Welcome to the Friday college basketball slate, sports betting family. Now that conference play is in full swing and the NFL Playoffs are winding down, you can expect us to cover the college hardwood a little bit more often around these parts.
I can't wait for this Big East battle between the Golden Eagles and the Bulldogs. This is an 8 PM EST game on FS1, but get those wagers in early, my friends. Check out my best bet for Marquette vs Butler below. Good luck and enjoy the game.
Online sportsbooks opened this line at Butler -6.5 on the lookahead line yesterday. A little bit of money has come in on the Bulldogs, so much so that the line is now sitting at Butler -7.5 at the time of this writing.
As for the game total, there's been some Over money in the market so far. The line opened at 159, and a few spots are now offering 160.5. As always, be sure to shop around for the best price before pulling the trigger on any bet.
Marquette has struggled on both ends of the floor to start the season. While most folks expected the Golden Eagles to regress this year, few thought their record would be this bad through almost the end of January. Marquette ranks an abysmal 303rd in shooting efficiency, so Butler's stingy defense could thrive in this matchup.
Defense has not been a strong point for Marquette so far, as they rank 272nd in points allowed and 220th in defending three-pointers. That being said, the Golden Eagles have 5 players who average 1 steal or more per game, so that's a strength in their favor.
Butler has been a bit disappointing in conference play so far, but it looks like they're close to ironing out some things. The Bulldogs are coming off solid wins against DePaul and Seton Hall, and they typically have a pretty rowdy home crowd. Offense hasn't been a problem for Butler, as they rank 46th in points per game and 27th in free throws made per contest.
The Bulldogs' defense does a good job of limiting threes, and they rank inside the Top 30th in rebounding. Butler's fast pace makes some of their defensive metrics look a little worse than they actually are.
My oh my, how the mighty have fallen. I never thought Marquette would be this bad, but they are. The Golden Eagles are just 7-13 overall and 2-7 in the Big East. Butler has a decent 12-7 overall record, but the Bulldogs are just 3-5 in the conference themselves.
Marquette will have an extra day of rest on Butler, but they're going to need it after their big win over Providence in OT a few days ago. That was a wild 105-104 outcome that probably took quite a bit out of them. Chase Ross is still the main man for the Golden Eagles (15.7 ppg), but I think Butler's D can keep him under wraps somewhat in this one.
I love Butler's 1-2 scoring combo of Finley Bizjack and Michael Ajayi. Both of these guys average over 16 points per contest, and I don't think Marquette can slow down either one of them. Let's lay the 7 with the Bulldogs at home.