Butler vs. Xavier Pick
Which team will manage to stay unbeaten in Big East play when No. 5 Xavier plays host to Butler tonight at 7PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Xavier is favored at home in this game, as the Musketeers are getting odds of -7 points against Butler. The over/under total for the contest has been set at 154 points. Tonight’s contest takes place from the Cintras Center in Cincinnati, Ohio and will air live on FS1.
Butler is on a four-game win streak right now, including a big 101-93 win over Villanova on Saturday. The Bulldogs are now 12-3 overall, 2-0 in the Big East and 8-6 against the spread. They are just 2-3 ATS in their last five. Butler is putting up 80.1 points per game on offense while allowing 69.3 per game on defense. Kelan Martin is putting up 18.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game to lead Butler while Kamar Baldwin is adding 14.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest.
Xavier is rolling right now, winning nine straight. The Musketeers are 2-0 in Big East plays with wins over Marquette and DePaul. Overall, Xavier is 14-1 on the year with an 11-4 mark against the spread. However, the Musketeers are just 2-3 ATS in their last five. Xavier is averaging 86.5 points per game on offense while allowing 71.1 per contest on defense. Trevon Bluiett is leading Xavier with 19.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while J.P. Macura is adding 12.9 points per contest.
The road team has won and covered in three of the last four meetings in this series, but Xavier is 7-3 against the spread in the last 10 meetings with Butler. Butler is obviously coming off a massive win at home over Villanova, but I expect a letdown today. Butler hasn’t been great on the road so far and Xavier should be more up for today’s game now that Butler beat Nova. I think the Musketeers will be looking to make a statement in this one. The public betting is siding slightly with Xavier as well.
CBB DAILY PREDICTION: XAVIER -7