Seton Hall vs. Xavier Prediction and Odds (Bet Underdog Pirates)

Seton Hall and Xavier meet in an intriguing Big East battle on Saturday featuring a pair of teams that profile as NCAA Tournament teams.

Seton Hall won the first meeting between the team in a game that they led nearly the entire way, but only won by two. Now, they head on the road to face Xavier who is coming off a crushing defeat at Providence earlier this week in triple overtime.

Who has the edge in the second meeting? Here are the odds from WynnBET Sportsbook:

Seton Hall vs. Xavier Odds, Spread and Total

Spread:

• Seton Hall: +4 (-110)
• Xavier: -4 (-110)

Moneyline:

• Seton Hall: +160
• Xavier: -190

Total: 139 (Over -110/Under -110)

Seton Hall vs. Xavier Prediction and Pick

Seton Hall has done well as an underdog of late ,losing to Villanova by 6 and UConn by 5 (both on the road) before beating two lowly Big East foes DePaul and Butler. While the team is still without dynamic Bryce Aiken, the team has shown an ability to play close, which leads me to back them at over a possession.

Meanwhile, I'm skeptical that Xavier gets off the mat after a gut wrenching 3OT loss at Providence, which was their fifth loss in six games. Yes there should be a motivated effort as Xavier is hoping to avoid any talk associated with them and the bubble come Selection Sunday, but this team is simply playing poor basketball in conference play. Xavier is 10th in effective field goal percentage allowed and is outside the top 100 nationally since February 1st, per barttorvik.com.

Xavier's defense makes me concerned that we see them pull away, especially with Seton Hall's physicality down low and ability to generate free throw chances (they shoot over 76% in Big East play). I'll take the small underdog in what should be a tight game throughout.

PICK: Seton Hall +4

All of Reed's college basketball plays can be tracked here, his best bets column for college basketball is 70-67-3 for -0.65 units.