Xavier vs Butler Odds, Lines & Picks (Feb. 10)

• No. 13 Xavier is a 6.5-point road favorite over Butler on Friday night in a Big East game
• Xavier has won four of its last five games and is in first place in the conference
• A look at the Xavier vs Butler odds and matchup can be found below with a prediction

No. 13 Xavier will try to stay on top of the Big East standings when it visits Butler at 7 p.m. ET Friday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Xavier (19-5, 5-2 road, 11-2 Big East) has won four of its last five games, including routing 96-71 last Saturday at home. The Musketeers are 0.5 games ahead of #10 Marquette in the conference race and one game in front of #20 Providence and #23 Creighton.

Butler (12-13, 9-4 home, 4-10 Big East) ended its five-game losing streak by also beating St. John’s at home, 68-66 on Tuesday.

The game will be broadcast on FS1.

Xavier vs Butler Odds

Odds as of February 9th at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Xavier is favored by 6.5 points and a -275 pick on the moneyline in the college basketball odds. The Musketeers are listed at +3000 in the NCAA Tournament championship odds.

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Xavier Betting Trends

Jack Nunge stepped to the forefront in Xavier’s win over St. John’s. The senior forward scored 21 points and dished six assists.

Nunge knocked down 4 of 5 three-point attempts while notching his fifth 20-point game and second in a row.

Xavier has needed Nunge’s production as senior forward Zach Freemantle (foot) has missed the last two games and is expected to be out for a month. Freemantle is averaging 15.1 points and 8.2 rebounds a game.

Nunge is also having a fine season with averages of 14.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He is fifth in the Big East in rebounding.

Jack Nunge on the out-of-bounds play! pic.twitter.com/jhgd7V02pv

— Xavier Basketball (@XavierMBB) February 2, 2023

Junior guard Colby Jones finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists. He was 7 of 8 from the field, including 3 of 4 from distance.

Jones is averaging 15.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists.

Senior guard Souley Boum added 17 points and three assists. One of 10 finalists for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award, Boum is scoring 16.3 points, dishing 5.0 assists and pulling down 4.0 rebounds a game after transferring from UTEP.

Boum is third in the conference in scoring and fourth in assists.

Freshman guard Desmond Claude contributed 11 points. Senior forward Jerome Hunter did a bit of everything with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Xavier set a season-high for three-pointers as it made 15 in 28 attempts (53.6%) while shooting 54.2% (32 of 59) overall. The Musketeers made their field goals at a 60.7% clip in the first half, building a 49-30 lead behind 13 points each from Nunge and Jones.

Xavier also had 26 assists on its 32 field goals while holding St. John’s to 39.1% (27 of 69) from the floor.

The Musketeers are second in the nation in three-point percentage (40.5), third in overall field goal percentage (50.2) and sixth in scoring (83.8). However, they are 333^rd in points allowed (76.0) and 339^th in three-point defense (37.0%).

Butler Betting Trends

Butler fell behind St. John’s 41-34 at halftime on Tuesday before rallying for the win by outscoring the Red Storm 34-25 in the second half. The Bulldogs scored the game’s last seven points over the final 3:45 to overcome a 66-61 deficit.

Sophomore guard Jayden Taylor scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the second half. He is Butler’s leading scorer, averaging 12.2 points a game.

Butler's Jayden Taylor knocked down a career-high six 3-pointers last night to lead the Bulldogs past the struggling Georgetown Hoyas

Taylor has increased his 3-point shooting percentage this year to go along with a good midrange game

Sophomore to Watch in the Big East pic.twitter.com/V6t4cfjdhX

— Ryan Cassidy (@ryancassidycbb) January 2, 2023

Butler played without its second-leading scorer as junior guard Chuck Harris was sidelined with a concussion. Averaging 11.7 points, Harris is questionable for Friday’s game.

Senior center Manny Bates is scoring 11.6 points, corralling 5.6 rebounds and blocking 1.9 shots a game. He ranks fifth in the Big East in blocks.

Sophomore guard Simas Lukosius is averaging 11.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists for Butler, which is 310^th in Division I in scoring (66.5).

Against St. John’s, Bates had 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and three rejections. Lukosius added 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. Senior forward Jalen Thomas contributed 10 points in just 10 minutes off the bench.

Xavier vs Butler Prediction

The teams last met in last season’s Big East Tournament and Butler won an 89-82 shootout in overtime. Harris had 29 points for the Bulldogs and Lukosius had 27 while Nunge topped Xavier with 24.

Don’t look for this game to be that close as Xavier is rolling and Butler is struggling.

Pick: Xavier -6.5 (-110)

Season record: 26-22 (+1.8 units) ATS, 3-7 (-3.5 units) ML