NCAA TOURNAMENT
AKRON vs. ARIZONA (ARI -14.5, 167.5)
AKRON (1H) +7.5
These are two of the faster tempo teams in the nation. Akron ranks in the top ten in possessions per game and the Zips are the 6th-highest scoring team in the country. They average 84.5 points per game. The Zips love to shoot the three and they've been knocking down over their last several games. Akron typically gets off to good starts in games. They rank No. 14 in first half points per game. I think they surprise Arizona early and over the first half spread.
That is something Akron has done in 7 of its past 10 games and in 82 percent of their games this season. I would lean on Akron to cover the game spread of 14.5, but give me the Zips to cover the 7.5 in the first half.
AA TOURNAMENT
LIBERTY vs. OREGON (ORE -6.5, 139.5)
OREGON ML/OREGON OVER 66.5 POINTS
Liberty had a great season and has a great record on paper. They won the Conference USA regular season title and then won the conference tournament to earn this No. 12 seed. No offense to Liberty's head coach, but Dana Altman is an absolute machine when it comes to the NCAA tournament. He's taken less talented teams than this one deep into the tourney. He finds a way to get it done and tonight he finds it with defense.
Liberty lives and dies by the three. The Flames shoot threes on 47 percent of all their field goals. They have zero inside game because they don't a player taller than 6-8. That is going to be an issue against a much taller and much more athletic Oregon defense. On the other end of the floor, Liberty is going to have issues with Ducks 7-footer Nate Bittle (14 ppg). Oregon will feast at the rim.
Now, this is a No.5 vs. No. 12 game where crazy things happen (McNeese beat Clemson last night), so I'm building the Coach Rick ML/TT parlay. Oregon won 8 straight before losing to Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament. They scored 72 or more points in all 8 wins and they average over 78 ppg for the season.
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