The first night of the Men’s Sweet Sixteen is filled with what should be four great games to watch. I’ll go over which bets you should take in each of the matchups on the slate.
#7 Michigan State Spartan vs #3 Kansas State Wildcats
Pick: Michigan State (-1.5)
Through their first two games of this tournament MIchigan State has managed to take down 10 seeded USC, 72-62, and 2 seeded Marquette, 69-60. Against USC Joey Hauser had a solid 17 points to go along with 8 rebounds. In the Spartans win verses Marquette, Tyson Walker was the standout player he posted 23 points. Coming into the tournament they are a top five three-point shooting team, in their two games so far they have been far from consistent in that category, in game one they shot 35.7% and in the second they shot a very pathetic 12.5% from beyond the arch. I expect them to be much close to the first games output in this matchup. The Spartans have also averaged a very solid 35 over the first two games. The Wildcats have gone through number 14 Montana State with a score of 77-65, where Keyontae Johnson went for 18 points and eight boards. Their second round matchup was against a tough Kentucky squad where they prevailed 75-69, in which Markquis Nowell had 27 points and nine assists. As a team Kansas State has struggled from three and is averaging eight less rebounds a game in the tournament than Michigan State. I believe that the power of the three pointer and rebounding will favor the Spartans too much, give the point and a half for the seven seeded Michigan State.
#8 Arkansas Razorbacks vs. #4 UConn Huskies
Pick: Arkansas Moneyline (+165)
Bonus pick: over 140
This should be as high octane of a Sweet Sixteen matchup as one could possibly ask for. Arkansas first took out Illinois 73-63. They followed that up with a huge win over the top ranked team in their region Kansas, by a final score of 72-71. Arkansas hasn’t be the best in field goal percentage in either of its games with a 41.4% and 38.1% in their games so far. However, they have been grabbing rebounds consistently 36 against Kansas and 43 in the game against Illinois. In their games they’ve been limited to just 11 turnovers each game. Their standout performer in the Illinois game was Ricky Council IV who put up 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Verses the Jayhawks Devonte Davis had an electric 25 points. As for UConn they have the big man Adama Sanogo who in their 87-63 first round victory over Iona College put up 28 points and 13 rebounds. Sanogo continued you his dominance into the 70-55 win over Saint Mary’s with a 24 point eight rebound performance. As a team the Huskies shot 48.1% from the field against Iona and a crazy 54% in the Saint Mary’s game. Rebounds are a relative strong point for them as well grabbing 43 and 45 respectively. I think a lot of shots are going to be taken, the massive upset over the top see Kansas team should give the Razorbacks the edge in this one. Take Arkansas and the over 140 watch the basket get filled.
#9 Florida Atlantic Owls vs. #4 Tennessee Volunteers
Pick: Tennessee -5
Florida Atlantic has had a very impressive season thus far boasting a 33-3 record, while currently riding a 9 game winning streak. To this point they take down eight seeded Memphis, 66-65. As well as the Cinderella 16 seeded Fairleigh Dickenson 78-70. They don’t shoot the ball the best but they do get a lot of shots off due to their massive efforts on the boards. Against Memphis they grabbed 39 and Against FDU they got 47 rebounds. They are a very disciplined team limiting themselves to 9 turnovers in game and 7 in the second game. Against Fairleigh Dickenson Johnell Davis had a stellar game with 29 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists. Now for the Volunteers on their journey to the Sweet Sixteen they took down 13 seeded University of Louisiana, 58-55. In that game Tennessee shot 45% from the field and 25% from three. They did have some trouble in the turnover department with 18. Their rebounding was a small bright spot with 33 boards, as well coming out with a victory. In the second round they faced off with the Duke Blue Devils, in which they prevailed 65-62. Much thanks for that win goes to Oliver Nkamhou who scored 27 points. The team only shot 40.4% from the field but a staggering 42.9% from three point land. They also decreased their turnovers with only nine and increased the rebounds with 35. Tennessee has the upper hand in this matchup, I like them to cover the five points pretty handily.
#3 Gonzaga Bulldogs vs #2 UCLA Bruins
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Pick: Gonzaga Moneyline (+105)
Gonzaga took down Grand Canyon University 82-70 in the first round. The Bulldogs shot 53.6% from the field, while going 46.7% behind the arch. In that game they also racked up 39 rebounds. In their second game they were lead by Drew Timme with 28 points and Austin Watson who grabbed 12 rebounds when they beat TCU 84-81. Gonzaga shot 44.8% from the field and 32% from deep. As a team they managed to get 43 rebounds in that matchup. The two seeded Bruins took down UNC Asheville 86-53, where Tyger Campbell had 10 assists. UCLA shot 54% from the field and went 31.3% from three. They managed to only turn the ball over eight times, while collecting 40 rebounds. Jaime Jacquez Jr. lead the team with 24 points to the 68-63 second round victory over Northwestern. In this one the Bruins shot 50% from the field and 40% from distance. Again they limited themselves to only eight turnovers, yet only recorded 28 rebounds. This matchup should be a memorable one but the experience of Gonzaga should prevail and punch them a ticket to the Elite Eight.
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