Marquette Golden Eagles vs Xavier Musketeers Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 03/13/2025

Game Time: 2:30 pm ET, Thursday, March 13, 2025

Venue:  Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

Where to Watch:  Peacock

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Marquette -2.5, Xavier +2.5; Over/Under:  145.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Marquette -2.5, Xavier +2.5; Over/Under:  145.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Marquette -2.5, Xavier +2.5; Over/Under:  145.5 points

Marquette Golden Eagles:  22-9 (13-7) (4th place, Big East)

Xavier Musketeers:  21-10 (13-7) (5th place, Big East)

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Marquette Golden Eagles:  2-3  last 5

Xavier Musketeers:  5-0  last 5

Marquette is entering this game with a 22-9 record overall, a 13-7 record in conference games, and they are 1-0 in their neutral site games this season where they will be in this game. They are coming off a loss against the St John’s Red Storm in their last game. Kameron Jones led the team in points in that game with 32 while David Joplin was next on the team with 21. Kameron Jones led the team in assists with 7 in that game while Kameron Jones led the team in rebounds with 9. They were 43.7% from the field, 34.5% from 3-point range, and 54.5% from the free throw line with their shooting in that game. Their offense is averaging 76.9 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 67.6 PPG against them. Marquette has an ATS record of 14-16-1 this season and their O/U record is 12-17-2.

Xavier is entering this game with a 21-10 record overall, a 13-7 conference record, and they are 1-1 in their neutral site games this season where they will be in this game. They are coming off a win against the Providence Friars in their last game. Zach Freemantle led the team in points in that game with 25 while Ryan Conwell was next on the team with 21. Dante Maddox Jr. led the team in assists with 7 in that game while Zach Freemantle led the team in rebounds with 8. They were 44.8% from the field, 35% from 3-point range, and 81% from the free throw line with their shooting in that game. Their offense is averaging 77.7 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 70.3 PPG against them. Xavier has an ATS record of 17-14 this season and their O/U record is 14-17.

The current betting odds have Marquette listed as a 2.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Marquette has looked really good in their games this season with their 22-9 record overall and their 13-7 conference record which has them in the top half of the Big East. They are ranked inside the top 25 at the moment and they are also 1-0 in neutral site games this season. Meanwhile, Xavier has looked good in their games this season with their 21-10 record overall and their 13-7 conference record which has them in the top half of the Big East. They have only played in 2 neutral site games this season and they are 1-1 in those games, but they have also been getting hot at the right time. They have a ton of momentum on their side right now with 7 wins in a row and they are the hotter team coming into this tournament, but they have also been beating up on a lot of bad teams in the conference lately. Other than 1 win over Creighton, all of their wins during this streak have been against teams lower in the Big East. Marquette hasn't looked great lately as they are 2-3 in their last 5 games and have lost 2 games in a row now, but they also had a much tougher schedule to end the regular season. They are going to be looking to bounce back here, especially after taking St John's to OT in a loss in their last one, and they are going to use this tournament as a way to get hot and gain some momentum going into the NCAA Tournament. Xavier has been really hot lately, but this is a bad game to be facing Marquette when they are in dire need of a win. The best way to place a bet here is on Marquette to cover the spread in this game. 

Marquette Xavier Prediction:  Our NCAAB Pick for Thursday, March 13, 2025 (2:30 pm ET start time) is Marquette 76 Xavier 68.

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Marquette Golden Eagles: 12-21 ATS versus good passing teams, averaging 16 assists/game or more. 23-31 ATS versus good shooting teams - making 45% of their shots or more. 14-3 UNDER in all neutral court games. 7-0 UNDER in a neutral court game where the total is 140 to 149.5. 7-3 UNDER revenging a same season loss vs opponent.

Xavier Musketeers: 28-20 ATS after playing a home game. 11-5 ATS versus up-tempo teams averaging 62 or more shots/game. 27-19 ATS versus very good teams - outscoring their opponents by 8+ points/game. 10-5 UNDER in all neutral court games. 5-1 UNDER as a neutral court underdog of 6 points or less or pick. 

Marquette Golden Eagles:  A. Amadou (F) Out - Redshirt. S. Jones (G) Out - Redshirt.

Xavier Musketeers:  T. Green (G) Out - Undisclosed. L. Traore (F) Out - Knee. R. Anderson (G) Out - Redshirt.

"Don't have a choice. Response is a huge key in our program, the ability to focus on the next most important thing. It's easy to say it. But the reason that we emphasize it is for times like this. You got to respond within the game. And then you have to respond between games. I think in our last four games, our guys have done a lot of things well, process-wise. Obviously in our last two, we came up and there's reasons behind that." - Shaka Smart after his team’s loss against St John’s in their last game of the regular season.

"I thought today was a magical day at Cintas Center. I thought the heartbeat of the arena, the electricity, that's how it's supposed to be." - Sean Miller after his team’s win against Providence in their regular season finale. 

B. Gold 

K. Jones 

D. Joplin 

S. Mitchell 

C. Ross

R. Conwell 

M. Foster 

Z. Freemantle 

D. McKnight 

D. Swain

PPG: K. Jones (18.9)

APG: K. Jones (6.1)

Reb/G: D. Joplin (5.4)

PPG: Z. Freemantle (17.4)

APG: D. McKnight (4.3)

Reb/G: Z. Freemantle (7.1)

Coaches:

Marquette Golden Eagles: Shaka Smart (4th season)

Xavier Musketeers: Sean Miller (3rd season)