The No. 15 Xavier Musketeers (25-8) face the No. 6 Marquette Golden Eagles (27-6) Saturday in the Big East Tournament championship game. Tip from Madison Square Garden is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET (FOX). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Xavier vs. Marquette odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Rankings courtesy of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Xavier was the 3 Musketeers in Friday’s semifinal against Creighton, hitting 7 triples en route to an 82-60 rout of the Bluejays. The Musketeers shot 47% (33 of 70) from the field and posted an impressive plus-13 rebounding margin (39-26).
Marquette has won a pair of 2-point games in this Big East tourney, edging St. John’s 72-70 in OT in the quarterfinals Thursday and topping UConn 70-68 as a 4-point underdog Friday. The Under cashed in both games.
Marquette topped Xavier 69-68 at Fiserv Forum on Feb. 15, but the Musketeers covered as 6.5-point underdogs. The Golden Eagles fell to the Musketeers 80-76 at Cintas Center in Cincinnati on Jan. 15. The Under cashed in both meetings.
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Xavier vs. Marquette odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:34 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Xavier +105 (bet $100 to win $105) | Marquette -125 (bet $125 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Xavier +1.5 (-105) | Marquette -1.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 154.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Xavier vs. Marquette picks and predictions
Prediction
Xavier 79, Marquette 74
Moneyline
XAVIER (+105) has been rolling along on offense, and I like the Musketeers as short ‘dogs to trip up Marquette.
The Golden Eagles have survived and advanced in the Big East tourney, and that’s the name of the game at this time of year, but the fact is that Xavier is just playing better basketball and should probably be favored.
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Against the spread
XAVIER +1.5 (-105) is worth a look if you honestly believe Marquette is going to win this game by just one point. If that’s not your thinking, then you should just play the Musketeers straight up for a better value.
Over/Under
UNDER 154.5 (-110) is the lean, although we should see plenty of fireworks to make you sweat it out in the end.
The Under cashed in each of the 2 regular-season meetings between these sides, and Marquette has allowed just 69.0 points per game in 2 games in the tourney to date, including a game that went to OT.
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