Butler at Creighton Spread, Expert Pick & TV Info

Posted by Kenny Bell on Tuesday,January 10, 2017 9:37, EDT in

Just one matchup of ranked teams around college basketball on Wednesday night and it’s a big one from the Big East as No. 12 Butler visits No. 8 Creighton — here’s hoping Butler can actually fly somewhere for once and not have plane troubles. The Bluejays, one of the nation’s best offensive teams, will be a small college football betting favorite.

Butler at Creighton Spread, Expert Pick & TV Info

When: Wednesday, Jan. 11, 9 PM ET
Where: CenturyLink Center Omaha
TV: Fox Sports 1
Stream: Fox Sports Go
Radio: Butler / Creighton
Opening NCAA Basketball Lines: TBA

Why Bet On Butler?

Butler has had two plane-related incidents already this season. On Dec. 29, the team’s charter flight out of New York’s LaGuardia Airport lost cabin pressure and had to land in Pittsburgh. Some staff members on that flight were so afraid that they texted family members, thinking they might never see them again.And then this past Saturday after beating Georgetown 85-76 in overtime, the team wasn’t able to fly out as planned Saturday because of problems with the charter. But the team flew out Sunday without incident.

Butler (14-2) is off to its best start since 2012-13 (16-2) after the win over Georgetown. The Bulldogs followed up an impressive home win over top-ranked Villanova with a gutsy performance at the Verizon Center, overcoming 39-percent shooting that was just north of a season-low. The Bulldogs are 11-0 when shooting a better percentage than their opponents, something they did not do Saturday in the nation’s capital. Butler made 10 of its 20 three-point attempts and sank 25-of- 29 at the free throw line.

Butler was able to contest an L.J. Peak attempt at the horn to force the overtime session. Thirteen of Butler’s 17 points in the extra session came at the free throw line as Georgetown went 3-of- 11 from the field in the extra five minutes and was forced to foul repeatedly. Kamar Baldwin led Butler with 16 points and four steals. It was the second time this season that the Bulldogs had five players in double figures. Kelan Martin had his ninth career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Nate Fowler, Kethan Savage and Andrew Chrabascz each added 11.

For only the third time in program history, Butler is in the midst of playing three Top 15 teams in a four- game stretch as No. 8 Creighton joins (previously ranked) No. 1 Villanova from last week and Butler’s upcoming opponent, No. 15 Xavier. This also occurred during the 2010 NCAA Tournament and in the first four games of the 2015-16 Big East schedule.

Why Bet On Creighton?

The Bluejays (15-1) have the highest rating in school history at No. 8. The Jays also set a team-record with their seventh consecutive Top-10 ranking.

They won at Providence 78-64 on Saturday. The Friars missed seven straight shots during a field goal drought that spanned 7:06 of the second half as the Bluejay lead grew as big as 19 before PC scored the game’s final five points. Justin Patton had 20 points and tied his career-high with three blocks for Creighton. Marcus Foster had 17 points and Khyri Thomas took over the middle of the game to finish with 16 points. Maurice Watson had 11 points and tied his Creighton-high with 14 assists in the win for his sixth double-double of the year.

“Maurice was outstanding,” coach Greg McDermott said of Watson. “He’s our leader. He controlled the tempo of the game, pace of the game.”

Creighton shot 55.9 percent for the game, including 7-of- 17 from three-point range (41.2 percent), and dished 19 assists against just six turnovers. Providence had held CU to an average of 59.7 points and a 38.3 shooting percentage in its six wins over the past three years. After Thomas was whistled for traveling with about 17 minutes left in the game, the Jays didn’t turn the ball over again. They scored 28 of their 39 second-half points inside the paint: one elbow jumper, three short floaters, nine layups and one dunk.

Creighton has now won a Big East road game against every current league foe except Georgetown (0-3). Creighton’s only previous road win at Providence had come on Feb. 23, 1970. Creighton is tied for the national lead with 15 Division I wins. Creighton and VCU are the nation’s only teams that are unbeaten in true road games this year with four or more such wins.

Creighton leads the all-time series with Butler, 7-6. The teams split a pair of games last season with each winning on its home court. Including a sweep of the season series in 2014-15, Chris Holtmann is 3-1 against the Bluejays as head coach at Butler.

Butler at Creighton Expert Pick: Creighton Bluejays

Take the home Bluejays on NCAA Basketball odds.