Friday's NCAA Tournament First Round betting previews
Friday's South Region First Round betting preview
The Cal Golden Bears lost one of their top players to a broken hand and the books reacted with a major line reduction.
No. 15 NC-Asheville Bulldogs vs. No. 2 Villanova Wildcats (-17.5, 141.5)
Game to be played at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Following a disappointing conclusion to the Big East tournament - combined with an NCAA Tournament seed and region that are slight letdowns, as well - Villanova tips off in the Field of 68 on Friday in Brooklyn against UNC Asheville. After losing to Seton Hall in the Big East tournament title game on Saturday, the Wildcats had to settle for a No. 2 seed in the South Region (instead of their ideal No. 1 seed in the East) but must regroup quickly against a 15th-seeded Bulldogs squad that defeated Georgetown earlier this season.
Villanova has not made it out of the NCAA Tournament's opening weekend since 2009, but the current crop of Wildcats was ranked No. 1 in the nation as recently as last month and comes in with a variety of dangerous weapons. Josh Hart, a first-team All-Big East selection, is Villanova's best and most consistent player, although Kris Jenkins and Ryan Arcidiacono are effective complements to the junior guard. UNC Asheville, which upset top-seeded Winthrop in the Big South tournament championship game, will try to be as physical with Villanova as Seton Hall was on Saturday. “I think we're going to learn a lot from this game,” Wildcats coach Jay Wright told reporters after losing to the Pirates. “This was a tough, physical, athletic team that that really got into us in the first half and took us out of our offense. And I think they're the kind of teams you meet in the (NCAA) Tournament. So it's great to have that experience. We made a lot of mistakes because of what they did.”
TV: 12:40 p.m. ET, truTV
LINE HISTORY: Villanova opened as 17.5-point favorites. The total opened at 141.5 and has held tight all week. Check the complete line history here.
ABOUT UNC ASHEVILLE (22-11, 6-0 ATS, 2-4 O/U): The Bulldogs are in the Big Dance for the first time since 2012, when they were seeded 16th and nearly upset No. 1 seed Syracuse before falling 72-65 in a controversial Round of 64 matchup. Freshman Dwayne Sutton was named MVP of the conference tournament after capping his run with a 25-point, 18-rebound performance - both career highs - against Winthrop. Sutton averages 12 points per game, joining four of his teammates in double-figures, a group that is led by Dylan Smith (13.5 points), who made 77 3-pointers - 41 more than anyone else on the team.
ABOUT VILLANOVA (29-5, 15-17-1 ATS, 17-15-1 O/U): The Wildcats had won 12 of 13 before losing to Seton Hall in a game where they got very little production from Arcidiacono and backcourt mate Jalen Brunson, who combined to shoot 2-of-11 for five points. Jenkins drained five 3-pointers in that contest and averages 13.3 points, although he has surpassed that average in each of his last nine games. Hart (15.5 points) recorded eight double-doubles in the first three months of the season but has not come particularly close in his last seven games, although his scoring production and shooting efficiency remain steady.
TRENDS:
* Bulldogs are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games overall.
* Wildcats are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
* Under is 4-0 in Bulldogs last 4 vs. Big East.
* Over is 8-1 in Wildcats last 9 overall.
No. 11 Hawaii Warriors vs. No. 4 California Golden Bears (-4.5, 141.5)
Game to be played at Spokane Arena, Spokane, WA
California’s highly touted defense will be tested Friday as the fourth-seeded Bears meet No. 13 Hawaii in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s South Region in Spokane, Wash. Cal earned its first top-five seed since 1997 despite falling to Utah in overtime of the Pac-12 tournament semifinals, while Hawaii beat Long Beach State in the Big West tournament title game to clinch its first trip to the Big Dance since 2002.
The Bears led the Pac-12 in scoring defense (67 points per game) while holding opponents to 39.3 percent shooting but need to be careful not to underestimate a Hawaii team that averaged a Big West-high 77.8 points per game. The game features a matchup of two dynamic senior point guards in Hawaii’s Roderick Bobbitt and Cal’s Tyrone Wallace, who averaged 15.3 points and 4.4 assists and had a season-high 26 points in Friday’s loss to Utah. Bobbitt, a native of Oakland, led the Big West in steals and assists but was limited by foul trouble in Saturday’s 64-60 win over Long Beach State. Hawaii also matches up well in the frontcourt, where Big West player of the year Stefan Jankovic will be tasked with slowing down Cal freshmen forwards Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb.
