Monday college Basketball and we will see the Butler Bulldogs travel to CenturyLink Center Omaha to take on the Creighton Bluejays. The game has a start time of 9:15 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on Fox Sports 1. Current Vegas betting odds have Butler listed as 2.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 129.5.
Analysis: The Butler Bulldogs come in off a heartbreaking 68-65 loss to Villanova, in which the Cats hit a game winning 3 point shot at the buzzer. The loss dropped Butler to 16-7 overall and 8-4 in the Big East, where they are 2 games behind Villanova with an 8-4 record. Butler has gone 4-0 ATS in their last 4 road games and 11-5 ATS in their last 16 vs. the Big East, but just 1-6-1 ATS in their last 8 road games following three or more consecutive home games. The Bulldogs have been a good offensive team this year, ranking 82nd in scoring (71.6 ppg), 134th in shooting (44.2%), 137th in 3 point shooting (35.1%) and 217th in FT shooting (68.0%). Defensively the Bulldogs have been solid, ranking 59th in points allowed (61.3 ppg), 92nd in defensive FG% (40.9%) and 19th in 3 point defense (29.6%).
The Creighton Bluejays have not had a good year so far, especially in the Big East where they have gone just 3-10. The Bluejays have played better of late as they have won 3 of their last 5 games including a 77-70 decision at home vs Marquette on Saturday. Creighton is just 12-14 overall, but a decent 9-5 at home. Creighton has gone 20-8 ATS in their last 28 Monday games, but just 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record and 0-7 ATS in their last 7 games following a S.U. win. The Bluejays have been an average offensive team this year, ranking 186th in scoring (67.2 ppg), 282nd in shooting (41.1%), 207th in 3 point shooting (33.5%) and 29th in FT shooting (73.8%). The defense for this team has been below average as they come in ranked, 196 in points allowed (67.2 ppg), 198th in defensive FG% (43.3%) and 343rd in 3 point defense (39.5%).
Pick: I can see this game going over the total. These teams have been regularly playing games in the 130s or higher of late and I feel this one will follow suit. Butlers last 7 games have averaged a solid 142 ppg, while Creighton's last 5 have put up a solid 141.2 ppg. Seems like a low OU line with both teams having their games average in the 140s of late. Butler averages 67.1 ppg on the road and the Bluejays have allowed 67.6 ppg at home. For the Bluejays they have been a solid offensive team at home, where they have scored 72.3 ppg for the year so far and Butler has allowed 65.9 ppg on the road. At the very least I can see both teams hitting the 65 point mark in this, especially with Butler averaging 76.4 ppg in their last 5 games and Creighton putting up 67.8 ppg in their last 5. This one may flirt with 140 points.
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