Marquette Golden Eagles (22-8) vs. Xavier Musketeers (15-15)
March 9, 2024 5:00 pm EDT
The Line: Xavier Musketeers +2.5; Over/Under: -
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The Marquette Golden Eagles and the Xavier Musketeers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Cintas Center. Let’s get into our Marquette vs. Xavier prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Marquette Golden Eagles
The Eagles’ season kicked off on a solid 11-5 run, then came an eight-game win streak that stretched for over a month. Marquette would go 3-3 in their next six games, taking wins over DePaul, Xavier and Providence alongside losses to UConn (twice) and Creighton in that time.
In the home rematch against UConn on Wednesday, the Eagles fell into the loss column again. Marquette hit a 42-31 deficit in the first half and couldn’t mount the comeback in a 74-67 result despite a 36-32 run from there. Kam Jones’ 18 points, three rebounds and two steals topped the team in the defeat.
Xavier Musketeers
Over on the Musketeers’ side, they got off to a .500 start through their first 20 games this year. After a three game win streak, Xavier took losses to Creighton, Seton Hall, Providence and Marquette in the next four. After wins over DePaul and Georgetown, the Musketeers fell to Butler.
On Wednesday in the Butler game, the Musketeers were down 37-24 going into the second half. Xavier came back on a 42-35 run the rest of the way but still lost 72-66 by the end. Leading scorer Desmond Claude finished on 17 points with six turnovers and three boards in the defeat.
ANDREW’S FREE MARQUETTE VS XAVIER PREDICTION
I’ll lean toward Marquette in this one. The Eagles have had a couple of disappointing losses against tough teams in their last pair but they should have a decent shot on Saturday. In the UConn game, Marquette didn’t shoot horribly (43.3 percent) but did get out-rebounded 44-31. The 67 points was a bit of a disappointment after four straight with 75 or more.
On February 25 in their last meeting, the Eagles took an 88-64 home win over Xavier. Marquette scored a whopping 52 points in the second half in that one and ended up shooting 47.8 percent from the field. The offense probably won’t be so wild in this one, but the Golden Eagles should still be in a good position for a potential cover.
