Friday is always the weakest day of any college basketball week, but there is one matchup this Friday featuring ranked teams as No. 24 Connecticut visits No. 25 Xavier in Big East action. Both should make the NCAA Tournament but neither is winning the Big East regular-season title. The Musketeers should be short home favorites Friday.

This will wrap up the season series between these teams, although they obviously could meet in next month’s Big Ten Tournament. This matchup in Ann Arbor was to be played on Jan. 11 but was postponed due to COVID issues within the Michigan program. They played on Saturday at Purdue and the Boilers won 82-76 to snap a five-game losing streak in the series. The victory gave the senior class (Sasha Stefanovic, Eric Hunter Jr., Trevion Williams) at least one win over every Big Ten school.

Purdue’s big three of Jaden Ivey, Zach Edey and Trevion Williams combined for 55 points, 23 rebounds and 10 assists. It marks the second-most combined points the trio has scored this season. Ivey scored 23 points with a career-high tying seven assists, six rebounds, one steal and one block. Williams scored 19 points with eight rebounds. Since the start of his sophomore season, Williams is averaging 22.4 points and 10.1 rebounds against the Big Ten’s Michigan schools.

Hunter Dickinson led U-M with career-best-tying 28 points, his sixth 20+ point game over his last seven contests. DeVante’ Jones had 13 points and Caleb Houstan had 11. Michigan shot 55.1 percent from the field, while Purdue shot 52 percent. Purdue’s rebounding advantage (32 to 22) and inside scoring led to 44 points in the paint, while the Maize and Blue had 26 down low.

Get a lowdown of important details, NCAAB betting odds, trends for these two Big Ten programs, and predictions before making your bets at NitroBetting sportsbook.

UConn vs. Xavier Game Information

? | Travis Steele speaks with the media ahead of Friday's game against UConn at Cintas Center.

Presented by @Ford

— Xavier Basketball (@XavierMBB) February 10, 2022

• When: Friday, February 11, 2022, 7:00 PM ET
• Where: Cintas Center, Cincinnati, OH
• TV: FS1
• Radio: 97.9 FM ESPN (UConn) / 700WLW AM (Xavier)
• Live Stream: WatchESPN
• NCAAB Betting Odds: UConn (+3) / Xavier (-3)

READ MORE: Oklahoma vs. Kansas NCAAB Odds and Preview – February 12th, 2022

Why Bet on the UConn Huskies?

UConn (16-6, 7-4 Big East) snapped a two-game skid Tuesday with an 80-72 home win over Marquette. The Golden Eagles closed to within one possession at 63-60 after trailing by double figures in the second half on a Darryl Morsell 3-pointer with just over six minutes left, but the Huskies responded and held on. MU trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half and was down 46-36 at the intermission after the Huskies connected on 58.8 percent of their shots in the opening 20 minutes.

Adama Sanogo scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and Tyrese Martin added 18 points and 15 boards for the Huskies. It was Sanogo’s fifth double-double this season and Martin’s third.

R.J. Cole is the Huskies’ leading scorer (16.0) and hands out the most assists (4.5). Sanogo is the second-leading scorer (15.4) and top rebounder (8.4), while Martin is also averaging double-figures (13.5). It is the highest-scoring trio in the Big East.

The Huskies rank second nationally in blocked shots per game (6.6), total blocks (146) and offensive rebounds per game (14.32). They are 11th in rebound margin (7.7), 14th in scoring margin (13.0). 18th in rebound margin (7.2), and rank 23rd in field goal percentage defense (.394).

UConn and Xavier have met only three times, with the Huskies holding a 2-1 edge. Their only meeting as Big East rivals came last season – an 80-72 UConn win in Cincinnati. In its last 17 true road games, UConn has an 11-6 record.

Why Bet on the Xavier Musketeers?

The Musketeers (16-7, 6-6 Big East) are trending the wrong way as they have lost two straight and four of six. They were knocked off 73-71 at Seton Hall on Wednesday despite outscoring the Pirates by eight in the second half. A Musketeers shot for the win at the buzzer bounced off the backboard.

Seton Hall led for all but 2:44 of the game, which featured a whopping 42 fouls. Seton Hall dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Musketeers, 41-28, and 17-4 on the offensive glass. That latter number led Seton Hall to have a 17-9 advantage on second chance points.

In the first half, Seton Hall had 10 offensive rebounds and 11 second-chance points. The Musketeers had 10 turnovers in the first half and Seton Hall scored 13 points off those turnovers. The Musketeers averaged 0.79 points per possession in the first half and 1.3 per possession in the second half. Entering the game, Xavier was No. 2 in the Big East with a rebounding margin of plus-5.1.

“The turnovers and the offensive rebounding are what cost us,” said Xavier head coach Travis Steele. “(Seton Hall) finished with 16 more shots than us, you know, it’s just shot volume is what it came down to.”

The Pirates’ bench had 27 points and the Musketeers’ reserves scored 15. While Xavier shot 51.1 percent overall, it was just 4-for-14 from deep.

Jack Nunge finished with 22 points, connecting on 9-of-12 field goals, to lead Xavier. Paul Scruggs added 21 points, shooting 60 percent from the floor and going 8-of-8 from the free throw line.

Rather amazingly, Xavier hasn’t played St. John’s, UConn or Georgetown this season. Five of the team’s final seven scheduled games will be against those three teams. Xavier has compiled a 292-51 (.851) record in its on-campus home, the 10,224-seat Cintas Center, including 11-3 so far this season.

UConn vs. Xavier Betting Trends

• Connecticut are 2-5 ATS in the last 7 games played on a Friday.
• Connecticut are 6-2 SU in the last 8 games.
• The total went over in 4 of Connecticut’s last 5 games on the road.
• Xavier are 2-7 ATS in the last 9 games.
• Xavier are 12-6 SU in the last 18 games.
• The total went under in 5 of Xavier’s last 7 games.

UConn vs. Xavier Expert Betting Prediction

NCAAB Betting Pick