The No. 22 Xavier Musketeers (8-0, 1-0 Big East) stop by CHI Health Center Omaha for a conference matchup with the No. 13 Creighton Bluejays (6-2, 2-1) at 3 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Xavier-Creighton college basketball betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Rankings courtesy of USA TODAY Sports’ Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.
Xavier at Creighton: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:35 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Xavier +240 (bet $100 to win $240) | Creighton -300 (bet $300 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Xavier +7 (-120) | Creighton -7 (+100)
- Over/Under: 153.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Xavier at Creighton: Three things to know
- Xavier comes in riding an eight-game win streak, and it has covered the spread in four straight, including a 91-88 win against Marquette as a 2-point home favorite in its last game. The Musketeers’ second-leading scorer, senior G Paul Scruggs had a game-high 29 points on 11-for-19 shooting, adding 6 assists and 4 rebounds.
- Creighton eked out a 76-74 overtime win as a 4-point road favorite against UConn Sunday. The Bluejays got production from their key contributors. Their top-5 scorers, which all average double-digit points per game, scored at least 10 points in the win over the Huskies.
- The Bluejays smoked the Musketeers in both meetings last year by nearly the same margin. They won 77-65 in the first meeting and 77-66 in the second clash. Creighton covered the spread in both contests, first as a 3-point underdog and then as a 5.5-point favorite.
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Xavier at Creighton: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Xavier 83, Creighton 77
Money line (ML)
I’d BET XAVIER (+240) for a quarter-unit to pull off an upset because I love them with the points.
If you had to pick either of the three betting markets being discussed in this piece, I’d recommend taking the points; but, if you’re trying to clean up on Xavier, sprinkle a little coin on the underdog to maximize your profit.
Against the spread (ATS)
Xavier is the play for a couple of reasons. First, the Musketeers collect nearly seven more rebounds per game than their opponents and the Bluejays have just a plus-1.5 rebounds per game differential.
Second, Xavier has a slightly higher effective field-goal percentage (.591 eFG% vs. .587 eFG%) but the Musketeers are holding opponents to just .440 eFG% (ranked 44th) while the Bluejays’ opponents have a .475 eFG% (ranked 147th).
Adding to that, Xavier is one of the better 3-point shooting teams in the nation (ranked 12th in 3-point percentage) going against a Creighton team ranked 259th in opponent’s 3-point percentage.
GIMME XAVIER +7 (-120) for 2 units.
Over/Under (O/U)
Xavier-Creighton is tied for the highest total on Wednesday’s college basketball slate, which is interesting because the Under is 7-0-1 in their previous eight head-to-head contests.
Also, this total is set higher than the past five Xavier-Creighton meetings despite the obvious Under trend. BetMGM was apparently more focused on their combined 12-8 O/U record and the Over cashing in Creighton’s last six as a favorite than the recent head-to-head history.
BET OVER 153.5 (-110) for 1 unit.
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