The South Carolina Gamecocks and the Xavier Musketeers meet Monday in college basketball action from Suncoast Credit Union Arena. Here’s a Xavier vs South Carolina prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Xavier vs South Carolina pick.
South Carolina Gamecocks Betting Preview
The Gamecocks opened up the season with a tough 74-71 loss to North Florida but quickly rebounded with a win over South Carolina State in game two. After another win over Towson 80-54 the Gamecocks fell to Indiana 87-71.
South Carolina got back above .500 with a victory over Mercer in their last outing. In that matchup, the Gamecocks went into the break with a four-point edge and ultimately powered out the win 84-72. Jamarii Thomas was the top scorer with 19 points, and Collin Murray Boyles added 16 points with nine boards. South Carolina will play against Boston College following this game.
Xavier Musketeers Betting Preview
Over on the Xavier side, they’ve managed to remain unscathed so far this year. The Musketeers opened up with a win over Texas Southern, then took out IUPUI 94-80 in game two. The next pair were wins over Jackson State 94-57 and Wake Forest 75-60.
Xavier was able to keep it going on Wednesday versus Siena. The Musketeers jumped out to a 44-28 halftime edge and finished on a 36-27 run in the second for an 80-55 blowout finish. Ryan Conwell was the team’s lead contributor with 16 points. Xavier will take on SC State, TCU, Morgan State, Cincinnati, and UConn after this one.
Why the South Carolina Gamecocks will win
- South Carolina has won 14 of its last 16 night games against non-conference opponents.
- Xavier has lost each of its last three night games played at neutral venues.
- South Carolina has won the first half in each of its last 16 night games against non-conference opponents.
Why the Xavier Musketeers will win
- Xavier has won eight of its last nine games against non-AP-ranked opponents at a neutral venue.
- South Carolina has lost each of its last four games when playing with a rest disadvantage.
- Xavier has won the first half in each of its last four games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Xavier vs South Carolina Prediction
I’m likely going to stay with Xavier. The Musketeers haven’t had too many difficulties so far this year and should be pretty comfortable in Monday’s matchup. In their last game versus Siena, Xavier put up 50.8 percent shooting from the floor with 37 rebounds and 24 team assists in a pretty nice all-around effort. The Musketeers have bagged 75 or more points in all five games so far while holding opponents below 70 points in four of those.
As for South Carolina, they managed to hit 49.1 percent from the field with 33 rebounds in their last game versus Mercer. The Gamecocks have hit 71 or more points in all five games so far themselves, so we could very well have a high-total finish here. Ultimately I like Xavier to power out the cover, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see South Carolina hang around for most of the game.