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The semifinals of the Big XII Tournament will get underway on Saturday afternoon at the Sprint Center in Kansas City when the Kansas Jayhawks battle with the Texas A&M Aggies for positioning in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Rock Chalk probably already has the #1 seed in the Midwest Region locked up, but it won’t want to take any chances by getting bounced prematurely from a tournament in which it was a -300 favorite for. The Aggies have probably moved all the way up to the #5 or #6 line in the dance after advancing to the semis of this tournament, but it has its sights set on the Big XII crown, which would surely boost their seeding. The Jayhawks continue to have one of the most well-balanced teams in the nation, and even though they were pushed to the brink on Thursday against Texas Tech, they turned it on late in the second half and got through with a solid win by a dozen points. Their average margin of victory since losing to Oklahoma State on February 27th has been 16.7 points per game. KU is scoring 82.2 points per game, which is the fifth best mark in the nation. That scoring efficiency makes life incredibly difficult on opposing offenses, which are only shooting 37.7% from the floor against it this year, the second best mark in the country. The Aggies had Nebraska nailed down early in the second half, but let the Huskers sneak back into it. In the end, a 70-64 final probably doesn’t do justice to the effort, as Texas A&M was never really in danger of losing the game for any stretch of action. It was A&M fourth straight win, but it stopped a string of ten straight victories against the college basketball betting line that ended the regular season. The Aggies have only allowed 60.3 points per game in their L/7 overall. One of those seven great defensive efforts came against these Jayhawks. A&M held down mighty Kansas to just 59 points in a narrow five point defeat in College Station. History may be on the Jayhawks’ side, as they are 14-1 SU and 10-5 ATS against the Aggies since 1997, but we’re going to back the underdogs in this one. Kansas’ motivation to play this game can’t be high, and this looked like a team that would rather rest for next week’s NCAA Tournament than win the Big XII. Take any points you can get. Selection: Texas A&M Aggies
Kansas Jayhawks
(30-2, 12-16-1 ATS)
Texas A&M Aggies
(23-8, 18-9 ATS)
Tags: Big XII Tournament, college basketball betting, Kansas Jayhawks, March Madness, NCAA basketball betting, Texas A&M Aggies
What They’re Playing For: The winning team from the Patriot League Championship may only live to see Tuesday’s play-in game, but the winner of this college basketball betting battle between the Lafayette Leopards and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks will get a chance to go dancing.
Lehigh Mountain Hawks
(21-10)
Lafayette Leopards
(19-12)
How They Got Here: Lafayette defeated Colgate 73-65 & Holy Cross 66-63. Lehigh defeated Army 64-45 & American 79-57.
Who to Watch: G Jim Mower has been on fire for the Leopards, scoring 17 against the Crusaders and 19 against Colgate in the Patriot League Tournament. He’s also got a 26 point game to his credit against Army in the second to last regular season game. G CJ McCollum is the man to keep an eye on for the Mountain Hawks. He’ll be impossible to miss, as he’s scored at least 20 points in seven of his L/8 games and is averaging 18.8 points per game.
Previous Meetings: January 23rd – Lehigh 75 – Lafayette 57, February 21st – Lafayette 90 – Lehigh 75
What to Expect: The Mountain Hawks played the significantly better basketball of these two teams for the majority of the season, and they’re probably the team to go with in this one. Lehigh is shooting 40.2% from three-point range on the season, and McCollum leads the way at 43.0%. Unless this team just totally loses its rhythm, the Patriot League regular season champs should make their way on to March Madness.