Update: California's Tyrone Wallace suffered a broken right hand and will miss the rest of the season.
TV: 2 p.m. ET, TBS
LINE HISTORY: California opened at 6.5-point favorites but a potentially disasterous injury to Cal's Tyrone Wallace has moved the line all the way down to -4.5. The total opened at 141 and went up as high as 143.5 at one point during the week, but it has settled back down to 141.5 - also as a result of Wallace's injury. Check the complete line history here.
ABOUT HAWAII (27-5, 14-12 ATS, 13-12-1 O/U): The Rainbow Warriors, who were picked to finish third in the Big West preseason poll under first-year coach Eran Ganot, shared the regular-season title with UC Irvine before tying the school's single-season wins record with the victory over Long Beach State. The 6-foot-11 Jankovic averages 15.7 points and 6.6 rebounds and was named to the Big West all-tournament team along with guard Aaron Valdes, who scored 14 points in the title game. The team’s opportunistic backcourt includes senior Quincy Smith, a Bay Area native who averaged 7.7 points and 1.7 steals.
ABOUT CAL (23-10, 18-14-1 ATS, 16-17 O/U): After opening Pac-12 play 4-5, Cal won eight of its final nine regular-season games and defeated Oregon State in the conference quarterfinals before falling to Utah. Brown was named Pac-12 freshman of the year after averaging 15.0 points and 5.5 rebounds, and Rabb has likewise been as good as advertised while averaging 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds. The Bears’ veteran backcourt features a trio of sharpshooters in Wallace, Jordan Mathews and Jabari Bird, who rediscovered his stroke during the team’s late-season surge and averaged 16.5 points in the Pac-12 tournament.
TRENDS:
* Warriors are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
* Golden Bears are 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games.
* Under is 5-1 in Warriors last 6 neutral site games.
* Under is 5-0 in Golden Bears last 5 non-conference games.
No. 10 Temple Owls vs. No. 7 Iowa Hawkeyes (-7.5, 140)
Game to be played at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Seventh-seeded Iowa makes its third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and faces No. 10 Temple in the first round of the South Regional on Friday in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Hawkeyes, who registered their fourth straight 20-win season under coach Fran McCaffery, attempt to make it past the second round for the first time in its sixth try since 1999.
McCaffery's team put together an impressive run of 16 wins in 18 games between November and February, but have lost six of its last eight games, including its only game in the Big 10 tournament. The Hawkeyes are carried by the tandem of senior forward Jarrod Uthoff and junior guard Peter Jok, who have accounted for 44 percent of the team's scoring and 53 percent of its made 3-pointers. "It's March now and it's win or go home so we need to stay positive and regroup," Jok told the media. The Owls return to the tournament after a two-year absence on a roll, winning 13 of their last 17 games after opening with an 8-7 record under coach Fran Dunphy, who takes the Owls to their sixth NCAA tournament in his 10 seasons but first since 2013.
LINE HISTORY: Iowa opened as seven-point favorites and were bet up slightly to -7.5. The total opened at 138.5 and rose to 140 throughout the week. Check the complete line history here.
ABOUT TEMPLE (21-11, 17-13 ATS, 15-14-1 O/U): The Owls don't do anything particularly spectacular aside from playing defense, but even that wasn't there in a 77-62 loss to Connecticut in the American Athletic Conference tournament. Overall, Temple limits the opposition to 41.7 shooting from the field and 31.4 percent from 3-point territory, but occasionally its will throw in a clunker as it did against the likes of Villanova, Tulsa and UConn. Quenton DeCosey is the main cog on offense, averaging 15.6 points and Jaylen Boyd cleans up underneath with 8.3 rebounds per game.
