The Xavier Musketeers (4-0) and Alabama Crimson Tide (2-1) will face off at HP Field House for this game. The game starts at 12:00 pm ET on Thursday, Nov. 26 and will air on ES2 and ES3.
The Musketeers beat Northern Kentucky 78-66 on Monday. With 14 points and 16 rebounds, Trevon Bluiett recorded his first double-double of the season. The Crimson Tide, meanwhile, are coming off a 105-93 win against Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday. Justin Coleman stood out for Alabama, accounting for 18 points, eight assists, and three steals.
Xavier, an eight-point favorite, will look to capitalize at home against Alabama. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is set at 150 points. The Musketeers are looking to build on their records of 4-0 Straight Up (SU) and 1-3 Against The Spread (ATS). Xavier has been steady from the free throw line, shooting a stellar .805. The rebounding edge goes to the Musketeers in this matchup, who are one of the top rebounding teams in the nation with an average of 43.5 boards per game. Transitioning to the Xavier defense, teams have to fight for open shots against the Musketeers, who have the best opponent field-goal percentage in the country at .413.
In the other locker room, the Crimson Tide head into the game with records of 1-1 ATS and 2-1 SU. Teams seem to consistently miss shots against the Crimson Tide, who are the top team in the nation in terms of opponent field goal percentage allowed at .426.
This is the first meeting of the season for these two. The last time they played, Xavier came out on top, bumping its SU record to 3-2 over the Crimson Tide. Additionally, Xavier holds the advantage ATS with a record of 3-2.
Predictions: SU Winner – Xavier, ATS Winner – Xavier, O/U – Over
Notes
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Xavier’s last 6 games.
The Alabama Crimson Tide have the best defense in the country, giving up just 107.1 points per 100 possessions. The Xavier Musketeers have the 56th-ranked offense, scoring 115.7 points in the same number of possessions.
The Alabama Crimson Tide average 74.6 possessions per game and 1.028 points per possession. The Xavier Musketeers earn fewer possessions with 69.8, but they score more points with 1.157.
Alabama has an average effective field goal percentage of 52.0%. Xavier is undefeated (1-0) when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
On average, Xavier attempts 20.0 three pointers and Alabama attempts 20.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Xavier Musketeers are undefeated at 3-0 while the Alabama Crimson Tide have an even 1-1 record.
Xavier, the 46th-ranked team in rebounding, register an average of 43.5 rebounds per game. Alabama does worse, ranked 274th with 34.7.
The Alabama Crimson Tide average 8.0 steals per game. The Xavier Musketeers are undefeated with a 1-0 record when they give up at least 8 steals.
