The place have you ever gone, Gary Williams?
Tennessee (-4.5) over Kentucky
Why are the Wildcats getting factors after profitable each regular-season matchups by a mixed 16 factors? As a result of Kentucky gained’t shoot 50 p.c from 3 — because it did in each wins — towards the nation’s third-ranked perimeter protection. There’s additionally little probability that the Vols shoot as poorly once more, having hit 14-of-63 3-pointers within the losses.
Tennessee, which held UCLA to 58 factors in a one-sided second-round win, has silenced the nation’s greatest offenses in current weeks, holding No. 1 Auburn 19 factors under its season common, and No. 2 Alabama 14 factors under its season common. Rick Barnes may depend on Chaz Lanier, who averaged 24.5 factors within the first two video games of the event, whereas capturing 55 p.c from deep. Kentucky’s capturing from the road within the NCAA Event (22 of 36) might foreshadow their demise.
Ole Miss (+3.5) over Michigan State
Chris Beard has surprised Tom Izzo earlier than, main Texas Tech to the 2019 nationwide championship sport after knocking off the Spartans within the Last 4. Michigan State owns a decisive edge on the glass, however the Rebels have repeatedly overcome their biggest weak point, defeating 5 groups within the Candy 16 (Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, BYU, Arkansas).
Ole Miss ranks among the many prime 25 on each ends of the ground, whereas leaning on veteran guards who assist the workforce commit fewer turnovers than all however two groups within the nation. Beard is at his greatest with time to arrange, going 8-0 on an NCAA Event week’s first set of video games. Michigan State’s performances towards Bryant and New Mexico encourage little confidence in one other deep Izzo run.
Michigan (+9.5) over Auburn
The Tigers’ lone cowl since March 1 got here within the second-round win towards Creighton after being tied with 14 minutes to play. Michigan could cause comparable issues with its pair of seven-footers (Danny Wolf, Vladislav Goldin), who held sturdy towards Texas A&M’s top-ranked rebounders and prime 10 protection, combining for 37 factors and 21 rebounds within the second-round win.
Michigan’s Tre Donaldson needs to be aware of what’s coming, having spent the earlier two years with Bruce Pearl at Auburn. Elite protection has led Michigan to 5 straight wins — 4 towards groups seeded fourth or larger — and can trigger issues for a Tigers assault that hasn’t been in sync in weeks.
Betting on Faculty Basketball?
Houston (-8.5) over Purdue
All-American Braden Smith was named one of many 4 finalists for the Naismith Trophy. It will likely be exhausting to consider watching Houston’s top-ranked protection smother the 6-foot level guard, who dedicated eight turnovers within the second spherical towards McNeese, and averaged almost six turnovers per sport in losses to different top-tier defenses (Michigan State, Auburn, Texas A&M).
Each groups choose to play at a sluggish tempo, giving the benefit to the harder and extra disciplined squad, which has misplaced just one sport since November. With out Zach Edey, the Boilermakers enable too many simple appears to be like within the paint, and the protection will probably be unfold as skinny as ever, dealing with the highest 3-point capturing workforce within the nation. Earlier than Purdue defeated a pair of double-digit seeds, it had misplaced six of its earlier 9 video games, with its 5 most up-to-date defeats coming by a mean of 12 factors.
This season: 21-24
2011-24 document: 378-340-12
