Marquette - Xavier Basketball prediction

Xavier opens up conference play at Marquette. Marquette has signature wins over Vermont and Wisconsin in December, both teams with weak defenses. This is not the case for Xavier, a team with a top 10 offense and a top 50 defense. Their only lose this season has been to an extremely efficient Arizona State. While conference games are tough, expect Xavier to control the tempo and start to pull away in the second half. This line has moved an entire point in Marquette's favor, so I highly suggest to take the gift and fade the public in the Big East Conference opener.