Creighton Bluejays vs BYU Cougars NIT Tournament Betting Preview & Odds
NIT Tournament action on Tuesday night and we will see the Creighton Bluejays take on the BYU Cougars at the Marriott Center in Provo Utah. ESPN will carry this game, which has a start time of 9:00 pm EST.
Current betting odds for this game have the Cougars listed as 4.5 point favorites, while the total has been set at 165.
The Creighton Bluejays were not playing well down the stretch of the season, but after beating Alabama y 18 and Wagner by 33 they have now made it to the 3rd round of the NIT Tournament. Creighton struggled on the road this year where they were 4-8 SU, but they were 7-5 ATS in those games and they are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 non-conference games. The Bluejays have 8 players that average at least 5.4 ppg and are led by Mo Watson, who averages 14.2 ppg, while ranking 11th in the nation in assists per game at 6.4. Cole Huff (11.1 ppg), Geoffrey Groselle (10.9 ppg) and Isaiah Zierden (10.2 ppg) round out the double digit scorers on the team. Groselle leads the team in rebounding at 6.1 rpg. The Bluejays are a very solid offensive team that ranks 29th in the nation in scoring, putting up just 79.6 ppg, while also ranking 34th in shooting overall, 142nd from long range and 158th from the charity stripe. On defense they haven’t been that good as they come in ranked 176th in the nation in points allowed, giving up 71.9 ppg, while also ranking 143rd defensive FG% overall and 174th in 3-point defense. Creighton comes in at 106th the nation in rebounding, while committing just 11.6 turnovers per game (85th) and forcing just 12.6 turnovers per game (174th).
The BYU Cougars went 23-10 during the regular season, but they just didn’t do enough to make it to the main party, so now they have their sights set on winning the NIT Tournament. BYU beat UAB by 18 points and Virginia Tech by 3 to make it to the 3rd round and now they have gone 8-2 in their last 10 games, with both losses coming at the hands of Gonzaga. The Cougars are 16-2 SU and 9-5 ATS at home this year and they are also 12-3-1 ATS in their last 16 games off a spread loss. BYU has five players that average at least 7.4 ppg and are led by Chase Fischer’s 18.3 ppg, while Nick Emery is 2nd at 16.2 ppg. Kyle Collinsworth leads the team in rebounding at 8.4 ppg and averages 15.3 ppg, which is 3rd on the team. Kyle Davis and Zac SelJaas both hit better than 46% from long range and average 11.6 ppg and 7.4 ppg respectively. Overall this is a strong offensive team that comes in ranked 7th in the nation in scoring, putting up 83.9 ppg, while ranking 58th in shooting overall and 30th from downtown, but they struggle at the stripe, where they rank 211th. On defense they are average as they allow 72.5 ppg, which is 195th in the land, but they do rank 68th in defensive FG% overall and 104th in 3-point defense. The Cougars come in ranked 14th the nation in rebounding, while committing just 11.5 turnovers per game (73rd) and forcing 13.1 turnovers per game (130th).
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