Tags: Lafayette Leopards, Lehigh Mountain Hawks, March Madness, NCAA Tournament, Patriot League Final
After two days of bubble-bursting action, two teams that know that they’re going to the NCAA Tournament square off in what could be one of the more competitive games of the day when the Syracuse Orange face the Georgetown Hoyas. Syracuse, the top seed in the Big East Tournament, enters this college basketball betting affair against the #8 seed, Georgetown, who dismissed South Florida 69-49 on Wednesday afternoon. Earlier this year, the ‘Cuse took out G’Town twice, winning 75-71 in Washington DC and 73-56 at the Carrier Dome. The good news for Georgetown is that the team is shooting 49.6% from the floor on the season, the fourth best percentage in the nation. The bad news is the team is getting the least production from its bench in the entire country. This is a team that only goes three deep on the bench at best, but F Hollis Thompson, F Jerrelle Benimon, and C Henry Sims are only combining to put up 7.2 points per game. C Greg Monroe battled foul trouble during the entire game against South Florida, but he still scored 16 points and brought in eight boards, proving once again that he is one of the most feared big men in the nation. The Orange have been waiting at home patiently while 12 other teams in the Big East beat each other up. This is one of the most deadly offenses in the nation, but there’s a big question regarding this team’s motivation. Last season, the Orange played an epic six overtime game in the Big East Tournament, only to ultimately get bounced in the Big East finale before posting a short run in the NCAA Tournament. HC Jim Boeheim had to learn from that experience. However, this year’s team is significantly deeper than the one of ‘08-’09, as the Cuse have seven players on their squad that are averaging at least 8.3 points per game. The Hoyas have to feel like they have something to prove in this one. They were swept by the Orange this year and have fallen from the #2 line down to a potential #4 seed. In order to move up from there, that’s going to require an upset of the #3 team in the nation. For Syracuse, the #1 seed in the South Region seems like it is a foregone conclusion regardless of what happens in this tournament. With all of that in mind, it’s hard to not like catching five points to boot. Selection: Georgetown Hoyas The Hoyas are 4-1 ATS in their L/5 neutral site games. Diamond Sportsbook currently has an NCAA basketball betting line of Georgetown +5. Be sure to find all of your March Madness betting lines there for the rest of the regular season and the NCAA Tournament!
Georgetown Hoyas
(21-9, 14-12 ATS)
Syracuse Orange
(28-3, 19-8 ATS)
Tags: Big East Tournament, college basketball betting, Georgetown Hoyas, March Madness, NCAA basketball betting, NCAA Tournament, Syracuse Orange
Big East betting action ensues on the second day of the conference tournament on Wednesday, and the action won’t get much hotter than it will be when the Seton Hall Pirates and Notre Dame Fighting Irish get it on in the most important game of the day. The Pirates probably need just one more win to make it to the NCAA Tournament, but it’s going to have to come against a Notre Dame team that may or may not need another victory just to feel safe about its chances of hearing its name called on Selection Sunday. HC Bobby Gonzalez had to warn his team that last night’s emotional 109-106 win over Providence wasn’t the end of the road if it planned on going dancing. As expected for a game with two of the top offenses in the Big East, defense was certainly optional. If there’s one godsend here for the Pirates, it’s that G Jeremy Hazell didn’t wear himself out thanks to the fact that he was in foul trouble the entire night. He ultimately only played 24 minutes before fouling out, but he still scored 18 points. The biggest question for the last few weeks in South Bend is whether or not F Luke Harangody is ever going to be able to suit it up again full-time for the Irish. He came off the bench in Notre Dame’s most recent win at Marquette, but there’s a big question whether or not HC Mike Brey is going to risk using his injured All-American in a game that may have little to no consequence. Depth is going to be key for this team against the fast-paced Pirates, though. Notre Dame only really utilizes seven players, one of which is Harangody. If he can’t play, there may only be six in the normal rotation, and if foul trouble becomes an issue, the Fighting Irish could get run off of the court. These teams only met once this year, and that was just under a month ago. The Pirates knocked off Notre Dame 90-87 at home in a game that Harangody played 29 minutes in. The pace of this one is just going to be too much for the Irish to keep up with. Seton Hall is going to crack the will of this Irish team early, and unless someone like F Tim Abromaitis (17.2 PPG) or G Ben Hansbrough (12.0 PPG) starts raining three-pointers like it’s no one’s business, we expect Seton Hall to march into the NCAA Tournament with a second straight victory in the Big East Tournament. Selection: Seton Hall Pirates The underdog is 7-1 ATS in the L/8 college basketball betting clashes between these schools. Bookmaker Sportsbook is your home for all of the great NCAA basketball betting action from now through the end of March Madness!
