College Basketball Betting: Purdue Boilermakers vs. Xavier Musketeers

The Purdue Boilermakers (7-1) and Xavier Musketeers (5-0) will meet up Saturday afternoon inside the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Purdue Boilermakers at Xavier Musketeers

The Xavier Musketeers have won three consecutive meetings with the Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue heads out on the road on a three-game win streak and will look to snap a three-game losing streak in this particular series, but still owns a 9-4 edge in the all-time series.  The Boilermakers are averaging 78.6 points per game offensively, but their defense has been grabbing all the recent headlines, limiting opponents to just 53 points on 33.3 percent shooting over their current win streak.  The program has demonstrated a tremendous ability to win on the road since the start of the 2007-08 season, registering 26 true road wins.  Purdue is 5-15 ATS as a road underdog of 3.5 to 6 points.

The Boilermakers will bring in a solid 37-10 record under head coach Matt Painter in the month of December, which includes a 15-game win streak.  Purdue has been lighting it up from beyond the arc, hitting 38.5 percent of its shots, averaging 9.3 triples per game.  The senior combination of Robbie Hummel and Ryne Smith have combined to hit 50-of-104 three-point shots.  Hummel is certainly the star, averaging 19.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

Xavier is coming off an 82-70 overtime win over the Vanderbilt Commodores as four-point road underdogs, with Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons combined for 36 points in the second half and overtime.  “It’s all cause of my backcourt main man, Tu Holloway,” commented Lyons about his success.  “He’s a killer on the court.”  The Musketeers have won five straight games against five different teams from the Big Ten Conference since the 2007-08 season.  Xavier has won 42 of its last 43 home games at Cintas Center.  Over the last two-plus seasons, the team is 29-20 ATS as a favorite.

The Musketeers will go as far as Holloway can take them, returning as one of only three players named to the 2010-11 AP first, second or third All-America team.  He leads a deep team that has 10 players averaging at least seven minutes of action, with 10 actually averaging double-digit minutes on the floor.  Xavier is playing the second of four straight games that will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.

Bettors will likely back the Musketeers due to their 10-1 ATS mark versus Big Ten Conference opponents, while the Boilermakers are 2-5 ATS versus Atlantic 10 foes.

Recommendation:  Xavier Musketeers -4.5