Creighton Bluejays vs Louisville Cardinals Prediction, 3/20/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Creighton Bluejays vs Louisville Cardinals

Date: Thursday, March 20, 2025

Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY

TV: CBS

Odds/Point Spread: Creighton (+2)

The Creighton Bluejays (24-10) are on their way to Rupp Arena on Thursday where they will compete against the Louisville Cardinals (27-7) in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament. Creighton opens as 2.0-point dogs from Vegas oddsmakers. The total has been set at 145.

The Creighton Bluejays stepped onto the hardwood against St. John's and ended up losing by a score of 82-66 in their last game. Regarding personal fouls, the Bluejays walked away with 12 and St. John's racked up 16 personal fouls. They also made 7 of their 14 attempts from distance. St. John's shot 63.6% from the charity stripe by knocking down 7 of their 11 shots. In addition, St. John's totaled 35 boards (10 offensive, 25 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. St. John's recorded 16 dimes and had 5 steals in the matchup. In relation to defense, Creighton let their opponent shoot 52.3% from the floor on 34 of 65 shooting. They also doled out 16 assists in this contest while forcing the other team into 9 turnovers and earning 5 steals. Regarding getting rebounds, they collected 33 with 11 of them being of the offensive sort. From the charity stripe, the Bluejays made 8 of their 16 shots for a percentage of 50.0%. Creighton ended the contest with a 43.3% FG percentage (26 out of 60) and buried 6 of 26 shots from 3-point land.

Ryan Kalkbrenner is a player who was a contributor for this contest. He finished 70.0% from the floor and also recorded 1 assist. He was on the hardwood for 37 mins played and also collected 7 boards. He notched 15 points on 7 of 10 shooting.

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Creighton comes into this matchup with a win-loss record of 24-10 for the year. They currently have an average of 75.2 pts per game (138th in college) while shooting 47.5% from the field. The Bluejays are hitting 33.9% on shots from distance (321 of 947) and 73.3% from the free throw line. As a team, Creighton is grabbing 37.7 boards per game and has accounted for 581 assists on the year, which has them ranked 5th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. They turn the ball over 12.3 times per contest and as a team are committing 10.9 personal fouls every game.

When they are on defense, the Bluejays are able to force 8.0 turnovers every game while drawing 15.8 personal fouls. They rank 101st in the country in allowing assists to the opposition with 398 relinquished for the campaign. The Bluejays are giving up a FG percentage of 41.2% (919 of 2,230) and they concede 34.3 rebounds per contest as a team. They are conceding 32.7% on shots from distance and they rank 97th in Division 1 in PPG allowed (69.5).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Louisville Cardinals took a loss by a final score of 73-62 against Duke. In regard to rebounds, Louisville permitted Duke to grab 31 in total (8 on the offensive glass). They finished 37.0% from three-point range by shooting 10 out of 27 and finished the game at 19 of 24 at the charity stripe (79.2%). The Cardinals permitted Duke to make 22 of 50 tries from the field which left them with a rate of 44.0% for the contest. When all was said and done, the Cardinals finished shooting 25 out of 64 from the field which had them shooting 39.1%. Regarding shots from distance, Louisville knocked down 7 of 26 attempts (26.9%). They were able to knock down 5 of the free throws for a rate of 50.0%. Duke was called for 13 personal fouls for the contest which took the Cardinals to the charity stripe for a total of 10 tries. They gave up possession 11 times, while getting 3 steals in this game. The Cardinals were able to snag 19 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards totaling 30 in the game.

Terrence Edwards ended up being a factor for the Cardinals in the game. He recorded 29 points in his 40 minutes on the court and earned 3 dimes for the contest. He knocked down 12 of 29 for the contest for a field goal percentage of 41.4%, and tallied 6 rebounds.

Louisville has a win-loss mark of 27-7 this year. The Cardinals are responsible for committing 15.5 personal fouls per contest and they go 74.4% from the free throw line. Their rate of earning assists is at 14.0 times per contest (148th in college) and they turn it over 11.4 times per contest. Louisville has tallied 2,672 pts this season (78.6 per contest) and they collect 37.4 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Cardinals are shooting 45.4% from the floor, which ranks 140th in college hoops.

The Cardinals defensively are ranked 86th in D-1 in PPG given up with 68.9. They are able to force 12.9 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 42.5% from the floor (102nd in the country). The Louisville defense gives up 33.7% on shots from behind the 3-point line (267 of 792) and their opponents are converting on 71.4% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 11.6 assists and 33.3 boards on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 54th and 114th in the nation.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Creighton (+2)

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