Game: Marquette Golden Eagles @ Creighton Bluejays
Time: 8:30 p.m.
Odds: Golden Eagles +5.5, Bluejays -5.5
Total: 148.5
When No. 10 Marquette travels to Omaha, Nebraska, to face No. 19 Creighton tonight, the Golden Eagles hope to maintain their lead in the Big East Conference standings. Marquette (21-6, 13-3 Big East) has won seven of its past eight games and is clinging to a one-game lead in the league over a trio of teams that includes the Bluejays (18-9, 12-4).
With a 69-68 victory against No. 16 Xavier last Wednesday, Marquette strengthened its case for its first regular-season conference crown since 2012–13. Olivier-Maxence Prosper tipped in Kam Jones’ missed driving layup attempt with 1.6 seconds left to keep the Golden Eagles’ winning ways going.
Stevie Mitchell led Marquette in the win over Xavier with 17 points. He also had a career-high six steals, and three offensive rebounds. Oso Ighodaro had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Tyler Kolek added 15 points and eight boards.
Marquette won the first game against Creighton this season. On December 16, the Golden Eagles defeated the Blue jays 69-58 thanks to 16 points from Ighodaro and 14 from Prosper. The loss brought the Bluejays’ losing streak to a season-high six games. Since that loss, Creighton has recovered by winning 12 of its past 15 games.
On Saturday, Arthur Kaluma hit three straight 3-pointers down the stretch to help Creighton defeat St. John’s 77-67. After making only 4-of-18 attempts from behind the arc in his previous five games, Kaluma made 3-of-6 from beyond the arc against the Red Storm.
In the previous game against Marquette, Kaluma scored a total of 12 points but missed on all three of his three-point attempts. In that game, Baylor Scheierman had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Fredrick King added 16 points and 10 boards.
As mentioned, the Bluejays have been almost unbeatable since their loss to Marquette earlier this season. Creighton has won nine of its last ten games, the only loss coming to defending Big East champion Providence on Feb. 14. The Bluejays are 9-2 SU in their last 11 Big East games and they are 8-0 SU in their last eight at home.
Marquette’s only loss in its last eight games came at No. 18 UConn on Feb. 7. The Golden Eagles are 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games and have covered in five of their last seven games on the road. Marquette is just 1-4 SU in its last five games against Creighton.
The total has gone Under in five of Creighton’s last seven games. The Under has also hit in four of the last five against Marquette; however, in the last six games in this series played at Creighton, the Over has cashed a winning ticket every time.
Marquette is one of the top-scoring teams in the nation. The Golden Eagles rank 22nd with an average of 80.7 points per game. They rank sixth in the nation in field goal percentage (49.4). Creighton averages 76.3 points per game (72nd).
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