Seton Hall Pirates
(19-11, 8-16 ATS)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
(21-10, 14-10-1 ATS)
What They’re Playing For: The Quinnipiac Bobcats and Robert Morris Colonials will be playing for the Northeast Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. For the Bobcats, this would be their first ever trip to the Dance, making them the first team in the field of 65 so far to be able to say that this is their first March Madness appearance. What They’re Playing For: The Big Sky championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament will be on the line on Wednesday night when the Montana Grizzlies face the Weber State Wildcats.
Robert Morris Colonials
(22-11)
Quinnipiac Bobcats
(23-8)
How They Got Here: Robert Morris defeated Central Connecticut State 71-63 & Mount St. Mary’s 80-62. Quinnipiac defeated Monmouth 84-75 & Long Island 83-78.
Who to Watch: G Karon Abraham is going to be the smallest player on the court at 5′9″ and a slender 150 lbs, but he’s a big time scorer for Robert Morris. Abraham netted 37 points in two conference games, raising his season average up to 12.9 PPG. The Bobcats are going to fire back with F Justin Rutty, who has been a double-double machine of late, scoring 36 points and bringing in 29 boards in two NEC Tournament games. He’s recorded seven straight double-doubles and is averaging 15.0 points and 10.8 boards per game.
Previous Meetings: February 20th – Quinnipiac 87 – Robert Morris 79
What to Expect: There’s too much on the line here for Quinnipiac to fold now. The Bobcats are at least guaranteed a spot in a postseason tournament for the first time in school history, but with Rutty leading the charge, they shouldn’t lose this game. Quinnipiac already has a win to its credit at Robert Morris this year, and the inconsistent Colonials should see their season come to an end on Wednesday night.
Montana Grizzlies
(21-9)
Weber State Wildcats
(20-9)
How They Got Here: Montana defeated Northern Arizona 81-60 & Northern Colorado 68-63. Weber State defeated Portland State 69-60.
Who to Watch: The leading scorer for the Grizz is G Anthony Johnson, who is putting up 18.8 PPG this year. He’s scored a whopping 24.0 PPG in his L/7 though, and he’ll need a huge performance for Montana to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Weber State got 23 points from its top scorer, G Damian Lillard against the Vikings last night. Lillard is putting up 19.7 points per game, making him one of the top scorers in the Big Sky.
Previous Meetings: January 2nd – Weber State 64 – Montana 56, February 5th – Montana 75 – Weber State 61
What to Expect: The trick in this game might be Weber State’s pace of this game. The Wildcats play an up-tempo game, which could really hurt the Grizzlies, who are playing their third game in five days. Weber State is a deeper team, and that depth should lead the Wildcats to yet another Big Sky championship and a berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Tags: Big Sky Final, college basketball betting, March Madness, Montana Grizzlies, NCAA basketball betting, NCAA Tournament, Northeast Conference final, Quinnipiac Bobcats, Robert Morris Colonials, Weber State Wildcats
What They’re Playing For: The Horizon League will hand out its top honors and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night when the Butler Bulldogs face the Wright State Raiders What They’re Playing For: The winner of the Sun Belt Championship Game between the Troy Trojans and North Texas Mean Green will earn the right to play in the NCAA Tournament next week, while the loser is most likely bound for the NIT. What They’re Playing For: The best two teams from the Summit League all season long will finally meet in the conference final to determine which one will earn the right to play in the NCAA Tournament.
Wright State Raiders
(20-11)
Butler Bulldogs
(27-4)
How They Got Here: Wright State defeated Detroit 69-50. Butler defeated Wisconsin-Milwaukee 68-59.
Who to Watch: Even though the Raiders pride themselves on defense, their offense isn’t without weapons either. G Todd Brown is the second leading scorer on this team, and he does just a little bit of everything on a regular basis. Against Detroit, Brown scored ten points, brought in seven boards, and dished out six assists. Butler will be banking on F Gordon Hayward to carry the load. The super sophomore leads the team in both scoring (15.7 PPG) and rebounding (8.6 RPG).
Previous Meetings: January 8th – Butler 77 – Wright State 65, February 6th – Butler 74 – Wright State 62
What to Expect: After St. Mary’s shrunk the bubble by just a tad last night in the WCC final, bubble teams don’t want to see Butler lose and give the Horizon League two bids. The Bulldogs won’t let that happen though, as they simply outclass Wright State, which will struggle to find enough offense to keep up with the nation’s longest winning streak.
