Xavier Musketeers (13-13) vs. Marquette Golden Eagles (20-6)
February 25, 2024 5:00 pm EDT
The Line: Marquette Golden Eagles -9; Over/Under: 155
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The Xavier Musketeers and the Marquette Golden Eagles meet Sunday in college basketball action from Fiserv Forum. Xavier is fresh off a loss to Providence that dropped the Musketeers back to .500 on the year. As for Marquette, they’re 20-6 overall after a win versus DePaul. Let’s get into our Xavier vs. Marquette prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Xavier Musketeers
The Musketeers were 10-8 through their first 18 games, but they’ve gone just 3-5 in the eight outings since then. Xavier has wins over St. John’s, DePaul and Villanova during that time. The losses otherwise have come versus Creighton, UConn, Creighton again, Seton Hall and Providence.
Matched up versus Providence in the Wednesday game, the Musketeers held a five-point edge going into the second half. Xavier was outscored 46-37 from there however, ultimately falling 79-75. Desmond Claude was the top team scorer on 22 points and two rebounds.
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Marquette Golden Eagles
Over on the Marquette side, they only lost five of their first 16 games this season. The Golden Eagles have been on a 9-1 run over the last 10, taking out Villanova, St. John’s, DePaul, Seton Hall, Villanova again, Georgetown, St. John’s again, Butler and DePaul again during that stretch.
In their Wednesday outing versus DePaul, the Golden Eagles didn’t have too many issues. After a 59-29 advantage in the first half, Marquette closed on a 46-42 run for a 105-71 blowout victory. Kam Jones was the top team scorer with his 34 points, two assists and two steals.
ANDREW’S FREE XAVIER VS MARQUETTE PREDICTION
I’ll stick with Marquette. The Eagles are playing pretty darn well right now and coming off a blowout win over a struggling DePaul team. Marquette notched 59.5 percent shooting in that one with 30 team assists and 17 steals. That makes 73 or more points in nine of the last 10 games (a 9-1 run).
As for Xavier, they’ve been scoring well themselves with 71 or more points in three straight. The Musketeers have given up 78 or more in each of those games however, so Marquette should have plenty of room to score in this one. I like the Eagles to power out the home cover in a high-scoring affair.
