The Panthers (24-11) keep on earning their spurs. In the initial NCAA tournament stage, they handled Iowa State with an efficiency that surprised a few. As for the Musketeers (26-9), it was all for one and one for all in a terrific second-half comeback over Kennesaw.

The NCAA odds have Xavier entering the tilt as a -5 favourite. The over-under is set at 152.0.

Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Xavier Musketeers NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting

Pittsburgh has been very good at not only winning in the conference playoffs and NCAA tournament (obviously) but covering spreads as well. Three of their four that were in the context of single-game elimination saw the Panthers successfully cover. Their defence has also been impressive during the first two NCAA-centric contests, as they gave up only 59 and 41 points in each. They haven’t scored that much (60 and 59 points), but they haven’t had to either.

The same cannot be said of Xavier. Despite getting this far and their overall solid season, they cannot be trusted as much ATS. Their efforts are the opposite of Pittsburgh’s insofar as only one of their four playoff situation spreads has been covered. In fact, the spread slump extends to their final regular season game, making it only one cover in five games and three in seven.

Pittsburgh Panthers (11)

Granted, the Cyclones didn’t arrive in the NCAA tournament as any sort of heavy favourite. If anything, it was a curiosity to see what exactly they could accomplish. Well, in the initial round, Pittsburgh made it abundantly clear that they wouldn’t do much at all.

A 23.3 per cent shooting efficiency is not something one sees very often in basketball, but that was all Iowa State could muster against a ferocious Panthers defence. Three-point shooting? 9.5 per cent! Pittsburgh didn’t even need to do that much. 31.6 per cent from range is nothing spectacular but it was more than enough in this case. This was one of the lower-scoring games of the tournament, so it flew a bit under the radar compared to some of the monumental results in the first couple of days of March Madness. Jamarius Burton (11 points), Nelly Cummings (13 points) and Greg Elliot (10 points) all notched double-digit points, which in a game like this went a long way to paving the road toward a 59-41 win.

Xavier Musketeers (3)

Kennesaw didn’t make it easy on Xavier, not by a long shot. For a considerable portion of the game, it looked as though yet another rather lower seed (14) was going to upstage a favourite.

It wasn’t just that the Owls led the Musketeers at halftime 43-36. Plenty of teams, good ones especially, can make adjustments at the break. But as the second period etched past its own halfway mark, Kennesaw was up by 13. They made the splash plays, the highlight-reel-worthy passes, shots and dunks. But winning doesn’t always mean playing jaw-dropping basketball. Success can be attained in simply doing the fundamentals correctly.

Led by Jerome Hunter’s 24 points, Souley Boum’s 17, and Jack Nunge’s 11 rebounds, the Musketeers calmly and collectively battled back. They forced harder shots from Iowa and played sound, simpler ball to get buckets. As the clock ticked down, they looked like the more composed and experienced team. On the other hand, Iowa had no more “wow” plays in them and couldn’t finish off their higher-ranked opponent. Xavier survives a fright, 72-67.

Who Will Win Panthers vs. Musketeers?

PANTHERS

Away

70

MUSKETEERS

Home

75

Score
Predictions

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