North Texas Mean Green
(23-8)
Troy Trojans
(20-11)
How They Got Here: North Texas defeated Louisiana-Monroe 69-66 & Denver 63-56. Troy defeated South Alabama 67-55 & Western Kentucky 54-48.
Who to Watch: North Texas has gotten some big minutes out of G Tristan Thompson of late. He dropped 19 on Denver and 16 on LA-Monroe in his first two conference tournament games and will need to be a catalyst to spark the Mean Green to the dance. The Trojans won the East half of the Sun Belt on the back of G Brandon Hazzard, who led the team in scoring at 16.6 points per game. He has scored at least 15 in five straight.
Previous Meetings: January 14th – North Texas 75 – Troy 72
What to Expect: This could be one of those games that really comes down to the wire. Both of these teams have some solid talent on both sides of the court, and they were hard to separate in their only regular season meeting. Give the slight nod to North Texas though, as the Mean Green haven’t been beaten since losing at MTSU on January 30th.
IUPUI Jaguars
(24-9)
Oakland Golden Grizzlies
(25-8)
How They Got Here: IUPUI defeated Western Illinois 77-68 & Oral Roberts 69-65. Oakland defeated UMKC 85-70 & IUPU-Ft Wayne 71-58.
Who to Watch: You don’t have the #2 ranked offense in the country in terms of field goal percentage without having a superstar on your roster. The Jags have F Robert Glenn to turn to. Glenn averaged a shade under 20 points per game in the regular season, and he already has a 30-point game to his credit in this tournament. The Golden Grizzlies have a top star on their team as well in the form of F Keith Benson, who is one of the few players in the country averaging a double-double (17.3 PPG, 10.3 RPG).
Previous Meetings: January 28th – IUPUI 78 – Oakland 54
What to Expect: Expect to see a level of payback issued in this one. The loss to the Jaguars was the only one that Oakland has suffered since a January 22nd visit to the Carrier Dome to play the Orange. Don’t kid yourself. The Grizzles can play some ball, and as long as Benson doesn’t get into foul trouble, they should be dusting off their dancing shoes for a return trip to the NCAA Tournament by night’s end.
Tags: Butler Bulldogs, college basketball betting, Horizon League final, IUPUI Jaguars, March Madness, NCAA basketball betting, NCAA Tournament, North Texas Mean Green, Oakland Golden Grizzlies, Summit League final, Sun Belt final, Troy Trojans, Wright State Raiders
What They’re Playing For: The William & Mary Tribe will try to take a bubble spot away from the field by knocking off the Old Dominion Monarchs in the Colonial Athletic final. What They’re Playing For: Siena may deserve a bid to the NCAA Tournament even with a loss in this game, but just like the likes of Northern Iowa and Old Dominion, the Saints won’t want to take any chances. The Stags are going to try to stop them from grabbing their third straight MAAC Championship. What They’re Playing For: These were the top two teams in the Southern Conference for the majority of the season, and they’ll rightfully square off in a battle for the SoCon’s automatic ticket to the NCAA Tournament. What They’re Playing For: Is it ultimately nothing more than a piece of hardwood? Both the St. Mary’s Gaels and the Gonzaga Bulldogs have to feel good about their chances to reach the NCAA Tournament, though St. Mary’s would have three losses to the Zags on its resume with a defeat and could have reason to be sent to the NIT.
Old Dominion Monarchs
(25-8)
William & Mary Tribe
(22-9)
How They Got Here: William & Mary defeated James Madison 70-65 & Northeastern 47-45. Old Dominion defeated Towson 86-56 & VCU 73-69.
Who to Watch: Keep an eye on G David Schneider for the Tribe. He only scored a very quiet three points against Northeastern, but he came up huge against JMU with a 23-point effort. The Monarchs’ G Gerald Lee scored 26 in the overtime victory against Virginia Commonwealth, and he is leading the squad in scoring at 14.8 points per game.
Previous Meetings: January 23rd – Old Dominion 58 – William & Mary 55, February 3rd – Old Dominion 61 – William & Mary 42
What to Expect: This one won’t be for the faint of heart. Both defenses should be swarming all over the court. Look for the Tribe to make bubble dwellers cringe a bit, as they upset the Monarchs, which will likely give the CAA two bids to the dance instead of just one.
