VSiN’s Greg Peterson reviews the best betting options for Friday’s college basketball game between the Kennesaw State Owls and Xavier Musketeers.
just three seasons ago, the Kennesaw State Owls went 1-29 and on Wednesday found themselves in a 14-seed matchup against the Xavier Musketeers in the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
Kennesaw State Owls and Xavier Musketeers (-12.5, 154)
Usually, in a matchup like this, the lower-seeded mid-major school has a depth disadvantage, but that’s not the case for Kennesaw State, as the Owls have nine different guys averaging at least 10.5 minutes per game. match.
During conference play, Xavier lost starting forward Zach Freemantle for the season, who averaged 15.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. The injury has left the team with a rotation of six players averaging more than 10.5 minutes per game.
Including the game Freemantle was injured in against Creighton, Xavier has scored 68 points or fewer in four of their last eight road games and will have to rely on their jump shooting with the way they score.
Overall, Xavier has allowed almost the same number of points per possession with and without Freemantle and is 172nd overall in the nation in points allowed per possession. possession.
The biggest weakness of the Xavier defense is guarding 3-pointers, which ranks 282nd nationally in opponent 3-point shooting percentage, a big problem in this particular game. Kennesaw State enters Friday 15th in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage when in a road or neutral court environment at 38%.
With Xavier only number 308 in the country in turnovers forced per. defensive game, Kennesaw State will get plenty of clean possessions and give Xavier a scare in the Round of 64.
The Play: Kennesaw State +12.5
Few Peterson’s spread and total lines for each game on the college basketball board.
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