Winthrop Eagles vs Xavier Musketeers Prediction, 12/16/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Winthrop Eagles vs Xavier Musketeers

Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023

Location: Cintas Center in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN+

The Winthrop Eagles (8-3) are hitting the road to Cintas Center on Saturday where they will meet the Xavier Musketeers (5-5).

The Winthrop Eagles took the court against Little Rock and earned the victory with a final of 85-68 in their last game. In relation to fouls, the Eagles ended up finishing with 14 and Little Rock had 16 fouls. They converted 9 of their 21 attempts from long range. Little Rock ended up shooting 53.8% at the charity stripe by burying 7 of 13 shots. In addition, Little Rock collected 27 rebounds (12 offensive, 15 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Little Rock earned 16 assists and had 9 steals for this contest. In the matter of defense, Winthrop allowed 43.3% from the floor on 26 out of 60 shooting. They also distributed 8 assists in the game while forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and getting 4 steals. In terms of grabbing rebounds, they collected a total of 29 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Eagles knocked down 18 of 22 tries for a percentage of 81.8%. Winthrop finished with a 58.0% FG percentage (29 out of 50) and converted 9 out of their 16 three-point shots.

K.J. Doucet is a player who had an impact for this game. He recorded 20 points on 6 out of 8 shooting. He saw the court for 24 mins played and collected 5 rebounds. He finished 75.0% from the field and earned 1 assist.

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Winthrop enters this game with a mark of 8-3 on the year. They are averaging 80.8 pts per contest (66th in the country) on 47.4% from the floor. The Eagles are connecting on 36.5% from downtown (85 of 233) and 72.9% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Winthrop is snagging 36.5 boards per game and is sitting with 126 dimes on the campaign, which is 234th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. They cough up possession 12.2 times per game and as a basketball team they are committing 15.9 fouls on a nightly basis.

On the defensive end, the Eagles are able to force 13.5 turnovers per game while drawing 21.6 personal fouls. They currently rank 245th in D-1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 136 surrendered on the season. The Eagles defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 40.6% (256 of 631) and they surrender 32.9 rebounds per contest as a group. They relinquish 29.5% from 3-point land while they are 104th in college hoops in PPG from their opponents (67.5).

The last time they took the court, the Xavier Musketeers walked away with a victory by a final of 84-79 against Cincinnati. The Musketeers corralled 28 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards for a total of 37 in this contest. They coughed up the ball 8 times, while earning 7 steals in this game. Cincinnati committed 21 fouls in this matchup which took the Musketeers to the free throw line for 26 shots. They were able to convert 22 of the free throws for a rate of 84.6%. In terms of shooting from beyond the arc, Xavier made 8 out of 17 tries (47.1%). When the final whistle blew, the Musketeers ended up shooting 27 for 65 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 41.5%. The Musketeers allowed Cincinnati to convert 32 of their 74 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 43.2% for the game. They shot 21.7% from beyond the arc by going 5 out of 23 and finished the contest at 10 out of 16 from the free throw line (62.5%). In regard to rebounds, Xavier allowed Cincinnati to pull down 38 in total (13 on the offensive glass).

Quincy Olivari was important for the Musketeers in this contest. He earned 27 points in his 36 minutes on the court and earned 1 assist for this game. He converted 6 out of 14 for this contest for a field goal rate of 42.9%, and had 2 rebounds.

Xavier has a record of 5-5 on the season. In terms of offensive execution, the Musketeers are shooting 45.2% from the field, which has them ranked 164th in college basketball. Xavier has totaled 764 points on the season (76.4 per game) and they snag 39.3 rebounds per game. They are dishing out assists 17.8 times per game (23rd in college basketball) and they are turning it over 12.6 times per contest. The Musketeers have committed 17.4 fouls every game and they hit 69.6% from the free throw line.

The Xavier defense gives up 29.1% on shots from distance (60 of 206) and their opponents are converting on 71.2% of their foul shots. They have surrendered 14.8 assists and 37.5 boards per contest, which ranks them 314th and 282nd in Division 1. The Musketeers on the defensive side of the court are 191st in D-1 in PPG surrendered with 71.0. They are able to force 12.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 40.0% from the floor (60th in Division 1).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Xavier

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