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The 14th-seeded Kennesaw State Owls (26-8) battle the No. 3 Xavier Musketeers (25-9) Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Tip for the Midwest Region affair at Greensboro Coliseum is set for 12:40 p.m. ET (truTV). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Kennesaw State vs. Xavier odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
The Musketeers lost 65-51 to Marquette in the Big East Championship on March 11 after beating Creighton 82-60 in the semifinals and DePaul 89-84 in the quarterfinals. F Zach Freemantle, the team’s No. 3 scoring option in the regular season, missed the conference tournament and will not be available for the NCAA Tournament as he was ruled out for the year on March 5 with a foot injury. Xavier has won 5 of its last 6 games and is 5-3 against the spread (ATS) over its last 8 outings.
Kennesaw State beat Liberty 67-66 in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament championship game to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament. It has won 8 of its last 9 games yet is just 5-4 ATS over that span. The Owls were led by G Chris Youngblood, who is averaging 14.7 points per game.
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Kennesaw State vs. Xavier odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 2:57 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Kennesaw State +600 (bet $100 to win $600) | Xavier -900 (bet $900 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Kennesaw State +12.5 (-102) | Xavier -12.5 (-118)
- Over/Under (O/U): 154.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Kennesaw State vs. Xavier picks and predictions
Prediction
Xavier 85, Kennesaw State 70
Moneyline
AVOID.
Xavier (-900) should come away with a victory Friday, but you shouldn’t risk 9 times your potential return on any bet. The Musketeers should win by margin, so focus on the spread instead.
Against the spread
BET XAVIER -12.5 (-118).
Kennesaw State has not fared well against top-tier competition, losing to Indiana by 14 points, San Diego State by 34 points, Florida by 10 points and VCU by 3 points. There’s reason to think Xavier is better than all 4 of those teams.
Xavier lost to Marquette in the Big East finals but beat Creighton by 22 points the game prior. Both of these teams have an elite offense but Xavier just takes it to the next level. The Musketeers rank 5th nationally in field-goal percentage (49.45%) while the Owls rank 79th (46.19%).
The efficiency of the Musketeers mixed with the pace and the Owls’ lacking performance against top opponents makes XAVIER -12.5 (-118) the preferred side.
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Over/Under
LEAN OVER 154.5 (-105).
Both teams rank in the top 80 in the field-goal percentage. Xavier also ranks 29th in field goal attempts per game (61.1).
Kennesaw State was 17-12-2 O/U, the 2nd-highest Over rate in the ASUN Conference; Xavier had the highest rate of Over results in the Big East at 21-12-1 O/U.
Xavier has gone Over in 4 of its last 6 games and Kennesaw State has gone Over in 4 of its last 8 outings. Back the OVER 154.5 (-115).
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