March Madness Betting Preview: Xavier Musketeers vs. Kansas State Wildcats
 Xavier Musketeers (26-8, 22-11 ATS) |
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 Kansas State Wildcats (28-7, 20-9-1 ATS) |
On Thursday night, an intriguing battle from the West Region takes place in Salt Lake City when the #6 Xavier Musketeers play the #2 Kansas State Wildcats. The Atlantic 10 co-regular season champs are coming off of a wild 71-68 win over #3 Pittsburgh in the Round of 32. The X-Men finished off #11 Minnesota 65-54 to open up the tournament. Meanwhile, K-State has been flat out dominant, beating #15 North Texas and #7 BYU by a combined 32 points.
There aren’t that many players left in this tournament that can say that they’re averaging 20+ points per game, but thanks to scoring 55 points in two March Madness betting battles, Xavier’s G Jordan Crawford is above that threshold. Crawford’s shoulders are heavy, as he is carrying over a quarter of his team’s offense, but he does have a great inside-outside combination to rely on in the form of F Jason Love (11.8 PPG) and G Terrell Holloway (11.7 PPG). Love, who is averaging 8.5 rebounds per game, is the post presence that is leading the way for a team that is +6.1 boards on a nightly basis.
Now that Villanova has been eliminated from the tournament, Kansas State may have the best backcourt left in the dance. Gs Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente can both shoot the ball from anywhere on the court. They’re averaging 18.8 and 16.2 points per game respectively, and they’re clearly where the boys in purple are going to on a regular basis on the offensive side of the court. Pullen is fresh off of a 34 point showing against BYU that has to boost his confidence level through the roof.
The Musketeers have had a heck of a run in the tournament, but this is usually about where the magic runs out. The Wildcats beat Xavier 71-56 in Manhattan in December, and unless Crawford can really take over the game, a similar result should be expected. Kansas State’s offense is just playing too well right now to be beaten.
Selection: Kansas State Wildcats
The Wildcats are 16-4-1 ATS in their L/21 games played as a favorite. Bookmaker Sportsbook currently has a college basketball betting line of KSU -5 to dig into right now!
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