ABOUT IOWA (21-10, 14-14 ATS, 14-14 OU): Uthoff and Jok appeared to go through a shooting slump toward the end the season, which could explain the Hawkeyes' swoon. Over a five-game span that included four losses, Uthoff made 35.3 percent and Jok 34.8 percent, but the duo seem to come out of it in a loss to Illinois in the Big 10 tournament. The other main contributors for the Hawkeyes are Anthony Clemmons, Mike Gesell, who leads the team with 6.3 assists per game, and Adam Woodbury, the top rebounder at 8.5 per contest.
TRENDS:
* Owls are 14-3 ATS in their last 17 games following a double-digit loss at home.
* Hawkeyes are 2-11 ATS in their last 13 neutral site games.
* Over is 5-0-1 in Owls last 6 neutral site games.
* Under is 4-1 in Hawkeyes last 5 games following a straight up loss.
No. 12 South Dakota State Jackrabbits vs. No. 5 Maryland Terrapins (-9.5, 143)
Game to be played at Spokane Arena, Spokane, WA
At times this season it looked like Maryland might end up on a top line come NCAA Tournament time, but the Terrapins finished out the season with losses in five of their last eight games - including the Big Ten tournament - to end up as the No. 5 seed in the South. Maryland will take on No. 12 seed South Dakota State in the first round on Friday in Spokane, Wash.
The Terrapins were 15-1 before running through the gauntlet of a tough Big Ten schedule but remain one of the most talented teams in the country behind sophomore guard Melo Trimble and the front line of Diamond Stone, Robert Carter and Jake Layman. Trimble was held to 11 points on 2-of-15 shooting in the 64-61 loss to Michigan State in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament and is hoping to guide his team out of the first weekend after falling in the second round to West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament as a freshman. Trimble and company will not have an easy road to Sunday with Jackrabbits, who rolled through the Summit League tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last five years. South Dakota State will test Maryland’s front line with freshman forward Mike Daum, who has scored in double figures in 20 straight games.
TV: 4:30 p.m. ET, TBS
LINE HISTORY: Maryland opened as nine-point favorites and the public has bet that number up to -9.5. The total opened at 145 and has been bet down a full two points to 143. Check the complete line history here.
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (26-7, 15-14 ATS, 14-15 O/U): The Jackrabbits are peaking at the right time with wins in six straight games after knocking off rival North Dakota State in the Summit final. “Our kids, literally, this is as hard as I’ve seen them play all year in terms of being in tune with each other,” South Dakota State coach Scott Nagy told reporters. A team defensive effort, a team rebounding effort. I’m super happy for the seniors, particularly Deondre (Parks), George (Marshall) and Keaton (Moffitt), because last year we weren’t able to go, but they’re going to get the NCAA experience this year.” Marshall (14.9 points) and Parks (14.7) will get the job of stopping Trimble.
ABOUT MARYLAND (25-8, 15-16-1 ATS, 12-19-1 O/U): Three of the Terrapins’ last four losses came by five or fewer points, and they managed only two field goals over the final 10 minutes of the semifinal loss to the Spartans in the Big Ten tournament. “To be honest with you, through the ebbs and flow of the season, you just kind of have to look at your last game," guard Rasheed Sulaimon told reporters after the latest setback. "Sometimes you're going to play at your highest level. Sometimes you're not. We definitely had both throughout the whole season. Just looking at this game, I'm proud of everything we accomplished." Sulaimon averages 11.1 points but failed to reach double figures in five of the last six contests.
TRENDS:
* Jackrabbits are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 Friday games.
* Terrapins are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 NCAA Tournament games.
* Under is 5-0 in Jackrabbits last 5 overall.
* Over is 5-1 in Terrapins last 6 NCAA Tournament games.
Friday's East Region First Round betting preview
Notre Dame's surprising collapse in the ACC tournament last weekend was certainly not what coach Mike Brey expected, but it did allow the Fighting Irish to get some rest.
No. 10 Pittsburgh Panthers vs. No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers (-2, 131)
Game to be played at Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO
Wisconsin is making its 18th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, but it’s certainly a different Badgers bunch than the team which reached the Final Four the past two seasons. Wisconsin, which features a first-year coach and a revamped roster, are the East Region’s seventh seed and will face 10th-seeded Pittsburgh in the first round Friday in St. Louis.
