College Basketball Crown Quarterfinals: Rutgers vs Creighton Preview, Odds, Predictions (April 2)

• The Scarlet Knights lost to UCLA in the third round of the Big Ten Tournament.
• The Blue Jays lost to Seton Hall in the Big East quarterfinals.
• This marks the second all-time matchup between the two squads.

One of the biggest games on the April 2 schedule will happen in the College Basketball Crown quarterfinals when the Rutgers Scarlet Knights take on the Creighton Blue Jays. The Blue Jays stand out as a slight favorite, showing how the Scarlet Knights have their work cut out of them in the tournament duel.

How to Watch

• When: Thursday, April 2, 10:30 pm ET
• Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
• How to Watch: FS1

NCAA Matchup Odds & Lines

Game Preview

The Scarlet Knights (14-19) extend their season after a 1-1 showing in the Big Ten Conference Tournament and enters The Crown with wins in five of the past eight games, downing Maryland and Penn State twice, as well as Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament. Rutgers stands within the top 50 nationally in bench points (46th, 28.27) and turnovers per game (49th, 10.2). Individually, Tariq Francis is 10th best with a 90.5% shooting from the free throw line. He is also the lone double-digit scorer with numbers of 16.9 points and 2.7 assists per game. Harun Zrno comes next as the top perimeter shooter after making 52 3-pointers and counting on a 34% clip.

The Blue Jays (15-17) couldn’t maintain their presence in the NCAA Tournament, underperforming this season as they lost to Seton Hall in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. Creighton is averaging 75.1 points per game and shooting 44.8 percent from the field, 34.5 percent from three-point range and 76.0 percent at the line. Josh Dix (13.0 ppg.) leads the Bluejays in scoring while Nik Graves (10.5 ppg., 4.3 apg., 1.0 spg.) tops the team in assists and steals. Jasen Green averages 10.2 points and a team-best 6.1 rebounds per game, and Austin Swartz (10.9 ppg.) paces CU with 64 three-pointers.

Rutgers vs Creighton Head-to-Head

The two programs have had one meeting in their history, and the result is 1-0 for the Blue Jays. The last matchup was in November 2015 when Michigan State won 85-75 at home.

Rutgers vs Creighton Predictions

The winner of Thursday’s second-round matchup will face Stanford or West Virginia in the semifinals on April 4. Rutgers has balance in the offense but lacks the explosiveness they need to pull off a strong run in the Crown. That wouldn’t be the case for Creighton, who has multiple players that are capable of going off throughout the contest as Josh Dix and Nik Graves look to lead the way. Our betting pick here is the Blue Jays to defend a 4-point spread.

• Free NCAAB pick: Creighton Blue Jays -4