Xavier vs Marquette | Prediction & Pick

Musketeers try to shoot down the Golden Eagles

Two teams loaded with NCAA Tournament experience meet in second round East Region action on Friday as the 6th seeded Xavier Musketeers take on the 11th seeded Marquette Golden Eagles in Cleveland.

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#6 Xavier (24-7, 15-1 A-10) vs. #11 Marquette (20-`4, 9-9 Big East)

Date/Time: Friday, March 18, 7:27 PM ET
Venue: Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH.
Broadcast: TruTV

Money Line: Marquette +120, Xavier -140
Spread: Xavier -2
Over/Under: 140 ½

Marquette is one of a record 11 teams from the Big East Conference to be selected for the NCAA Tournament this season. The Golden Eagles are no strangers to this tournament. They are making a sixth straight trip to the tournament, and they have been in this tournament seven times in the last ten years. They last reached the Final Four with Dwyane Wade in 2003, and won the national championship in Al McGuire’s final season in 1977.

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The current Golden Eagles team is coached by Buzz Williams, and used Big East tournament victories against Providence and West Virginia to further their candidacy as an at-large team. They also defeated West Virginia during the regular season, along with Syracuse, Notre Dame, Connecticut, and Bucknell. Quality losses to Duke, Gonzaga, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, and Pittsburgh also helped their cause.

Xavier is also returning to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight season, and for the tenth time in the last eleven seasons. In each of the last four tournaments, the Musketeers have won multiple contests in the big dance. Chris Mack is in his second season at the helm, and is following well in the tradition of other great coaches at Xavier such as Sean Miller, Thad Matta, Skip Prosser, and Pete Gillen.

The Musketeers went 15-1 to win the regular season title in the Atlantic-10 Conference, and their success included victories against Wofford, Butler, and Georgia. They also showed their mettle by losing close games to Old Dominion, Florida, Cincinnati, and Gonzaga.

The odds makers have the Xavier Musketeers as a -2 point favorite with an over/under of 140.5.

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Marquette is a squad that averages 76 points per contest. Jimmy Butler paces the scoring at 16.0 points per game, followed closely by Darius Johnson-Odom (15.9 PPG) and Jae Crowder (11.7 PPG). Xavier’s scoring is driven by the ‘Four Musketeers’: Tu Holloway leads the pack at 20.2 per contest – second best in the A-10; Mark Lyons (13.8 PPG), Kenny Frease (11.7 PPG), and Kamel McLean (10.8 PPG).

Prediction: This will be a great game that should come down to the last shot. We’ll take Xavier by the thinnest of margins.

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Xavier Musketeers Betting Trends:

• Xavier is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games
• The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Xavier’s last 9 games