Monday college basketball odds: South Florida at Marquette

Surprising Marquette looks to tie Syracuse atop the Big East standings on Monday by beating struggling South Florida, with the Golden Eagles as solid favorites on WagerWeb.com. Check our current odds.

Marquette beat Providence 81-71 on Saturday. Vander Blue scored 13 points and played suffocating defense on the Big East’s leading scorer to lead Marquette in a game delayed several times because of a dive-bombing bat. Junior Cadougan led Marquette (14-4, 5-1 Big East) with 15 points, and Trent Lockett and Davante Gardner added 13 each as part of a balanced Marquette attack. The game included several delays in the second half due to a bat circling the arena — and occasionally swooping to the floor, sending coaches, players and referees scrambling. Marquette was coming off a 63-61 overtime loss to Cincinnati last Saturday, and four of its first five conference games went to overtime or came down to the last possession.

If you really want to gauge Marquette by its statistics, look at free-throws made and free-throws attempted. Marquette wins by getting to the line and attacking the basket. That is the Golden Eagles’ personality in a season in which they are overachieving. In conference games, Marquette is averaging a league-leading 22.2 made free throws per game. Only four teams – Villanova, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Providence – are averaging more free throws. No one comes close to the average of 30.4 free throws the Golden Eagles have attempted in Big East play.

No Big East player has come close to Gardner in free-throw attempts at 45. He is seventh in the league with a percentage of 86.7%. Blue is fourth at 87.5%. As a team, Marquette is shooting 73%, sixth in the Big East. That’s why the Golden Eagles can get by as one of the league’s worst three-point shooting teams at 27.3%. That, and the fact they are averaging just 10.6 turnovers a game, which is considered outstanding.

South Florida lost 73-65 at home to Notre Dame on Saturday. Zach LeDay had 17 points and Anthony Collins added 12 for South Florida (10-9, 1-6). Notre Dame used a 20-3 run to go ahead 48-40 with 13 minutes to play. Notre Dame outrebounded South Florida 34-17. USF shot 60 percent in the first half on the way to 35-28 lead at halftime. The Bulls also got 11 points from freshman guard JaVontae Hawkins and finished with a 28-7 edge in points off the bench.

WagerWeb.com trends: Under is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in Marquette. Under is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings. Home team is 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings. Bulls are 5-2 ATS in the last 7 meetings. Underdog is 5-2 ATS in the last 7 meetings.