Big East Tournament 2020: Betting Tips for Quarterfinal Odds, Spread, over-Under

Two of the best scorers in men's college basketball will share the Madison Square Garden stage during the 2020 Big East tournament quarterfinals. 

Myles Powell's Seton Hall Pirates got the best of Markus Howard's Marquette Golden Eagles in both regular-season meetings, but Howard is the more prolific scorer, as he tops Division I in points per game. 

Seton Hall and Marquette finish off what is expected to be a thrilling four-game set at Madison Square Garden, which also features a No. 4-versus-No. 5 clash between the Providence Friars and Butler Bulldogs.

The top-seeded Creighton Bluejays kick off Thursday's slate against the St. John's Red Storm, while the Villanova Wildcats face the upset-minded DePaul Blue Demons to begin the night session.

Big East Tournament QF Schedule and Odds

All Times ET; Odds via Caesars Palace and Oddschecker

No. 1 Creighton (-5.5) vs. No. 9 St. John's (Noon, FS1) 

No. 4 Providence vs. No. 5 Butler (-1) (2:30 p.m., FS1) (Over/Under: 129.5)

No. 2 Villanova (-10) vs. No. 10 DePaul (7 p.m., FS1) 

No. 3 Seton Hall (-3.5) vs. No. 6 Marquette (9:30 p.m., FS1) (Over/Under: 150)

Betting Tips

Seton Hall (-3.5) vs. Marquette

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Seton Hall has gotten the best of Marquette on two occasions, including an 88-79 win February 29. 

In that contest, Powell scored 28 points in a winning effort, while Howard recorded 37 points. 

Despite Howard putting in the better performance, he did not receive much from his supporting cast, as only Sacar Anim reached the double digits beneath him in the scoring column.

Conversely, Sandro Mamukelashvili provided 26 points in support of Powell, and he also brought down nine rebounds. 

A similar situation played out in the first clash January 11, when Powell netted 23 points and Howard put up 27. 

Seton Hall forward Romaro Gill was the only other player in double figures with 10 points. 

Since Powell has received more support from his teammates, Seton Hall holds the edge going into this matchup, and covering a 3.5-point spread seems like it could happen.

The ginormous over/under of 150 is attainable given the scoring potential of the two stars and what happened in the last meeting. 

However, it is hard to trust how high of a volume the supporting casts can score at behind Powell and Howard. 

The game could finish in the 60s and both stars could have 30 points, which would still make it an entertaining affair. 

Despite Howard performing well most nights, the Golden Eagles have one win dating back to February 12. 

In that same span, Seton Hall is 3-4, with two of the defeats coming by three points or fewer. 

Kevin Willard's side has played better basketball of late, and its scoring depth should be enough to propel it into the semifinals for a potential third meeting with Villanova.

Butler (-1) vs. Providence

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If you can't wait until the final matchup to watch an electric scorer, Butler's Kamar Baldwin can fill that void in the second afternoon contest.

Baldwin closed the regular season with a 36-point performance against the Xavier Musketeers, which was finished off by a game-winning three-point shot as time expired. 

The senior guard has six 20-point outings in Big East play, and he could be poised for another strong game versus Providence. 

Butler comes into New York City with a three-game winning streak versus three of the four worst teams in the Big East.

While they may not be the most impressive results, it counts for something that the Bulldogs are riding some momentum.

Ed Cooley's Friars own a six-game winning streak, but they did split the regular-season series with Butler. 

Alpha Diallo, David Duke and Luwane Pipkins all average over 10 points per game for the Friars, who will try to counter whatever Baldwin throws at them. 

Since this contest is a toss-up in the eyes of the oddsmakers, it could come down to the best player on the floor making a few clutch plays. 

Baldwin has the highest scoring average on both teams at 16.2 points per game, and he demonstrated Saturday that he could shine in a late-game scenario. 

That performance was enough to convince us that Baldwin could do it again if called upon Thursday, and if he does, it would likely set up a meeting with Creighton Friday.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90

Statistics obtained from ESPN.com