While the NCAA Tournament may be at center stage of the college basketball world, the Crown Tournament semifinals are also underway. Tipping off at 4:00 p.m. ET, the West Virginia Mountaineers will be facing off with the Creighton Bluejays.
West Virginia enters as a narrow 1.5-point favorite and holds -115 odds of winning outright on DraftKings Sportsbook. Creighton holds -105 odds of getting the victory, with the game total set at O/U 136.5 points.
West Virginia at Creighton prediction, preview
West Virginia holds a 19-14 record on the season and went 9-9 in Big 12 Conference play this year. The Mountaineers defeated Stanford 82-77 in overtime in the opening round of the Crown Tournament. On the season, West Virginia has gone 16-17 against the spread, and the game total has remained under in 22 of its 33 games played.
Ross Hodge’s squad plays a defensive style of basketball. It ranks 10th in the country in opponent points allowed by conceding an average of 65.1 points per game. West Virginia also ranks 40th in defensive rating, 43rd in opponent field-goal percentage and 240th in opponent three-point percentage. Offensively, the Mountaineers are scoring 69.6 points per game, which ranks 316th of the 365 qualifying D1 teams. They also rank 236th in offensive rating, 245th in field-goal percentage and 281st in three-point percentage.
Honor Huff headlines the production, posting averages of 16.0 points and 2.4 rebounds while hoisting 9.5 three-pointers per game. Brenen Lorient adds 11.7 points and 5.1 rebounds, while Chance Moore is the lone other player to average in double figures with 10.3 points and 5.4 rebounds of his own. Treysen Eaglestaff, Jasper Floyd and Harlan Obioha also play key roles.
Creighton enters with a 16-17 record on the season and went 9-11 in Big East play. It defeated Rutgers 82-69 in the opening matchup of the Crown Tournament. Creighton has gone just 10-22 against the spread this season, and the game total is 15-17 to the over/under in qualifying games.
Greg McDermott’s squad scores 75.3 points per game, which ranks 188th among D1 teams. The Bluejays also rank 184th in offensive rating, 199th in team field-goal percentage and 161st in three-point percentage. Defensively, opponents are scoring 74.8 points per game against Creighton, which ranks 211th in the country. It also ranks 225th in defensive rating, 242nd in opponent field-goal percentage and 266th in opponent three-point percentage. McDermott is set to retire as head coach at the conclusion of this season, so there are some added emotions as Creighton attempts to stay alive.
Josh Dix leads the team in scoring with 13.1 points, along with 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Nik Graves adds 11.1 points, 4.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game, while the team’s third-leading scorer, Austin Swartz, is sidelined due to injury. Jasen Green also averages in double figures with 10.4 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game, while Blake Harper, Fedor Zugic and Isaac Traudt play key roles.
West Virginia at Creighton pick, best bet
Both these teams have flaws that can be exploited and have had some poor showings in matchups this year. But West Virginia has an elite defense that will be the difference tonight.
The Mountaineers had to scrap their way to this stage, as they trailed by eight points with 3:21 remaining against Stanford in their prior matchup. They closed the matchup on a 9-1 run to push it to overtime. West Virginia picked up the victory despite shooting just 2-for-20 on three-point attempts. It wasn’t a pretty performance, but the Mountaineers showed some impressive grit and got their desired result.
On the season, West Virginia ranks 10th in opponent points allowed and 40th in defensive rating. This is while facing a tough schedule that included 14 Quad 1 matchups. It ranks 75th in the country in strength of schedule overall and picked up impressive victories over Kansas and BYU this year.
In contrast, Creighton has played down to its level of competition for stretches this season. It suffered a pair of losses to DePaul and Providence and closed the season by losing nine of its last 12 games. There have been some flashes, such as the upset win over UConn, but it has not won consecutive games since December.
Expect the strong West Virginia defense to have success slowing down a mediocre Creighton attack to pave the way to a win. Creighton is just 1-14 this season when being held below 75 points. West Virginia has held opponents below this number in 24 of its 33 games this season, including three consecutive games entering tonight. Back the elite Mountaineers defense to be the difference in this matchup as Creighton fails to overcome this resistance or match the defensive intensity. Back West Virginia to punch its ticket to the Crown Championship and pick up the victory tonight in a gritty matchup.
