St. Joseph's Hawks vs Xavier Musketeers Point Spread Picks

The Xavier Musketeers are always a rugged defensive team, and this year is no exception. They have held their last 12 opponents, excluding overtime minutes, to 66 points or less. The problem they have this season is a lack of offensive punch. Xavier had topped the 70-point mark just one time in their last 12 games as well. St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli has been around for a long time, and his teams are equipped to play fast or slow, making adjustments according to the opponent. These teams are pretty evenly matched, but the home team will have the edge. Xavier is below .500 on the road this year where their scoring really shrinks to just over 60 per game. When this team has had to take to the road the past couple of seasons to play a good defensive team like St. Joe's (teams that allow under 43% from the field), the Musketeers are just 6-10 straight-up including losses as a favorite. Under Martelli, St. Joeseph's is 11-4 straight-up at home after a home conference loss and 9-3 at home off an upset loss in a conference game. Xavier is 6-0 to the UNDER in their last six on the road, while St. Joe's is 6-0 to the UNDER in their last six vs. a winning team. The UNDER is 6-0 in these teams' last six meetings. Take St. Joeseph's to win this game on the moneyline and take the UNDER.