Cintas Center in Cincinnati will have a huge rematch this Wednesday between the Providence Friars and No. 4 Xavier Musketeers. Will the Friars make it 2-0 against their favored opponents this season? Or will the Musketeers return the favor and embarrass their visitors? Register to bet and wager with your pick.
Betting Preview for the Providence Friars vs Xavier Musketeers College Basketball Game on February 28, 2018
Providence know it’s going to be the underdog this Wednesday against the projected National Tournament one-seed Xavier, but the Friars simply don’t care about that. After all, they’ve already taken down Chris Mack’s boys at home on Jan. 6, 81-72. Providence’s defense rattled the Musketeers, who committed 15 turnovers in that game and shot just 43.8 percent from the field. The Friars also had nine blocks, which was surprising because they only average 3.9 blocks per game. Nonetheless, they’ve proven they can ground Xavier’s offense, and the Friars will have to do it again in
Kyron Cartwright and Rodney Bullock, meanwhile, carried the bulk of work on offense, scoring 19 and 17 points respectively. Bullock leads the Friars, who are averaging 74.4 points per game, with 14.4 markers per contest. Providence is 3-3 ATS in its last three road games.
Betting on the Xavier Musketeers (25-4)
Joe Lunardi of ESPN thinks the Musketeers are going to be seeded No. 1 in the Big Dance, and they better play like they are in a rematch with Providence. While they messed a lot on offense in that game, one positive takeaway for the X-Men in that game is that they were able to maul Providence on the glass. The Musketeers had 44 rebounds(17 on the offensive end) against the Friars’ 28. Big man Kerem Kanter played like his big brother Enes of the New York Knicks, as he grabbed 12 rebounds to go with 24 points off the bench. He is going to be a big problem for the Friars, so there would be not a lot of reasons for Mack not to play him a lot. Xavier is 36th in the nation in rebounds with 38.2 per contest. Still, the Musketeers are going to depend heavily on the pair of Trevor Bluiett and J.P. Macura, who lead the team with 19.2 points and 12.7 points per game, respectively. Bluiett has to find his shot this time around, as he only went 4-for-13 from the floor in the loss to Providence. He scored just two points, though, during an 89-77 road win over Georgetown on Wednesday of last week.
Xavier is 4-0 SU and 3-1 ATS in its last four home games against the Friars.