Fairfield Stags
(22-9)
Siena Saints
(26-6)
How They Got Here: Fairfield defeated Canisius 67-57 & Niagara 69-63. Siena defeated Manhattan 78-61 & Rider 72-62.
Who to Watch: If the Stags are winning this game, G Derek Needham is going to have to play well on both sides of the court. He has already put up 46 points in two games in this tournament and hasn’t been held out of double digits in scoring but once this season (vs. Holy Cross). Siena has an entire squad full of veterans, but leading assist man G Ronald Moore must take care of the basketball for the Saints to prevail. Moore has a fantastic 2.66 assist/turnover ratio and is the fifth leading scorer for this team.
Previous Meetings: January 16th – Siena 81 – Fairfield 73, February 8th – Siena 69 – Fairfield 67
What to Expect: It’s just highly unlikely to see the Saints lose this game. Siena is built for these runs to play multiple games in very few nights, and especially playing in front of their home crowd at the Times Union Center, they should be able to celebrate another #11 or #12 seed in March Madness with a guaranteed ticket to the dance.
Appalachian State Mountaineers
(22-11)
Wofford Terriers
(25-8)
How They Got Here: App State defeated The Citadel 71-61 & Charleston 77-54. Wofford defeated UNC-Greensboro 59-47 & Western Carolina 77-58.
Who to Watch: The ‘Neers are led by G Kellen Brand, who has been on absolute fire during this tournament. Brand only averaged 10.8 points per game this season, but he has dropped 52 points and picked up 13 boards in the two App State victories. Wofford’s main man is F Noah Dahlman, who logged a double-double with ten points and ten boards against the Catamounts.
Previous Meetings: December 7th – Appalachian State 77 – Wofford 76
What to Expect: Look for Wofford to avenge that regular season loss at home to App State by coming out and thumping it this time around. The Mountaineers have enough scoring threats to hang with the Terriers, but the hosts of this tournament just have too much defensive presence to be denied a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
St. Mary’s Gaels
(25-5)
Gonzaga Bulldogs
(26-5)
How They Got Here: St. Mary’s defeated Portland 69-55. Gonzaga defeated Loyola-Marymount 77-62.
Who to Watch: F Omar Samhan averaged a double-double this season with 21.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. He had a pedestrian effort against the Pilots on Sunday though, scoring just 16 points. G Matt Bouldin is the heart and soul of the Zags. He put up 12 points on Sunday, but he still averaged 16.0 points per game this year.
Previous Meetings: January 14th – Gonzaga 89 – St. Mary’s 82, February 11th – Gonzaga 80 – St. Mary’s 61
What to Expect: Poor St. Mary’s is going to be thrown to the wolves once again in this game. For whatever reason, the Gaels just can’t figure out how to knock off the Zags, as it has been six straight defeats in this series against their WCC rivals. Gonzaga will be too strong offensively, and even though it should be a close call, HC Mark Few should add another West Coast Conference crown to his already loaded career resume.
What They’re Playing For: The automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the America East conference will be handed out on Saturday night in Hartford, CT when the Vermont Catamounts face the New Hampshire Wildcats. What They’re Playing For: Save conference bragging rights, this may actually be a relatively meaningless game for both teams. Northern Iowa already knows that it is dancing one way or the other, but another win over the Shockers would surely improve its positioning on the bracket. Wichita State is sitting at 25 wins right now, which could be enough to get into the field regardless. However, the Shockers won’t want to take any chances, and they’d love to have the golden ticket to the dance.
Vermont Catamounts
(23-9)
New Hampshire Wildcats
(13-16)
How They Got Here: Vermont defeated Binghamton 78-69 and Maryland-Baltimore City 76-59. New Hampshire defeated Stony Brook 77-55 and Maine 68-57.
Who to Watch: The Catamounts are led into battle by F Marqus Blakely. The 6′5″ senior has averaged at least 16 points per game in each of his L/3 seasons, including 17.4 this year. He’s also adding 9.1 boards per game, and is coming off of a double-double (18 points, 12 rebounds) against MD-Baltimore. New Hampshire’s G Alvin Abreu has tallied 28 points in two America East Tournament games. He’s the Wildcats’ leading scorer at 14.6 points per game.
