Creighton Bluejays vs Xavier Musketeers Prediction, 1/15/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Creighton Bluejays vs Xavier Musketeers

Date: Saturday, January 15, 2022

Location: Cintas Center in Cincinnati, OH

TV: FOX

Cintas Center is where the Xavier Musketeers (12-3) will compete against the Creighton Bluejays (10-4) on Saturday.

The Creighton Bluejays stepped onto the hardwood against Villanova and ended up losing by a score of 75-41 in their last game. In the matter of fouls, the Bluejays ended up walking away with 15 and Villanova finished the game with 11 fouls. They also converted 8 of their 23 tries from long range. Villanova finished the contest at 93.8% when shooting free throws by converting 15 of 16 attempts. In addition, Villanova grabbed 34 rebounds (10 offensive, 24 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Villanova doled out 16 dimes and had 7 steals in this matchup. In terms of defending, Creighton let their opponent shoot 45.6% from the floor on 26 of 57 shooting. They also doled out 8 dimes in the matchup while forcing 5 turnovers and getting 2 steals. Regarding grabbing boards, they collected 22 with 3 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Bluejays made 6 of 8 attempts for a rate of 75.0%. Creighton finished the game with a 35.6% FG percentage (16 out of 45) and made 3 out of their 24 three-point attempts.

Alex O'Connell is a guy who was a factor for the contest. He ended up shooting 45.5% from the field and also distributed 1 assist. He was on the court for 29 minutes played and also collected 2 rebounds. He ended up scoring 13 points on 5 out of 11 shooting.

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Creighton comes into this game with a mark of 10-4 this year. They lose possession via turnover 14.3 times per contest and as a basketball team they are committing 13.4 fouls per game. As a unit, Creighton is snagging 38.7 rebounds per game and has earned 195 assists on the campaign, which has them ranked 191st in college basketball in terms of passing the rock. The Bluejays are connecting on 30.1% on shots beyond the perimeter (90 of 299) and 69.2% from the charity stripe. They average 70.4 pts per contest (224th in D-1) on 46.9% from the field.

On defense, the Bluejays are forcing 11.1 turnovers per contest and they draw 15.7 personal fouls. They are ranked 103rd in college basketball in allowing assists with 165 surrendered so far this year. The Bluejays defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 39.5% (347 of 878) and they surrender 34.2 boards per game as a squad. They give up 33.1% from beyond the arc and they rank 110th in the nation in PPG allowed (65.9).

When they last stepped on the court, the Xavier Musketeers took a loss by a final score of 64-60 against Villanova. When it comes to attacking the glass, Xavier permitted Villanova to snag 39 overall (12 on the offensive side). They shot 20.0% from three-point range by going 4 of 20 and walked away from this one shooting 20 of 21 from the free throw line (95.2%). The Musketeers permitted Villanova to convert 20 of 53 attempts from the field which had them at 37.7% in this game. When the final whistle blew, the Musketeers went 18 out of 55 from the floor which had them shooting 32.7%. Regarding shooting from beyond the arc, Xavier knocked down 5 out of 24 tries (20.8%). They were able to make 19 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 79.2%. Villanova had 21 fouls for the game which got the Musketeers to the free throw line for a total of 24 tries. They also gave up possession of the ball 6 times, while recording 2 steals in this contest. The Musketeers pulled down 19 defensive boards and 10 offensive boards for a total of 29 for the matchup.

Nate Johnson ended up being a major contributor for the Musketeers in this matchup. He had 15 points in his 34 minutes on the court and had 1 assist in this contest. He buried 5 of 9 in the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 55.6%, and tallied 3 rebounds.

Xavier has a win-loss mark of 12-3 this year. The Musketeers are responsible for committing 14.7 fouls per contest and they go 72.8% from the charity stripe. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 14.7 times per contest (102nd in college hoops) and they turn it over 13.0 times per game. Xavier has tallied 1,129 points for the year (75.3 per contest) and they grab 39.5 boards per contest. In terms of offensive execution, the Musketeers are hitting on 45.0% from the floor, which is 147th in the nation.

The Musketeers on the defensive side of the court are 47th in college basketball in points given up per game with 62.8. They are forcing 12.9 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 39.3% from the field (36th in college hoops). The Xavier defense concedes 29.7% on shots from beyond the perimeter (97 of 327) and opponents are making 73.4% of their foul shots. They have relinquished 11.1 dimes and 32.1 total rebounds per game, which ranks them 85th and 74th in Division 1.

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Creighton

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