The marquee Big East matchup on Tuesday night pits the red hot Creighton Bluejays against the Providence Friars.
Creighton has won eight straight games and now takes its talents on the road to try and complete the season sweep of Providence after beating them 73-67 in Omaha last month. Providence has been a cash cow for bettors under coach Ed Cooley as an underdog.
Can he cash another ticket on Tuesday against a team starting to realize their ceiling?
Here are the odds:
Creighton vs. Providence odds, spread and total
Creighton vs. Providence prediction and pick
While Providence is ever so slight underdogs, this does fit an incredibly profitable trend of backing head coach Ed Cooley as an underdog. The Friars are 26-16 as home dogs since Cooley took over in 2011.
However, there’s some supporting evidence to backing the Firars at Amica Mutual Pavilion (better known as ‘The Dunk’). For starters, Friars lead guard Jared Bynum didn’t play in the team’s six point loss at Creighton last month.
Bynum is arguably the most important player for the Providence offense as the team scores nearly three points more per 100 possessions and allows nearly six less. Further, the team needs a facilitator to help spread the floor against the compact Bluejays defense that revolves around rim protector Ryan Kalkbrenner.
Bynum has a team high 29.5% assist rate and couldn’t buy a bucket from the perimeter in the first meeting, hitting only four of 19 3-point attempts. Providence’s flex offense revolves around the rim, but with Bynum on the floor the team can run at a far higher level.
There’s also something to be said for Creighton’s road performances. The team is 0-4 straight up against KenPom top 50 teams on the road this season and the team’s away from home rating is outside the top 300, per Haslametrics.
I’m not sure I can trust Creighton on the road, and will take a team that thrives as a home underdog in Providence.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.