The Providence Friars and the Marquette Golden Eagles meet in college hoops action from the Fiserv Forum on Tuesday night.
The Providence Friars will look to build on a 70-53 win over DePaul last time out. Nate Watson leads the Friars in scoring with 13.9 PPG along with 5.9 RPG as well while Al Durham has 13.1 PPG with a team-high 3.3 APG this season. A.J. Reeves has 10.7 PPG and Noah Horchler has 10.5 PPG and a team-high 8.3 RPG to lead Providence on the glass as well as rounding out the group of double-digit scorers for Providence so far this season. Jared Bynum also has 3.8 APG on the year for the Friars. As a team, Providence is averaging 69.8 points per game on 44% shooting from the field, 33.6% from three-point range and 71.4% from the foul line while allowing 61.1 points per game on 38.7% shooting from the field and 30.8% from three this season.
The Marquette Golden Eagles will try to snap a four-game losing skid after a 75-69 loss to Creighton last time out. Justin Lewis leads the Golden Eagles in scoring and rebounding with 15.2 PPG and 8 RPG while Darryl Morsell has 13.8 PPG as the only other double-digit scorer for Marquette so far this season. Tyler Kolek also leads Marquette in assists with a team-high 5.9 APG as well this season. As a team, Marquette is averaging 72.4 PPG on 42.9% shooting from the field, 31.5% from three and 70.9% from the foul line while allowing 71.3 PPG on 41.8% shooting from the field and 32.1% from three this season.
Providence is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games overall and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 road games while the under is 6-0 in their last 6 games following a win. Marquette is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 home games and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a winning record while the under is 3-1-1 in their last 5 games overall.
I get the allure of a home dog, but I’m just not in the mood to lay points with Marquette, especially against this well-coached Providence team that I’m a really big fan of. This could be the year that Providence makes a deep tournament run as I think it’s the best team that Ed Cooley has had in a while. Providence has done some solid work on the road this season, and I think they keep it going with a win and cover on the road here.