The Marquette Golden Eagles take on the Providence Friars in Providence, RI. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. ET on FS1.
Marquette is favored by 6.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -265. The total is set at 142.5 points.
Here are my Marquette vs. Providence predictions and college basketball picks for December 31, 2024.
Marquette vs Providence Prediction
My Pick: Marquette -6 (Play to -7)
My Marquette vs Providence best bet is on the Golden Eagles spread, with the best odds currently available at DraftKings. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Marquette vs Providence Odds, Spread, Pick
[gamematchup league=”ncaab” awaylogo=”https://static.sprtactn.co/teamlogos/ncaab/100/marq.png” awayname=”Marquette” awayslug=”marquette-golden-eagles” homelogo=”https://static.sprtactn.co/teamlogos/ncaab/100/prov.png” homename=”Providence” homeslug=”providence-friars” date=”Tuesday, Dec. 31″ time=”6 p.m. ET” network=”FS1″ col1text=”Spread” col2text=”Total” col3text=”Moneyline” col1awaytext=”-6.5″ col1awayline=”-110″ col1hometext=”+6.5″ col1homeline= “-110″ col2awaytext=”142.5″ col2hometext=”142.5″ col2awayline=”-110 / -110″ col2homeline=”-110 / -110″ col3awaytext=”-265″ col3hometext=”+215″ col3awayline=”” col3homeline=”” bookname=”DraftKings” bookthumbnaillogo=”https://assets.actionnetwork.com/364880_Draftkings.png” bookreviewslug=”draftkings”][/gamematchup]
- Marquette vs Providence spread: Marquette -6.5
- Marquette vs Providence over/under: 142.5 points
- Marquette vs Providence moneyline: Marquette -265, Providence +215
- Marquette vs Providence best bet: Marquette -6 (Play to -7)
_InlineAdBlock
[howtowatch gameid=”237887″ date=”20241231″][/howtowatch]
My Marquette vs Providence College Basketball Betting Preview
The biggest question mark for this handicap revolves around the status of Bryce Hopkins. The Providence forward, who tore his ACL last season, returned for three games before missing the following two losses to St. Bonaventure and St. John’s.
The Friars are 5-5 without Hopkins and 2-1 with him in the lineup, as his production and presence on the offensive end makes the Friars an entirely different team.
To make matters worse, Kim English hasn’t offered any specifics on Hopkins’ status, calling him day-to-day while saying he wants him back on the court as soon as possible.
Because of that uncertainty, I’m going to back Marquette.
But that’s not the only reason I like the Golden Eagles, even on the road in one of the most difficult places to play in the Big East.
Shaka Smart’s club has Kam Jones at the helm, making it easy for the Golden Eagles to create shots against a stiff Providence defense. Most importantly, it hasn’t been a one-man show relying on Jones. David Joplin, Stevie Mitchell, Chase Ross and Ben Gold have been valuable pieces around the soon-to-be All-American.
Marquette is further along than most teams this season because Jones and company had experience in their roles last season when Tyler Kolek went down with an injury.
Matchup wise, the Golden Eagles need to continue to force turnovers. The Friars don’t give the ball away at a high rate (12.5 giveaways per game), but they coughed it up 17 times against St. John’s and 16 times in their loss to Oklahoma.
Plus, Providence’s offense is a jumbled mess right now. The Friars shoot a high percentage of 3s, but are only hitting on 33.8% of those attempts. That plays into Marquette’s hands, as it can get out and run off misses, creating easy opportunities for Jones and his teammates to score before the Friars’ defense is set.
But if this game turns into a half-court, defensive battle, Marquette, the Big East’s most complete team at the moment, is still capable of winning in that style.
Haslametrics has this spread around 9, which gives us a nice edge on the Golden Eagles.
_InlineAdBlock