Mountaineers pay visit to 20th-ranked Fighting Irish

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matching their longest win streak in Big East Conference play ever, the 20th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish try to extend their run of good fortune tonight as they host the West Virginia Mountaineers at the Joyce Center in South Bend.

Not only have the Fighting Irish won eight straight games in conference play, the team has accomplished the feat by defeating half of their opponents on the road and three of the eight squads were nationally ranked, so it is not as though Notre Dame is picking on the weaker programs in the league.

Over the weekend the team was pitted against Villanova at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and it appeared as though the team's run through the Big East was about to come to an end, but somehow the Irish pushed the game to overtime and ended up securing the 74-70 triumph. According to the school's media relation's office, the 20-point deficit that the Irish faced in the first half and subsequently erased in the second half and overtime was the largest comeback in program history.

Notre Dame, which is now tied for second in the conference standings with Marquette at 11-3, has been doing all this damage while missing Tim Abromaitis who went down with a knee injury almost right away in November.

As for the Mountaineers, they've been out of action since last Thursday when they took care of Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center, 66-48. The victory snapped a two-game slide for a WVU program which has won just twice in the last seven outings and is now stuck in the middle of the pack in the conference standings at 7-7.

As far as the all-time series is concerned, the Irish own a 26-12 edge over WVU thanks in part to a 55-51 win in Morgantown just two weeks ago. When it comes to games played in South Bend, Notre Dame has taken all but two of 18 encounters versus the Mountaineers.

Ahead by just a single point at the break last week in Pittsburgh, the Mountaineers put together strong efforts at both ends of the floor in the second half and rolled to the 18-point win against their long-time foe. Kevin Jones registered another double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds and Truck Bryant showed signs of life with 15 points off the bench for the visitors. Deniz Kilicli tacked on 14 points and Gary Browne another 12 as the team survived just 2-of-11 shooting behind the three-point line. Over the course of 27 games this season, Jones has proven himself to be one of the top performers in the conference, averaging 20.4 points and 11.3 rebounds per contest, leading the Mountaineers in both departments. Bryant brings another 16.7 ppg to the table, but his 31.3 percent shooting behind the three-point line is nothing to get excited about. In fact, the team as a whole is shooting a mere 31.4 percent on the perimeter overall and only 29.7 percent in conference games.

Jack Cooley generated his fourth straight double-double with 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds on Saturday at Villanova as the Fighting Irish never lost hope and eventually picked up the four-point overtime win in Philadelphia. Cooley, who was named the Big East Player of the Week for the first time in his career last week, is the first Notre Dame player to have four straight double-doubles since Luke Harangody turned the trick in late March 2009. Pat Connaughton knocked down 7-of-12 shots from three-point range against the Wildcats as he finished with a team-best 21 points, followed by Eric Atkins and Jerian Grant with 17 and 10 points, respectively, the latter also handing out nine assists. Just taking into account conference games, Cooley is averaging a double-double for the program with his 14.4 points and 10.7 rebounds per contest, shooting 61.4 percent from the field and also logging 23 blocked shots as he stays close to the rim at both ends of the floor. Grant (13.0 ppg) checks in with a total of 74 assists over 14 league bouts, making his mere 34.2 percent shooting from the floor and bit more tolerable.

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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at this sportsbook “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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