Houston Cougars vs Xavier Musketeers Prediction, 12/1/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Houston Cougars vs Xavier Musketeers

Date: Friday, December 1, 2023

Location: Cintas Center in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN+

The Xavier Musketeers (4-3) will try to beat the Houston Cougars (7-0) at Cintas Center on Friday.

The Houston Cougars faced off with Montana and went home with a win by a final score of 79-44 in their last contest. Houston ended the contest having earned a 46.6% field goal percentage (27 of 58) and converted 7 out of their 24 shots from 3-point land. At the free throw line, the Cougars converted 18 of 30 tries for a percentage of 60.0%. When talking about pulling down boards, they collected a total of 42 with 15 of them being on the offensive end. They also distributed 12 assists for this contest as well as forcing the opposition into 13 turnovers and earning 9 steals. In relation to defending, Houston let their opponent shoot 32.6% from the field on 14 of 43 shooting. Montana dished out 7 assists and had 2 steals for this game. Additionally, Montana collected 26 boards (4 offensive, 22 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Montana walked away from this one shooting 68.4% from the charity stripe by burying 13 of 19 tries. They also converted 3 of 17 attempts from downtown. In regard to fouls, the Cougars ended up finishing with 17 and Montana had 20 fouls.

LJ Cryer is a player who was a contributor in this contest. He shot 56.3% from the field and dished out 3 assists. He saw the court for 32 mins and also snagged 4 rebounds. He scored 24 points on 9 out of 16 shooting.

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Houston will enter this contest with a record of 7-0 for the campaign. They are turning it over 8.1 times per contest and as a basketball team they are committing 17.1 personal fouls every game. As a team, Houston is snagging 41.4 rebounds per game and is sitting with 98 dimes for the campaign, which is 156th in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Cougars are connecting on 34.6% from downtown (56 of 162) and 63.6% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 76.3 points per contest (164th in D-1) while hitting 44.6% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Cougars are forcing their opponents into 16.7 turnovers per contest and they draw 17.0 fouls. They are conceding 27.9% on shots from distance and they rank 2nd in D-1 in points per game allowed (49.0). The Cougars defense is giving up a FG percentage of 35.3% (116 of 329) and they relinquish 31.3 rebounds per contest as a unit. They are currently ranked 115th in college hoops in giving up assists to their opponents with 77 conceded on the year.

The last time they took the court, the Xavier Musketeers took a defeat with a final score of 78-76 when they played Oakland. The Musketeers snagged 23 defensive boards and 13 offensive rebounds totaling 36 in this matchup. They also gave up possession of the ball 10 times, while earning 7 steals for the contest. Oakland committed 23 fouls in this contest which got the Musketeers to the free throw line for a total of 30 attempts. They were able to make 23 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 76.7%. Pertaining to shots from beyond the perimeter, Xavier buried 7 of 23 tries (30.4%). Overall, the Musketeers walked away from this one shooting 23 for 56 from the field which had them shooting 41.1%. The Musketeers allowed Oakland to make 29 out of their 56 tries from the floor which had them sitting at 51.8% in the game. They shot 26.1% from three-point range by shooting 6 out of 23 and ended up shooting 14 out of 22 at the free throw line (63.6%). When talking about cleaning the glass, Xavier permitted Oakland to pull down 29 in all (8 on the offensive side).

Desmond Claude ended up having an impact for the Musketeers for this contest. He tallied 24 points in his 38 minutes of playing time and added 4 dimes in the game. He converted 7 out of 14 for this game for a rate of 50.0%, and had 6 rebounds.

Xavier has a record of 4-3 this season. The Musketeers are committing 17.3 fouls per game and they shoot 67.1% from the charity stripe. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 18.6 times per contest (16th in the nation) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 12.0 times per game. Xavier has 540 pts for the season (77.1 per contest) and they pull in 39.6 boards per game. When it comes to offense, the Musketeers are connecting on 46.6% from the field, which is 107th in the country.

The Xavier defense allows 27.1% on three-point shots (39 of 144) and opponents are knocking down 71.4% of their foul shots. They have conceded 14.6 dimes and 37.6 boards per game, which is 305th and 279th in college basketball. The Musketeers defensively are ranked 130th in college hoops in points allowed per game with 68.3. They are forcing their opponents into 13.0 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 38.8% from the floor (42nd in college basketball).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Xavier

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