Tonight the Ohio State Buckeyes will do battle with the Arizona Wildcats at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon in the 3rd round of the NCAA Tournament. The game has a start time of 5:15 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on CBS. Current Vegas betting odds have the Wildcats listed as 9 point favorites, while the total is set at 138.
Analysis: The Ohio State Buckeyes made it into the Big Dance, but most are saying that they have been vastly underseeded. The Buckeyes did struggle with the VCU Rams in their opening game, but eventually they were able to walk away with the win. Ohio State is now 24-10 on the year and is really taking a step up in class from facing the Rams. OSU has gone 10-3-1 ATS in their last 14 games following a ATS loss, but just 2-11 ATS in their last 13 neutral site games. The Buckeyes have been a very good offensive team this year, ranking 24th in scoring (75.8 ppg), 9th in shooting (48.6%), 64th in 3 point shooting (37.3%) and 238th in FT shooting (67.6%). Defensively the Buckeyes have been solid this year, ranking 77th in points allowed (62.7 ppg), 71st in defensive FG% (40.5%) and 65th in 3 point defense (32.1%).
The Arizona Wildcats have won 12 games in a row and continue to look like one of the teams that have a shot at knocking off the Kentucky Wildcats. They still have some work to do, but they are playing really well right now and are 32-3 on the year after taking out Texas Southern 93-72 on Thursday. Arizona has gone 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600 and 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games after scoring more than 90 points in their previous game. The Wildcats have been a very good offensive team this year, ranking 20th in scoring (76.9 ppg), 4th in shooting (49.3%), 88th in 3 point shooting (36.2%) and 122nd in FT shooting (70.5%). Defensively the Wildcats have been very good this year, ranking 15th in points allowed (59.0 ppg), 32nd in defensive FG% (39.4%) and 121st in 3 point defense (33.1%).
Pick: I will be looking to the Under in this game. Player and coach coming out of the Arizona lockerroom stated that they were all unhappy with their defensive play in the win over Texas Southern. That should fuel the defense even more for this one and they will be taking on an Ohio State that is really just a one man show on offense. We also note that the Buckeyes have really struggled vs good defensive teams as they have scored just 48 vs Wisconsin. 65 vs Purdue, 57 vs Michigan on the road and 56 vs Michigan state on the road. Now out of those teams stated this is this Wildcat defense is very much like that of Wisconsin's. They are tough and Physical and are angry after their bad performance in their last game. The Wildcats will also be taking on a tough defensive team and they have found it tough to score on teams that play good defense this year. I really expect the defense to shine in this one and can see a final of 70-60 here.
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NCAA Basketball: Who Can Win it All?
Teddy Covers and Steve Fezzik from Pregame.com discuss who they feel will win it all in the NCAA Tournament, while throwing in some teams that have a chance to make a deep run in the tournament.
