How to watch Xavier vs. Marquette basketball game
Who’s Playing
Marquette Golden Eagles @ Xavier Musketeers
Current Records: Marquette 10-2, Xavier 8-4
How To Watch
When: Saturday, December 21, 2024 at 12 p.m. ETWhere: Cintas Center — Cincinnati, OhioTV: FOXFollow: CBS Sports AppOnline streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)Ticket Cost: $20.40
What to Know
Xavier will be in front of their home fans on Saturday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-court advantage. They and the Marquette Golden Eagles will face off in a Big East battle at 12:00 p.m. ET at Cintas Center. The Musketeers are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they’ve averaged 80.4 points per game this season.
Xavier fought the good fight in their overtime matchup against UConn on Wednesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 94-89 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Huskies. The Musketeers have been going strong on the season, but this is now their second loss in a row.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Dayvion McKnight, who went 6 for 9 en route to 18 points. What’s more, he also racked up two offensive rebounds, the most he’s had since back in December of 2023. Another player making a difference was Ryan Conwell, who went 9 for 13 en route to 23 points.
Meanwhile, Marquette earned an 80-70 win over Butler on Wednesday.
Kam Jones and Stevie Mitchell were among the main playmakers for Marquette as the former earned 23 points along with seven rebounds and five assists and the latter almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine rebounds. Mitchell’s performance made up for a slower game against Dayton on Saturday. The team also got some help courtesy of Ben Gold, who scored nine points.
Marquette smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they’ve now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in four consecutive contests.
Xavier’s defeat dropped their record down to 8-4. As for Marquette, their victory was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-2.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Xavier hasn’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 80.4 points per game. However, it’s not like Marquette struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 81.4. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Xavier came up short against Marquette in their previous matchup back in March, falling 86-80. Can Xavier avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll find out soon enough.
Odds
Marquette is a solid 5.5-point favorite against Xavier, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Golden Eagles as a 4.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 153.5 points.
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Series History
Marquette has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Xavier.
Mar 09, 2024 – Marquette 86 vs. Xavier 80Feb 25, 2024 – Marquette 88 vs. Xavier 64Mar 11, 2023 – Marquette 65 vs. Xavier 51Feb 15, 2023 – Marquette 69 vs. Xavier 68Jan 15, 2023 – Xavier 80 vs. Marquette 76Jan 23, 2022 – Marquette 75 vs. Xavier 64Dec 18, 2021 – Xavier 80 vs. Marquette 71Mar 06, 2021 – Marquette 66 vs. Xavier 59Dec 20, 2020 – Xavier 91 vs. Marquette 88Jan 29, 2020 – Marquette 84 vs. Xavier 82
