Butler Bulldogs vs Xavier Musketeers Prediction, 2/21/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Butler Bulldogs vs Xavier Musketeers

Date: Sunday, February 21, 2021

Location: Cintas Center in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Butler (+8)

The Butler Bulldogs (7-12) travel to Cintas Center on Sunday where they'll meet the Xavier Musketeers (11-4). Xavier opens this game as 8-point favorites. The total opens at 133.

Butler enters this contest with a mark of 7-12 on the year. The Bulldogs are shooting 33.7% on three-point attempts (138 of 409) and 62.7% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 63.4 points per contest (329th in the country) while hitting 41.1% from the field. They lose possession via turnover 11.4 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 17.2 personal fouls every game. As a team, Butler is grabbing 31.7 boards per contest and has accounted for 238 dimes for the season, which is 190th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. Defensively, the Bulldogs are forcing 13.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 17.4 fouls. The Bulldogs are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 46.5% (467 of 1,005) and they surrender 33.5 boards per contest as a basketball team. They are currently ranked 228th in the nation in giving up assists to the opposition with 258 relinquished for the season. They are giving up 36.7% on 3-pointers and they are 113th in college basketball in points per game allowed (68.0).

The Butler Bulldogs stepped onto the hardwood against the Marquette Golden Eagles and took a loss by a final of 73-57 in their last game. Butler wrapped up the game having earned a 33.9% FG percentage (19 out of 56) and converted 7 out of their 24 shots from beyond the arc. At the free throw line, the Bulldogs made 12 of 18 shots for a rate of 66.7%. In relation to grabbing rebounds, they collected a total of 24 with 5 of them being offensive. They also recorded 10 dimes in the game while earning 10 steals and 2 blocks. In relation to the defense, Butler allowed the other team to shoot 33.9% from the field on 19 of 56 shooting. Marquette earned 8 dimes and had 4 steals in the game. Additionally, the Golden Eagles had 39 boards (8 offensive, 31 defensive) and had 2 rejections. Marquette ended up shooting 88.9% from the free throw line by burying 24 of their 27 tries. They also made 5 of their 18 attempts from 3-point land.

Bryce Golden is one player who came through for this contest. He walked away with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 28 mins played and also totaled 4 boards. Golden walked away from this one shooting 70.0% from the floor but had no assists when the game ended. One more player that was a major factor in the matchup for the Bulldogs was Aaron Thompson. He pulled down 2 boards and also had 3 assists. He finished 25.0% from the floor in this game via 2-of-8 (5 points). Overall, Thompson was on the court for 31 min.

Xavier has a win-loss record of 11-4 for the year. Xavier has 1,169 pts on the year (77.9 per contest) and they snag 38.7 rebounds per contest. The Musketeers commit 15.1 personal fouls every game while shooting 68.4% from the free throw line. When it comes to offense, the Musketeers are hitting on 46.8% from the field, which has them ranked 67th in the nation. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 18.6 times per game (6th in the country) and they are giving up possession 11.7 times per contest. The Musketeers on the defensive side of the court are 200th in D-1 in PPG allowed with 70.9. They have forced 11.8 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 40.8% from the floor (60th in D-1). The Xavier defense gives up 33.4% on shots from 3-point land (117 of 350) and their opposition makes 74.4% of their foul shots. They have given up 15.1 assists and 36.8 total rebounds per game, ranking them 303rd and 263rd in college basketball.

The last time they took the court, the Xavier Musketeers took a loss by a final score of 93-84 when they faced the St. John's Red Storm. The Musketeers collected 24 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds for a total of 32 for this game. They also stuffed 2 shots while getting 6 steals in this contest. The Red Storm were called for 15 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Musketeers to the free throw line for 16 tries. They were able to make 13 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 81.3%. In relation to 3-point shots, Xavier buried 11 of their 40 attempts (27.5%). When the final whistle was blown, the Musketeers shot 30 out of 73 from the floor which gave them a rate of 41.1%. The Musketeers permitted the Red Storm to knock down 34 of their 66 attempts from the field which had them shooting 51.5% for the matchup. They shot 37.9% from beyond the arc by going 11 out of 29 and ended up going 14 of 18 at the charity stripe (77.8%). When discussing how they cleaned up the glass, Xavier allowed St. John's to collect 38 in total (7 on the offensive glass).

Zach Freemantle ended up having an impact for the Musketeers for the contest. He made 10 out of 16 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 62.5%, which had him sitting at 22 points. Freemantle grabbed 10 boards in his 35 minutes and accumulated 2 dimes in this contest. One more player that was pivotal for Xavier was Nate Johnson. He totaled 14 points in his 36 minutes on the court via 4 of 14 from the floor in the matchup. Johnson ended the game having shot 28.6% from the floor as well as earning 6 assists and 7 rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Xavier (-8)

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