Xavier Musketeers vs Butler Bulldogs Prediction, 3/13/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Xavier Musketeers vs Butler Bulldogs

Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

TV: FS1

Madison Square Garden is the location where the Butler Bulldogs (18-13) will try to beat the Xavier Musketeers (15-16) on Wednesday.

The Xavier Musketeers faced off with Marquette and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 86-80 in their last contest. In relation to fouls, the Musketeers ended up finishing with 15 and Marquette totaled 20 fouls. They also buried 8 of their 19 attempts from distance. Marquette ended up shooting 63.2% at the free throw line by converting 12 of 19 attempts. Moreover, Marquette pulled down 24 rebounds (6 offensive, 18 defensive), but didn't have a block. Marquette dished out 16 dimes and had 5 steals in the matchup. When discussing defending, Xavier allowed their opponent to shoot 56.9% from the floor on 33 of 58 shooting. They also recorded 18 assists for this contest in addition to forcing 8 turnovers and having 3 steals. When talking about rebounding, they earned 26 with 6 of them being offensive. From the free throw line, the Musketeers made 21 of their 27 shots for a rate of 77.8%. Xavier ended the contest with a 48.1% field goal percentage (26 out of 54) and converted 7 of 17 three-point shots.

Quincy Olivari is a guy who was a factor for this contest. He accounted for 32 points on 10 of 20 shooting. He played for 36 mins and also grabbed 4 rebounds. He finished the game shooting 50.0% from the field and also earned 3 dimes.

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Xavier heads into this matchup with a win-loss record of 15-16 for the year. They are turning it over 11.6 times per contest and as a team they are committing 17.0 fouls per game. As a unit, Xavier is collecting 38.5 boards per game and has 504 dimes on the year, which is 34th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. The Musketeers are shooting 34.5% on shots from beyond the arc (212 of 615) and 74.1% from the free throw line. They have an average of 76.4 points per game (103rd in the nation) while connecting on 43.7% from the field.

Defensively, the Musketeers are forcing their opponents into 11.4 turnovers per game while drawing 18.2 personal fouls. They surrender 33.5% on 3-pointers while they are 253rd in the country in opponents PPG (74.2). The Musketeers defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 43.1% (826 of 1,916) and they relinquish 35.7 boards per game as a team. They are ranked 346th in college basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 489 conceded for the season.

When they last played, the Butler Bulldogs got the victory with a final of 72-66 against Xavier. When discussing rebounding, Butler allowed Xavier to pull down 39 in total (9 offensive). They finished shooting 30.8% from distance by connecting on 4 out of 13 and finished the game at 12 of 12 at the free throw line (100.0%). The Bulldogs permitted Xavier to knock down 25 of 67 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 37.3% for the game. When this game wrapped up, the Bulldogs finished 27 out of 66 from the field which had them shooting 40.9%. When talking about shooting from beyond the arc, Butler buried 6 of their 24 tries (25.0%). They were able to make 12 of those for a clip of 92.3%. Xavier earned 14 personal fouls in this game which took the Bulldogs to the free throw line for 13 tries. They also turned the ball over 9 times, while earning 7 steals for this game. The Bulldogs corralled 26 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive boards for a total of 31 in this contest.

Jahmyl Telfort ended up being a factor for the Bulldogs for the matchup. He earned 18 points in his 39 mins on the court and accounted for 4 assists in this contest. He knocked down 6 of 16 in this matchup for a rate of 37.5%, and had 6 rebounds.

Butler has a mark of 18-13 for the campaign. The Bulldogs are committing 13.8 personal fouls per game and they hit 79.2% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 15.0 times per contest (75th in Division 1) and they are giving up possession 10.6 times per contest. Butler has totaled 2,400 pts on the season (77.4 per contest) and they pull in 35.3 boards per game. As an offensive unit, the Bulldogs are hitting on 45.2% from the field, which ranks 141st in the nation.

The Butler defense allows 32.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter (238 of 733) and their opponents are knocking down 73.9% of their free throw shots. They have conceded 13.1 assists and 36.1 rebounds per game, ranking them 197th and 258th in the country. The Bulldogs defensively are ranked 240th in college hoops in points given up per game with 73.6. They are forcing 11.5 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 43.8% from the floor (189th in D-1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Xavier

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