NCAAB Betting Upset Butler @ Xavier
BetUS NCAA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: XAVIER -7.5
Xavier played great defense in winning its Crosstown Shootout with Cincinnati, but then came back a week later and fumbled around in what was its biggest test of the season. In this case, the loss was a bitter one, as they fell behind 22-3 to Duke and could never quite recover as the Blue Devils hit 52.5% of its shots on the way to an 82-64 rout. Nonetheless, Xavier has put together a decent resume with wins over Virginia Tech and Memphis. Derrick Brown leads the way with 14.4 points a game, and no less than six members of the Musketeers have pulled down at least four rebounds a game.
Here are some of the NCAA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* BUT has won nine of its last ten games SU
* BUT has covered four of its last five road games
* BUT has won nine of its last 11 road games SU
* XAV is 3-5-1 ATS in its last nine games
* XAV has won nine of its last ten games SU
* XAV has played four of its last five games OVER the total
* XAV is 1-4-1 ATS in its last six home games
* XAV has won its last five home games SU
* XAV has played four of its last six home games OVER the total
Both teams hold their opponents to a very low shooting percentage; Xavier is allowing just 37.4% field goals, while Butler’s foes are hitting just 37.9% from the floor.
Meanwhile, Butler is relying a lot on three-pointers, stepping things up with 33 in the last three contests. Like a lot of teams this year, the Bulldogs have lost to a surprisingly good Ohio State team, and its most severe test came from a Cleveland State crew that took the Bulldogs down to the final second of the game before Zach Hahn sank a three that gave Butler the 50-48 win.
Xavier, which had heavy losses after last season, has understandably had a difficult time putting together on-floor leadership which can take care of the ball. Drew Lavender and Stanley Burrell were as good a backcourt as there was, certainly in the Atlantic 10. The Musketeers have a negative assist-turnover ratio (11.3-to-15.8) and there is no point guard who has really stepped forward. Freshmen Brad Redford and Terrell Holloway were being looked upon as possible successors to Lavender, but neither has emerged fully.
That’s the difference in the game; Xavier is just too turnover-prone and Butler is a team that exhibits quickness on the defensive end (7.3 steals a game). We’ll take the points with Butler, the 7.5-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college basketball sports betting odds, looking for a very possible upset.