Greg Gard, who took over as the Badgers’ interim coach when mentor Bo Ryan suddenly resigned Dec. 15, was officially had his interim tag removed March 8 when he received a five-year contract from the school. Gard, who is in his 16th season at Wisconsin, lost four of his first six games at the helm, including a 1-4 Big Ten start, but the Badgers won 11 of their next 12 before dropping their last two prior to Selection Sunday. “This is an extremely special moment for me and our family,” Gard said at the March 8 news conference. “But I think just special for the state of Wisconsin, from the standpoint of being one of their own, that's been able to trek through their career at various stops around the state, and to ultimately be in this position to be able to lead your home state institution's flagship school into the future.” That immediate future begins with the Big Dance date against Pittsburgh, which is making its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 15 seasons.
TV: 6:50 p.m. ET, TNT
LINE HISTORY: Wisconsin opened as 2-point favorites, the spread dropped down as low as -1 at one point earlier in the week, but came back up to the opening number by Thursday. The total opened at 131 and has held steady. Check the complete line history here.
ABOUT PITTSBURGH (21-11, 12-17 ATS, 13-16 O/U): The Panthers did miss the NCAA tourney a season ago for only the second time in 13 seasons under coach Jamie Dixon, finishing 19-15. “It means a lot to make the tournament knowing where we were last year,” senior guard James Robinson said in a Pittsburgh news release Sunday. “We know Wisconsin is going to play hard, and we’ll get right to work (Monday) to prepare for the game.” With 10.3 points per game, Robinson joins forwards Michael Young (16.0) and Jamel Artis (14.4) as double-digit scorers for the Panthers, who finished ninth in the ACC with a 9-9 record and were ousted by top-seeded North Carolina 88-71 in the conference-tournament quarterfinals.
ABOUT WISCONSIN (20-12, 16-16 ATS, 14-18 O/U): The Badgers bounced back from their 1-4 Big Ten start to finish 12-6 and tie for third place in the standings before being upended by Nebraska 70-58 in the second round of the conference tournament in Indianapolis. Junior forward Nigel Hayes (16.3 points per game) and junior guard Bronson Koenig (13.4), the two starters remaining from last season’s national championship game loss to Duke, are the team’s leading scorers and also are averaging a combined 5.6 assists per outing. Meanwhile, 6-9 freshman forward Ethan Happ is averaging 12.7 points and a team-most 7.8 rebounds.
TRENDS:
* Panthers are 0-7 ATS in their last 7 vs. Big Ten.
* Badgers are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
* Over is 7-1 in Panthers last 8 Friday games.
* Under is 8-1 in Badgers last 9 overall.
No. 14 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks vs. No. 3 West Virginia Mountaineers (-8, 145.5)
Game to be played at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
West Virginia will be a heavy favorite Friday when the third-seeded Mountaineers face No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s East Region in Brooklyn, N.Y., and it’s easy to understand the logic. Coach Bob Huggins’ squad recorded an impressive win over Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals and took a one-point lead into the half against Kansas in the title game before falling 81-71.
Guard Jaysean Paige leads a balanced attack for the Mountaineers, whose high-pressure defense forces more turnovers per possession than any team in the country. Guard Daxter Miles Jr. turned in one of the best defensive performances of the season in the Big 12 semifinals by holding Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield to six points on 1-of-8 shooting, and the 6-foot-3 sophomore will need another strong effort against the upset-minded Lumberjacks. Stephen F. Austin won its third straight Southland Conference tournament on Saturday with a 82-60 rout of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and the Lumberjacks led the league in scoring (80.7 points per game) and defense (63.3 points). Coach Brad Underwood's squad upset fifth-seeded VCU two years ago in the NCAA Tournament and face a similar challenge against the Mountaineers.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, CBS
LINE HISTORY: West Virginia opened as 7.5-point favorites over Stephen F. Austin and the spread was bet up slightly to -8 by Thursday evening. The total opened at 147 and gradually dropped all week to settle at 145.5. Check the complete line history here.
ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN (27-5, 2-2 ATS, 3-1 O/U): The Lumberjacks are riding a 20-game winning streak and boast one of the nation’s most underrated stars in senior guard Thomas Walkup, who averaged 17.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists and earned the conference tournament MVP for the third straight year. Forward Clide Geffrard and guard Demetrious Floyd earned All-Tournament honors for the Lumberjacks, who aren’t lacking for confidence. “This team is very good,” Underwood told reporters. “We’re not going to be afraid of the moment. It’s one game at a time, and that’s the way we’re going to approach it.”
ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA (26-8, 20-11 ATS, 14-16-1 O/U): The Mountaineers were among the nation’s worst 3-point shooting teams during the regular season and that continued in the Big 12 final as they finished 2-of-15 from beyond the arc. The stellar frontcourt, which includes the imposing duo of Jonathan Holton and Devin Williams, left an impression on Kansas guard Wayne Selden Jr. “It’s a dangerous group,” he told reporters. “You know, the way they press, it’s really unconventional, but it works for them, and they could be really dangerous in the tournament.”
TRENDS:
* Lumberjacks are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 non-conference games.
* Mountaineers are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
* Over is 5-1 in Lumberjacks last 6 Friday games.
* Under is 4-0-1 in Mountaineers last 5 NCAA Tournament games.
No. 15 Weber St. Wildcats vs. No. 2 Xavier Musketeers (-13, 147.5)
Game to be played at Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO
Xavier worked its way to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and is looking for a second straight trip to the Sweet 16 and beyond. The Musketeers will get things started against 15th-seeded Big Sky champion Weber State on Friday in the East Region in St. Louis.
The No. 2 seed is the highest in school history for Xavier, which has reached the NCAA Tournament in 10 of the last 11 seasons and reached the Sweet 16 in three of the last six trips. The Musketeers boast one of the top offenses in the country at an average of 81.3 points and pushed that number to 87.9 over the final seven games. Sophomore guard Trevon Bluiet leads four player averaging double figures at 15.5 points but was one of three players to foul out for the Musketeers in an 87-83 loss to Seton Hall in the Big East tournament semifinals. The Wildcats can put up some points as well (averaging 76.7) and punctuated a Big Sky regular season title by beating second-place Montana 62-59 in the tournament final to reach the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons.
TV: 9:20 p.m. ET, TNT
LINE HISTORY: Xavier opened as big 13.5-point favorites and the spread came down slightly to -13 by Thursday night. The total open at 147.5 and hasn't budged an inch all week. Check the complete line history here.
ABOUT WEBER STATE (26-8, 14-16 ATS, 13-17 O/U): The Wildcats have a distant history of NCAA Tournament success - knocking off Michigan State in the first round in 1995 and North Carolina in the opener in 1999 - and are returning again after a bounce-back season that saw them improve from 13-17 to conference champions. "I’m just so proud of this team,” Weber State coach Randy Rahe told reporters. “We went through so much last year but to do this is great. I’m so happy for our team and how once again, they found a way.” Junior guard Jeremy Senglin leads the team with an average of 18.2 points and was named the Big Sky tournament MVP after putting up 22.3 points in the three victories.
ABOUT XAVIER (27-5, 19-13 ATS, 21-11 O/U): The Musketeers landed in a brutal East bracket that includes traditional powers North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Notre Dame and Wisconsin among the top seven seeds. Xavier can score with any of those teams from the starting unit and the bench, where senior James Farr takes the lead. The 6-10 forward serves as the team’s sixth man most games and enters tournament play on a strong run by scoring in double figures in each of the last six contests.
TRENDS:
* Wildcats are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games following a straight up win.
* Musketeers are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 neutral site games.
* Over is 5-0 in Wildcats last 5 Friday games.
* Over is 7-0 in Musketeers last 7 overall.
