DePaul Blue Demons vs Xavier Musketeers Prediction, 2/18/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: DePaul Blue Demons vs Xavier Musketeers

Date: Saturday, February 18, 2023

Location: Cintas Center in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN+

The Xavier Musketeers (19-7) will try to beat the DePaul Blue Demons (9-17) at Cintas Center on Saturday.

The DePaul Blue Demons played St. John's and went home with a loss by a final score of 92-83 in their last game. When it comes to fouls, the Blue Demons walked away with 19 while St. John's accounted for 13 fouls. They converted 7 out of their 23 shots from distance. St. John's finished the game at 80.8% from the charity stripe by knocking down 21 of 26 tries. Additionally, St. John's grabbed 58 rebounds (21 offensive, 37 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. St. John's distributed 18 assists and had 9 steals in this game. In the matter of defense, DePaul allowed their opponent to shoot 37.2% from the floor on 32 of 86 shooting. They also dished out 19 assists for the game as well as forcing the other team into 14 turnovers and getting 9 steals. Regarding hauling in rebounds, they collected 38 with 11 of them being of the offensive variety. From the free throw line, the Blue Demons made 12 of 17 attempts for a percentage of 70.6%. DePaul finished the game having earned a 39.5% field goal percentage (30 out of 76) and knocked down 11 of their 26 three-point shots.

Javan Johnson is one player who was a factor in this game. He notched 26 points on 9 of 23 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 50 mins played and totaled 6 rebounds. He finished the game at 39.1% from the field and earned 5 dimes.

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DePaul will enter this contest with a win-loss record of 9-17 this season. They turn it over 12.8 times per game and as a group they commit 18.6 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, DePaul is pulling down 32.7 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 357 dimes for the campaign, which is 146th in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Blue Demons are connecting on 35.7% on 3-pointers (219 of 613) and 74.9% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 71.5 points per contest (180th in the country) while going 42.2% from the field.

Defensively, the Blue Demons are forcing 12.9 turnovers per contest and they draw 16.9 fouls. They are 252nd in college basketball in allowing assists with 359 relinquished for the campaign. The Blue Demons are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 44.7% (698 of 1,560) and they concede 39.3 rebounds per game as a squad. They are conceding 34.6% on 3-point attempts and they are 341st in college hoops in PPG from their opponents (76.7).

When they last stepped on the court, the Xavier Musketeers walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 69-68 against Marquette. When discussing how they attacked the glass, Xavier allowed Marquette to get 34 in total (14 on the offensive side). They went 22.7% from three-point range by connecting on 5 out of 22 and ended up shooting 12 out of 17 from the charity stripe (70.6%). The Musketeers allowed Marquette to convert 26 of 68 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 38.2% for the matchup. When all was said and done, the Musketeers shot 27 out of 51 from the field which had them shooting 52.9%. In terms of three-point shots, Xavier converted 7 out of their 19 attempts (36.8%). They were able to knock down 7 of them for a rate of 77.8%. Marquette earned 11 personal fouls in this matchup which took the Musketeers to the charity stripe for a total of 9 tries. They also gave up possession of the ball 17 times, while getting 5 steals in the matchup. The Musketeers collected 27 defensive boards and 2 offensive boards totaling 29 in this matchup.

Souley Boum ended up being a factor for the Musketeers for the game. He earned 24 points in his 40 mins of playing time and totaled 2 dimes for this contest. He buried 10 of 15 for the contest for a rate of 66.7%, and accumulated 5 rebounds.

Xavier has a win-loss record of 19-7 on the year. On the offensive side of the ball, the Musketeers are connecting on 50.1% from the floor, which is 4th in the country. Xavier has accounted for 2,147 points so far this year (82.6 per contest) and they pull in 37.3 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 20.5 times per game (1st in college basketball) and they turn the ball over 13.1 times per contest. The Musketeers are committing 16.0 fouls per contest and they hit 71.9% from the free throw line.

The Musketeers on the defensive side of the court are 324th in college basketball in PPG surrendered with 75.5. They have forced 12.4 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 44.6% from the field (256th in D-1). The Xavier defense allows 36.3% from downtown (200 of 551) and their opponents are making 70.3% of their shots from the free throw line. They allow 15.2 assists and 32.5 rebounds per game, which ranks 341st and 90th in college hoops.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take DePaul

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