Creighton vs. Seton Hall Prediction, Odds for Big East Tournament Quarterfinal

Shaheen Holloway’s Seton Hall Pirates likely need to win the Big East Tournament if they want to make the NCAA Tournament this season, and their path begins with a quarterfinal matchup against the Creighton Blue Jays.

It’s been a rough season for Creighton, as it’s just 15-16 overall and 9-11 in Big East play despite upsetting one of the best teams in the country in the UConn Huskies.

Seton Hall beat the Blue Jays by two at home, but it lost to them by one on the road. So, there’s no guarantee that the Pirates will advance to the semifinals on Friday, and oddsmakers have taken notice.

Creighton is just a 2.5-point underdog in this matchup, but it has struggled against the number as an underdog this season, going just 5-9-1 ATS.

Here’s a look at the betting odds, a player to watch and my prediction for this Big East showdown on Thursday afternoon.

Creighton vs. Seton Hall Odds, Spread and Total

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Spread

Creighton +2.5 (-102)
Seton Hall -2.5 (-118)

Moneyline

Creighton: +130
Seton Hall: -155

Total

133.5 (Over -108/Under -112)

Creighton vs. Seton Hall How to Watch

Date: Thursday, March 12
Time: 2:30 p.m. EST
Venue: Madison Square Garden
How to Watch (TV): Peacock
Creighton record: 15-16
Seton Hall record: 20-11

Creighton vs. Seton Hall Key Player to Watch

Adam Clark, Guard, Seton Hall

Junior guard Adam Clark is the engine for this Seton Hall offense, averaging a team-high 12.4 points and 4.7 assists per game to go along with 2.0 steals.

Clark isn’t a great shooter – he’s hitting just 23.1 percent of his 3s this season – but the Pirates are more organized when he’s on the floor.

This season, the point guard averaged 14.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in two meetings with Creighton.

Creighton vs. Seton Hall Prediction and Pick

I don’t trust either of these teams against the spread, as Creighton has been a sub-.500 team in Big East play while the Pirates have struggled to score enough to put teams away.

Seton Hall is just 316th in the country in effective field goal percentage, and it has won games with defense, ranking 26th in opponent effective field goal percentage and 13th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency.

The Pirates also love to slow games down, ranking 306th in adjusted tempo this season. So, that sets up for a low-scoring game between these middling Big East squads.

Creighton is much better offensively than the Pirates (85th in effective field goal percentage), but it doesn’t get to the line much (347th in free-throw rate) and doesn’t foul (fourth in opponent free-throw rate). That’s bad news for an offensively challenged Seton Hall team.

The first two meetings between these teams finished with 110 and 137 combined points, so it wouldn’t shock me to see this game fall short of 133.5.

The UNDER has hit in 19 of the Pirates’ 31 games this season and 17 of the Bluejays’ 31 games.

Since Seton Hall has struggled so much on offense, I’ll bet on a low-scoring dogfight in this quarterfinal matchup.

Pick: UNDER 133.5 (-112 at DraftKings)

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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