No. 11 Michigan Wolverines vs. No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-3, 143)
Game to be played at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Notre Dame's surprising collapse in the ACC tournament last weekend was certainly not what coach Mike Brey expected, but it did allow the Fighting Irish to get something its next opponent only wish it could have - rest. Sixth-seeded Notre Dame looks to rebound from its worst offensive showing of the season when it faces road-weary No. 11 seed Michigan on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
"We could make our travel plans at halftime; let me put it that way," Brey told reporters last Friday after his squad, which entered the ACC tournament semifinals as one of the more efficient offensive teams in the country, went more than 11 minutes without a field goal in a 78-47 drubbing against North Carolina. The season-worst scoring effort was all the more surprising after the Irish battled back from a 16-point second-half deficit the night before to rally past Duke in overtime. The Wolverines entered last Thursday on the NCAA Tournament bubble prior to upsetting top-seed Indiana before losing to Purdue in the Big Ten tournament semifinals. Michigan, which will be playing its fifth game in nine days, earned the right to face Notre Dame after edging Tulsa 67-62 on Wednesday in a First Four game in Dayton, Ohio.
TV: 9:40 p.m. ET, CBS
LINE HISTORY: Notre Dame opened as 3-point favorites for their game against Michigan the day after St. Patrick's Day and the line has held solid. The total opened at 143 and has also been steady. Check the complete line history here.
ABOUT MICHIGAN (23-12, 17-16 ATS, 19-13-1 O/U): The Wolverines, who led the Big Ten with 9.3 made 3-pointers entering Wednesday, rank second among NCAA Tournament teams with a school-record 332 triples despite going 6-of-25 beyond the arc against Tulsa. Michigan used a tiebreaking 3-pointer from little-used Kameron Chatman with 0.2 seconds remaining to beat the Hoosiers and received more unexpected contributions Wednesday from freshman Moritz Wagner, a deep reserve who doubled his season total entering the game with four blocks and pulled down a career-high eight boards. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (8.5 points) has scored at least 14 points in four straight and six of his last eight outings after doing so only five times in his team's first 27 games.
ABOUT NOTRE DAME (21-11, 14-15-1 ATS, 15-15 O/U): The Wolverines don't appear to have an answer in the post for 6-10 forward Zach Auguste (14.4 points, ACC-best 10.8 rebounds), who is averaging 15.7 points and 11.9 rebounds with eight double-doubles over his last 12 contests. Demetrius Jackson (team-high marks of 15.5 points, 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals) has failed to meet his scoring average in seven straight contests, averaging 11 points on 4-of-20 from the field during the Irish's two-game run in the ACC tournament. Jackson's limited contributions recently have been minimized somewhat by the increased production from V.J. Beachem (11.3 points), who is 12-of-24 beyond the arc over Notre Dame's last five contests.
TRENDS:
* Wolverines are 8-2-1 ATS in their last 11 NCAA Tournament games.
* Fighting Irish are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 NCAA Tournament games.
* Over is 5-1 in Wolverines last 6 Friday games.
* Under is 14-3-1 in Fighting Irish last 18 NCAA Tournament games.
Friday's Midwest Region First Round betting preview
Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans are expected to make a very deep run in this year's tournament.
No. 10 Syracuse Orange vs. No. 7 Dayton Flyers (-1, 129)
Game to be played at Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO
Despite losses in five of its last six games, No. 10 Syracuse is back in the NCAA Tournament and will face No. 7 Dayton in the first round of the Midwest Region on Friday at St. Louis. The Orange, who were ineligible for the tournament last year, endured an up-and-down season, posting a pair of winning streaks of at least five games and a pair of losing streaks of at least three games.
Syracuse does not lack for weapons, as it has senior Michael Gbinije, freshman Malachi Richardson and freshman Tyler Lydon among five players who play better than 30 minutes per game. Gbinije, who was named to the All-ACC second team, averages close to 18 points while shooting 40 percent from 3-point territory and Lydon has been even better from beyond the arc for a team that is not afraid to hoist 3-point attempts. The Orange have attempted 776 treys this season, good for 37th in the nation. The Flyers won nine straight games at one point this season, but followed that with a 4-4 mark in their last eight games, including a loss to Saint Joseph's in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament.
TV: 12:15 p.m. ET, CBS
LINE HISTORY: Syracuse opened this First Round matchup as 1-point faves, but the line has jumped the fence since then and it is now Dayton who is the 1-point fave. The total has been bet down 2-points since opening, moving from 131 to 129. Check the complete line history here.
