7:03 pm
March 29

Men’s NIT: St. Bonaventure v. #2 Xavier

Who will WIN this matchup?

St. Bonaventure Bonnies (23-9)

#2 Xavier Musketeers (21-13)

 

Current odds:

St. Bonaventure Bonnies: (-125)

Xavier Musketeers: (+105)

 

• The line for this game is St. Bonaventure by 1.5 points.

• St. Bonaventure and Xavier will battle Tuesday night in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament in New York City for a spot in Thursday’s championship game.

• The Bonnies (23-9) will head to the Big Apple after beating Virginia 52-51 last Tuesday in the quarterfinals. St. Bonaventure rallied from a five-point deficit in the final two minutes to beat the Cavaliers, taking the lead on two free throws by Kyle Lofton with 5.3 seconds remaining. Jaren Holmes, Dominick Welch and Osun Osunniyi paced St. Bonaventure with 10 points each.

• It will mark the first appearance for the Bonnies in the NIT semifinals since 1977, when they won the event. St. Bonaventure earned its spot in this year’s semifinals with three road wins at Power 5 opponents over a one-week span, beating Colorado, Oklahoma and Virginia.

• Xavier (21-13), one of the four second seeds in the tournament, defeated fourth-seeded Vanderbilt 75-73 last Tuesday to garner its spot in the NIT final four. Xavier’s Adam Kunkel scored five of his 14 points in the final 2:01, including a tie-breaking layup with 57 seconds left. Zach Freemantle had 16 points and Colby Jones added 15.

• Xavier won the 1958 NIT title, beating St. Bonaventure in the semifinals and then Dayton in the championship game. The Musketeers are in the semifinals for the first time since 1999.

4/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
St. Bonaventure Bonnies
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