intact early Saturday afternoon.
College Basketball Pick: Seton Hall 73, Xavier 67
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