Previous Meetings: January 27th – New Hampshire 75 – Vermont 56, February 14th – Vermont 85 – New Hampshire 76 (OT)
What to Expect: It’s going to be difficult to pick against the Catamounts in this one. This is a team that is scoring points at will and has dropped at least 74 on eight straight foes. The Wildcats are the team du’ jour right now in America East, but that Cinderella story just doesn’t have a chance of continuing unless the team is going to improve greatly on its 61.6 points per game this year. Expect Vermont to roll into the NCAA Tournament once again.
Wichita State Shockers
(25-8)
Northern Iowa Panthers
(27-4)
How They Got Here: Wichita State defeated Missouri State 73-63 & Illinois State 65-61. Northern Iowa defeated Drake 55-40 & Bradley 57-40.
Who to Watch: C Garrett Stutz is the leading scorer for the Shockers in this tournament at 15.5 points per game. He’s also going to be a potential matchup nightmare for a largely undersized Northern Iowa squad. There aren’t many pure scorers for the Panthers, but C Jordan Eglseder is going to be the man tabbed with the job of stopping Stutz. He has scored 20 points and brought in 11 boards in his two Missouri Valley Tournament games so far this year.
Previous Meetings: January 19th – Wichita State 60 – Northern Iowa 51, January 30th – Northern Iowa 59 – Wichita State 56
What to Expect: It may not be one that the Shockers absolutely have to have, but it is one that they’ll want to at least stay close in. Northern Iowa is playing fantastic defense right now, but its lack of offensive firepower may ultimately cause it to come up short on Saturday. Wichita State’s bulk on the inside may be just enough to pull off a minor upset and shrink the bubble by another team.
The final day of the college basketball betting regular season kicks off at high noon with a critical clash between the Florida Gators and the Kentucky Wildcats. The Cats knows that one more win either today or in the SEC Tournament will most likely sew up the #1 seed in the East Bracket. The situation is far more dire for Florida, though. The Gators are surely one of the last four teams either in or out of the NCAA Tournament. Many look at this game is a situation that can only help UF out, but the bottom line is that it is going to need either a win in this one or a couple in the SEC Tournament to feel like it is in decent shape. Depth has been a huge issue for HC Billy Donovan’s crew all season long. Yes, the top five scorers are all averaging in double digits for the season, but beyond that, no one is scoring even five points per game, and only F Dan Werner is playing more than 13 minutes per night. Florida’s defense must step up in a big way to keep the big guns for the Wildcats contained, and even though it seems impossible to keep them to their 64.7 points per game allowed average, a number somewhere in that neck of the woods is vital for success. Those big boys for Kentucky are determined to place the Gators into a very tenuous spot going into next week. G John Wall is going to be the most talented player on the court at any moment in this one. He’s the Wildcats’ best guard at 17.1 points and 6.1 assists per game, both of which are tops on the team. Unfortunately though, he’s also #1 in turnovers at exactly 4.0 per game, which has drawn the ire of HC John Calipari all season. The trees in the middle, F DeMarcus Cousins and F Patrick Patterson are combining to average 30.9 points and 17.7 rebounds per game. In the first NCAA basketball betting bash of the year between these two, Kentucky came away with a comfortable 89-77 win in Gainesville. G Eric Bledsoe scored 25 points, while the big three for UK dropped a combined 47. Florida only shot 38.2% from the floor. If a repeat performance is in the cards, this one could get very ugly at Rupp Arena. This is a hefty pointspread, but the Cats should cover it if no one for the Gators catches fire. Selection: Kentucky Wildcats The home team in this series is 5-1 ATS in their L/6 NCAA basketball betting affairs. Bookmaker Sportsbook currently has a college basketball betting line of Kentucky -11.5 for you to dig into right now!
