NCAA Tournament play-in game: Odds and preview
Arkanas-Pine Bluff vs. Winthrop (-4.5, 117.5)
Game is being held at Dayton, Ohio and can be seen on ESPN 7:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday night.
The annual NCAA play-in game features a pair of low-scoring teams who?ve both posted upsets in their conference tournaments. It is the first NCAA appearance for Arkansas-Pine Bluff while Winthrop is making its ninth trip to the Big Dance.
The winner faces Duke, the No. 1 seed from the South region, on Friday.
Who are these guys?
Arkansas-Pine Bluff lost its first 11 games of the season. You?d think after that type of start the Golden Lions would have packed things in, but that wasn?t the case.
UAPB coach George Ivory actually took a little positive out of the tough start. The Lions only lost those games by an average of 15 points and they played every one of them on the road. They lost to big-name schools like Oklahoma State, Missouri, Kansas State and Georgia Tech during the winless streak.
UAPB played its first three contests on the road when the conference season began but this time it won two of them and ended finishing 14-4 in the SWAC.
No Bluffing
UAPB earned its first NCAA berth beating Texas Southern 50-38 on Saturday in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game.
?This means a lot for our school and our fans,? UAPB coach George Ivory said. ?We worked all year to get to the Big Dance and now we can always brag that at least for one year, we got to The Dance.
?We put a lot of pride in our defense and rebounding. We played a tough preseason schedule and it prepared us for playing physical in our league.?
The Golden Lions were seeded second in their conference tourney. They held conference opponents to just 37.3 shooting from the field and were second in the conference in rebounding.
Winthrop, who?
The Eagles are 1-8 in their NCAA Tournament history. They finished the season with an RPI of 162 playing a schedule ranked 242nd in the nation.
The Big South champs knocked off top-seeded Coastal Carolina 64-53 to earn the bid. Guard Reggie Middleton is the lone Eagle averaging double figures (10.3 ppg, 2.9 apg) while center Matt Morgan chips in with 9.6 ppg.
Winthrop defeated Notre Dame 84-74 in the 2007 NCAA tourney and is making its fifth NCAA trip in the last six years. That type of tourney experience led the Eagles to believe they wouldn?t be playing in 64-65 seed game.
?I expected us to go right in and play a No. 1 seed,? freshman guard Robbie Dreher said. ?We?ll use this as motivation.?
They?re no shooting stars
Offensively Winthrop is one of the worst teams in the country. It ranks 295th in the nation in scoring (62.4 ppg.). And, if you think they stink at the free throw line (298th in the nation) watch them build a brick house beyond the arc ? they?re dead last in the country in 3-point percentage.
How did they get in the Big Dance? Well, they played a lot of lousy teams and they suffocated them with a fantastic defensive style.
Winthrop held its opponents to 39 percent shooting from the floor and 29 percent from 3-point range. It ranks 33rd in the nation in scoring defense (61.4 ppg.) Winthrop finished third in the Big South and was 2-2 ATS in the limited games that you could get a line on them. The Eagles will also have a bit of a height advantage up front.
Injury update
Junior point guard Justin Burton was unable to practice on his injured right knee on Sunday. He came down awkwardly on the leg in Big South championship win. Burton had 11 points in 21 minutes of floor time with starter Reggie Middleton on the bench in foul trouble. Burton is questionable for Tuesday?s game.
Trend-setting
Winthrop is 11-3 ATS in its last 14 neutral site games and 0-4-1 ATS in its last five non-conference games.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff is 1-4 ATS in its five lined games this season.
It?s been all under for Winthrop recently.
Winthrop has gone under in its last four NCAA Tournament games.
The under is 15-3 in Winthrop?s last 18 games following a straight up win.
The under is also 14-3 in Wintrop?s last 17 neutral site games, 4-1 in Winthrop?s last five non-conference games and 20-8 in the team?s last 28 overall.
Arkanas-Pine Bluff vs. Winthrop (-4.5, 117.5)
Game is being held at Dayton, Ohio and can be seen on ESPN 7:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday night.
The annual NCAA play-in game features a pair of low-scoring teams who?ve both posted upsets in their conference tournaments. It is the first NCAA appearance for Arkansas-Pine Bluff while Winthrop is making its ninth trip to the Big Dance.
The winner faces Duke, the No. 1 seed from the South region, on Friday.
Who are these guys?
Arkansas-Pine Bluff lost its first 11 games of the season. You?d think after that type of start the Golden Lions would have packed things in, but that wasn?t the case.
UAPB coach George Ivory actually took a little positive out of the tough start. The Lions only lost those games by an average of 15 points and they played every one of them on the road. They lost to big-name schools like Oklahoma State, Missouri, Kansas State and Georgia Tech during the winless streak.
UAPB played its first three contests on the road when the conference season began but this time it won two of them and ended finishing 14-4 in the SWAC.
No Bluffing
UAPB earned its first NCAA berth beating Texas Southern 50-38 on Saturday in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game.
?This means a lot for our school and our fans,? UAPB coach George Ivory said. ?We worked all year to get to the Big Dance and now we can always brag that at least for one year, we got to The Dance.
?We put a lot of pride in our defense and rebounding. We played a tough preseason schedule and it prepared us for playing physical in our league.?
The Golden Lions were seeded second in their conference tourney. They held conference opponents to just 37.3 shooting from the field and were second in the conference in rebounding.
Winthrop, who?
The Eagles are 1-8 in their NCAA Tournament history. They finished the season with an RPI of 162 playing a schedule ranked 242nd in the nation.
The Big South champs knocked off top-seeded Coastal Carolina 64-53 to earn the bid. Guard Reggie Middleton is the lone Eagle averaging double figures (10.3 ppg, 2.9 apg) while center Matt Morgan chips in with 9.6 ppg.
Winthrop defeated Notre Dame 84-74 in the 2007 NCAA tourney and is making its fifth NCAA trip in the last six years. That type of tourney experience led the Eagles to believe they wouldn?t be playing in 64-65 seed game.
?I expected us to go right in and play a No. 1 seed,? freshman guard Robbie Dreher said. ?We?ll use this as motivation.?
They?re no shooting stars
Offensively Winthrop is one of the worst teams in the country. It ranks 295th in the nation in scoring (62.4 ppg.). And, if you think they stink at the free throw line (298th in the nation) watch them build a brick house beyond the arc ? they?re dead last in the country in 3-point percentage.
How did they get in the Big Dance? Well, they played a lot of lousy teams and they suffocated them with a fantastic defensive style.
Winthrop held its opponents to 39 percent shooting from the floor and 29 percent from 3-point range. It ranks 33rd in the nation in scoring defense (61.4 ppg.) Winthrop finished third in the Big South and was 2-2 ATS in the limited games that you could get a line on them. The Eagles will also have a bit of a height advantage up front.
Injury update
Junior point guard Justin Burton was unable to practice on his injured right knee on Sunday. He came down awkwardly on the leg in Big South championship win. Burton had 11 points in 21 minutes of floor time with starter Reggie Middleton on the bench in foul trouble. Burton is questionable for Tuesday?s game.
Trend-setting
Winthrop is 11-3 ATS in its last 14 neutral site games and 0-4-1 ATS in its last five non-conference games.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff is 1-4 ATS in its five lined games this season.
It?s been all under for Winthrop recently.
Winthrop has gone under in its last four NCAA Tournament games.
The under is 15-3 in Winthrop?s last 18 games following a straight up win.
The under is also 14-3 in Wintrop?s last 17 neutral site games, 4-1 in Winthrop?s last five non-conference games and 20-8 in the team?s last 28 overall.