ABOUT SYRACUSE (19-13, 16-15 ATS, 17-14 O/U): The story of the game for the Orange will be defense and whether it can contain Dayton's 3-point shooting like it has for most of its opponents. Only 10 teams in the country have limited the opposition to a lower 3-point percentage than Syracuse, which held 17 teams to under 30 percent from beyond the arc this season. "I thought we could make this (NCAA Tournament) because we've got good wins," coach Jim Boeheim told the media. "This is probably the happiest I've been on Selection Sunday since I've been coaching."
ABOUT DAYTON (25-7, 13-17-1 ATS, 14-16-1 O/U): Like Syracuse, the Flyers have four players who score in double figures, led by the duo of Charles Cooke and Dyshawn Pierre. Cooke, a member of the All-Atlantic 10 first team and defensive team, averages 15.7 points and six rebounds from his guard spot, while Pierre contributes 13 points and a team-leading 8.6 rebounds per game. Head coach Archie Miller has three strong 3-point shooters in Cooke, Pierre and Scoochie Smith, who will need to convert against Syracuse's zone defense.
TRENDS:
* Syracuse is 7-2 ATS in its last nine games versus a team with a winning percentage above .600.
* Dayton is 1-8-1 ATS in its last 10 games overall.
* Under is 4-1 in Syracuse's last five NCAA Tournament games.
* Over is 8-3 in Dayton's last 11 games overall.
No. 15 Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders vs. No. 2 Michigan State Spartans (-18, 143.5)
Game to be played at Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO
Michigan State didn't earn a top seed for the NCAA Tournament like many expected, but the Spartans have done well as the No. 2 seed in their history and they'll try to continue that trend beginning Friday against No. 15 Middle Tennessee in the Midwest Region in St. Louis. Michigan State won the national title as the No. 2 seed in 1979 and advanced to the 2009 championship game seeded in the same slot.
Michigan State captured the Big Ten Tournament title with a 66-62 win Sunday against Purdue after knocking off Maryland and Ohio State in the two prior days. If the Spartans hope to win the Big Ten's first national title in 16 years, they'll need some support for Denzel Valentine, who averaged 17.3 points, nine assists and 8.7 rebounds during the conference tournament to earn the outstanding player award. Bryn Forbes needs to find his groove from long range for Michigan State, shooting 5-for-23 from 3-point distance over the last four games after shooting 26-for-40 in the previous four. Middle Tennessee will be making its second NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 27 years following its Conference USA Tournament title over the weekend.
TV: 2:45 p.m. ET, CBS
LINE HISTORY: Michigan State opened as 17.5-point favorites and have been bet up to -18. The total has been bet up 2-points from 141.5 to 143.5. Check out the complete line history here.
ABOUT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (24-9, 17-15 ATS, 14-17-1 O/U): The Blue Raiders feature four players who average double figures in scoring led by 6-foot-2, 220-pound guard Giddy Potts at 15 points a game. Potts missed three games recently with a concussion, but appears to be back to full strength after averaging 15 points in the three conference tournament games and shooting 7-for-11 from 3-point range in that span. Reggie Upshaw, at 6-7, and 6-6 Perrin Buford will face a big-time size disadvantage against the Spartans and their starting front line of 6-9 Matt Costello and 6-10 Deyonta Davis.
ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE (29-5, 22-11 ATS, 16-17 O/U): Costello is looking for a better performance in this season's tournament than what he did last year, when he averaged four points in five games in the Spartans' run to the Final Four. Costello has reached double figures in scoring in six of the last seven games leading into this tournament and contributed a season-high four blocked shots in Sunday's win against Purdue while finishing with eight points. Junior guard Eron Harris might also be a key figure in this tournament, especially if Valentine is regularly double-teamed and Forbes continues to struggle from long distance.
TRENDS:
* Middle Tennessee State is 5-0 ATS in its last five non-conference games.
* Michigan State is 12-2 ATS in its last 14 games overall.
* Under is 5-1 in Middle Tennessee State's last six games overall.
* Under is 5-1 in Michigan State's last six neutral site games.