Florida Gators
(20-10, 13-12 ATS)
Kentucky Wildcats
(28-2, 16-12 ATS)
Tags: college basketball betting, DeMarcus Cousins, Florida Gators, John Wall, Kentucky Wildcats, NCAA basketball betting, Patrick Patterson
What They’re Playing For: The Big South Tournament wraps up on Saturday afternoon with a clash between the Winthrop Eagles and the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. What They’re Playing For: The upstart Mercer Bears entered the Atlantic Sun Tournament at two games under .500, but they’ve kicked off the madness of March and advanced to the A-Sun final, where it will either be them or the East Tennessee State Buccaneers capturing the automatic ticket to the NCAA Tournament. What They’re Playing For: The good news for both of these teams is that neither one’s season should end tonight. The NIT will almost certainly take the loser of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament between the Morehead State Eagles and the Murray State Racers. Should the Racers lose by a small margin, they may be hanging on to a fringe shot of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but they shouldn’t count on that happening.
Winthrop Eagles
(18-3)
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
(28-5)
How They Got Here: Winthrop defeated Liberty 80-72 & Radford 61-46. Coastal Carolina defeated VMI 82-73 & UNC-Ashville 92-73
Who to Watch: Winthrop’s G Reggie Middleton is the team’s best outside threat, and he’s also the only real pure scorer that the team has. If he doesn’t go off for at least 15 points, the Eagles are going to have a hard time keeping up with the Chants. For Coastal Carolina, watch F Joseph Harris. Not only is he the team’s leading scorer at 14.8 points per game, but he’s also the best defender on the squad as well, averaging 9.9 rebounds to go with 60 steals and 26 blocks in 33 games.
Previous Meetings: January 2nd – Coastal Carolina 57 – Winthrop 47, January 30th – Winthrop 67 – Coastal Carolina 64
What to Expect: The Chanticleers have been the best team in the Big South all season, and especially on their home court, it’s hard to imagine how they could possibly slip up in this one. Look for Coastal Carolina to break its 17-year drought without a March Madness appearance by clinching its automatic bid to the dance.
Mercer Bears
(16-16)
East Tennessee State Buccaneers
(19-14)
How They Got Here: Mercer defeated Belmont 87-71 & Jacksonville 66-63. East Tennessee State defeated Campbell 72-64 & Kennesaw State 69-64.
Who to Watch: Mercer’s G James Florence does a little bit of everything. The Bears’ leading scorer is averaging 18.4 points per game, but he is also leading the team in assists at 4.7 per contest. G Micah Williams has been on fire for the Bucs in this tournament, scoring a total of 52 points in two games after scoring the second most points on the team this year (12.5).
Previous Meetings: January 9th – Mercer 83 – East Tennessee State 78, February 14th – Mercer 82 – East Tennessee State 77
What to Expect: They say in the NFL that beating the same team three times in the same season is as hard of a task as you could possibly have. That’s what Mercer is faced with on Saturday night after knocking off the Buccaneers twice already this year. Even though ETSU may have the superior team, the Bears have the home court advantage on their side. Cinderella rolls into the NCAA Tournament at just 17-16, which will most likely leave the Mercer playing in the play-in game on Tuesday night.
Murray State Racers
(29-4)
Morehead State Eagles
(23-9)
How They Got Here: Murray State defeated Tennessee State 84-51 & Eastern Illinois 55-51. Morehead State defeated Jacksonville State 87-54 & Tennessee Tech 76-47.
Who to Watch: F Kenneth Faried is coming off of a rare game in which he didn’t log a double-double. The man in the paint for Morehead State is averaging 17.0 points and 13.2 rebounds per game this year, and he’ll be looking for his 23rd double-double of the season and his third against Murray State on Saturday night. F Tony Easley is the third leading scorer (10.5 points per game), the best rebounder (5.7 boards per game), and best shot blocker (92 total in 33 games) that the Racers have to offer. He’s also going to be the man responsible for stopping Faried in the post.
Previous Meetings: December 5th – Murray State 86 – Morehead State 56, February 25th – Morehead State 70 – Murray State 65
What to Expect: Morehead State might’ve been the wakeup call that the Racers needed. Murray State should come out and roll the Eagles in emphatic fashion with a well-balanced effort from its top six scorers, all of which can go for 15+ points on any given night. Look for the best team in the OVC all season long to be the dominant force at the end of the day.
Tags: Atlantic Sun Championship Preview, Big South Championship Preview, Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, college basketball betting, East Tennessee State Buccaneers, Mercer Bears, Morehead State, Murray State, NCAA basketball betting, Ohio Valley Championship Preview, Winthrop Eagles
