The Xavier Musketeers and the Texas Longhorns wage war against each other this Friday for the right to advance to the Elie Eight. Check out our preview of this Xavier vs Texas matchup in the 2023 March Madness. There are more college basketball previews to read here at TopBet, so feel free to look around and make bets on the NCAA tournament once you’re ready.
Xavier tamed the Pittsburgh Panthers in the second round, 84-73, to keep the Musketeers’ hope alive in the NCAA tournament. It was a much more comfortable win for Xavier than in its first-round 72-67 victory over the Kennesaw State Owls – a good sign that Xavier has completely shaken off the jitters. The Musketeers also shot better in the second round, as they made 47.8 percent of their shots while also dishing out 22 assists in 30 field goals made. Their sweet ball movement will be key in thwarting Texas’ defense. On the season, Xavier is sixth in the nation with 0.641 assists per field goal made.
Xavier is 8-3-1 against the spread in its last 12 Friday games.
Texas ended the title dreams of the Penn State Nittany Lions with a 71-66 win in the second round. The Longhorns did not play their best, especially offensively, in that game, but Texas was still able to weather Penn State. Texas held the Nittany Lions to just 41.7 percent shooting from the floor and also forced nine turnovers. The Longhorns are so good at forcing turnovers. They are 19th nationally so far with a 22.4 defensive turnover percentage and 15th with an 11.2 percent non-steal defensive turnover rate.
Texas is 6-0-1 against the spread in its last seven games.
