No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 11 Rhode Island Preview
Where: Golden 1 Center— Sacramento, California
When: Friday, March 17, 2017, 4:30 PM ET
Line: Creighton Bluejays (PK) vs. Rhode Island Rams (PK); total: 141.0 – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: TBS
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Betting on the Creighton Bluejays (25-9, 10-8 Big East)
Creighton is marked as the slim favorites here, but it won’t be feeling like one. This game can go either way, considering how Rhode Island’s been playing top-notch basketball.
The Bluejays, on the other hand, are still at loss to a certain degree without Maurice Watson Jr. They’ve really missed his presence and, most especially, the leadership he brings. On the bright side though, the pair of Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas has done fairly well to lessen the impact of Watson’s absence.
Foster continues to carry most of the offensive load for the team with 18.3 points per contest, including an on-going 17-game stretch of scoring at least 10 or more points. Thomas, meanwhile, has boosted his average to a career-high 12.4 points per game this season.
Big man Justin Patton also plays a very big role to Creighton’s overall play. The redshirt freshman puts up 13.1 points, a team-leading 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.
Greg McDermott and co. are 5-5 SU and 4-6 ATS in their last 10 contests. They’re also a +10,000 bet to win the national title.
Betting on the Rhode Island Rams (24-9, 13-5 Atlantic 10)
Rhode Island is a good team; one that’s very capable of pulling some upsets. The Rams received a guaranteed berth to the Big Dance after bagging home the Atlantic 10 tournament title and finishing in a two-way tie for third-place in the conference.
This group is led by a dangerous trio in E.C. Matthews (14.9), Hassan Martin (14.1) and Jared Terrell (12.5)—all of whom make up for most of the team’s offense (73.5 PPG).
Top scorer Matthews has been on a personal onslaught over his previous four games, averaging 19.0 points with 5.0 rebounds. He’s also made 10 of his last 15 attempts from beyond the arc and was crowed as the Most Outstanding Player in the conference tourney.
The Rams (+10,000) are 8-0 SU in their last eight games (6-2 ATS).
Writer’s Prediction
The Rams (+1) upset the ‘Jays here, 77-73.
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