Creighton Bluejays vs Xavier Musketeers Prediction, 3/10/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Creighton Bluejays vs Xavier Musketeers

Date: Friday, March 10, 2023

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

TV: FS1

Odds/Point Spread: Creighton (-4)

The Creighton Bluejays (20-11) are hitting the road to Madison Square Garden on Friday where they will attempt to beat the Xavier Musketeers (23-8). Creighton opens this contest as -4-point favorites. The total is set at 155.5.

The Creighton Bluejays played DePaul and earned the victory with a final of 84-70 in their last game. Regarding fouls, the Bluejays finished with 16 and DePaul totaled 17 fouls. They buried 6 of their 17 tries from 3-point land. DePaul walked away from this one shooting 66.7% from the charity stripe by burying 10 of 15 shots. In addition, DePaul totaled 27 rebounds (9 offensive, 18 defensive), but didn't have a block. DePaul earned 15 assists and had 9 steals for the contest. Concerning the defense, Creighton let their opponent shoot 40.3% from the field on 27 out of 67 shooting. They also distributed 11 assists for the contest in addition to forcing the opposition into 9 turnovers and earning 8 steals. Concerning grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 41 with 12 of them being of the offensive sort. At the charity stripe, the Bluejays made 14 of their 17 shots for a percentage of 82.4%. Creighton walked away from the game with a 50.8% field goal percentage (31 out of 61) and made 8 of their 21 three-point attempts.

Trey Alexander is one player who was important in this matchup. He ended up finishing with 21 points on 8 of 14 shooting. He played 35 mins and totaled 6 boards. He ended up shooting 57.1% from the field and also distributed 2 assists.

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Creighton comes into this matchup with a record of 20-11 this year. They cough up possession 11.7 times per game and as a group they commit 13.1 fouls per contest. As a team, Creighton is snagging 37.5 boards per contest and has totaled 491 assists on the season, which has them ranked 41st in the nation in terms of passing the ball. The Bluejays are connecting on 35.8% on three-point attempts (275 of 769) and 76.0% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 76.8 points per game (58th in Division 1) while hitting 46.9% from the floor.

On the defensive end of the court, the Bluejays are forcing their opponents into 10.1 turnovers per game and they draw 16.0 personal fouls. They surrender 33.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are 117th in Division 1 in points per game from their opponents (67.9). The Bluejays defense is giving up an opponent FG percentage of 42.0% (816 of 1,942) and they surrender 33.2 rebounds per contest as a unit. They are currently ranked 140th in college basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 387 surrendered for the campaign.

When they last stepped on the court, the Xavier Musketeers took home the win by a final score of 78-66 against Butler. In the matter of how they attacked the glass, Xavier permitted Butler to collect 17 in all (3 on the offensive side). They shot 18.8% from distance by connecting on 3 of 16 and finished the game at 13 of 15 at the charity stripe (86.7%). The Musketeers permitted Butler to convert 25 of 55 attempts from the field which had them shooting 45.5% for the game. When the final whistle blew, the Musketeers walked away from this one shooting 28 for 52 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 53.8%. In terms of three-point attempts, Xavier made 4 of 12 tries (33.3%). They were able to bury 18 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 66.7%. Butler was called for 19 fouls for the contest which took the Musketeers to the charity stripe for a total of 27 tries. They turned it over 12 times, while getting 5 steals for this contest. The Musketeers corralled 25 defensive boards and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 36 for the matchup.

Colby Jones ended up being a factor for the Musketeers for the matchup. He converted 8 out of 10 in this matchup for a rate of 80.0%, and had 8 rebounds. He earned 20 points in his 39 minutes on the hardwood and accumulated 4 assists in the matchup.

Xavier has a record of 23-8 on the campaign. The Musketeers commit 16.2 fouls every game and they hit 71.7% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 19.9 times per contest (1st in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 12.8 times per game. Xavier has scored 2,546 points on the campaign (82.1 per contest) and they pull in 37.5 boards per contest. As an offensive team, the Musketeers are shooting 50.0% from the field, which ranks 3rd in the nation.

The Musketeers on the defensive side of the court are 304th in college hoops in points allowed per game with 74.5. They are forcing their opponents into 12.1 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.3% from the floor (219th in Division 1). The Xavier defense gives up 36.1% on shots from beyond the perimeter (234 of 648) and opponents are connecting on 71.4% of their free throw attempts. They have given up 15.1 dimes and 31.9 total rebounds per game, which is ranked 334th and 64th in Division 1.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Creighton (-4)

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