Gregg Marshall and the Wichita State Shockers are back in the NCAA Tournament, but the season has been a bit of a disappointment. The Shockers were expected to come in and win the AAC in its first year as part of the conference, but instead the Cincinnati Bearcats took that honor in both the regular season and the postseason.
Now, the Shockers are looking to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament. They made history by making the Final Four five years ago, and they would love to make a return trip. However, the Marshall Thundering Herd have already crushed one mid-major’s NCAA Tournament dreams and would love to do it again.
This war on the floor will go down Friday, March 16, 2018, at 1:30 p.m. ET at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California. The game will be televised live on TNT. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game throughout March Madness.
Opening NCAAB Basketball Betting Odds at BookMaker.euMarshall +11.5Wichita State -11.5Over/Under 167
Marshall won Conference USA’s automatic bid after finishing fourth in the conference in the regular season. Middle Tennessee State was supposed to win the CUSA after dominating all year, but a stunning loss to Southern Miss in the tournament quarterfinals opened up a bid.
Give credit to the Thundering Herd for getting through. Marshall upset MTSU in their house as an 11.5-point underdog per the CBB betting odds in the final game of the regular season to give the team confidence heading into the tournament, and then knocked off UTSA, Southern Miss, and Western Kentucky to win the automatic bid. Marshall covered each of those three games and finished 20-11 ATS on the season.
Wichita State picked up some nice non-conference wins to boost the AAC’s resume, but lost a few heartbreakers in the regular season and then couldn’t get past Houston in the conference semifinals. The Shockers went 25-7 this year, yet did not meet oddsmakers’ loft expectations and went 12-18 against the NCAAB betting line.
Key Stat
The Thundering Herd get to the line…a lot. Few teams go to the line as much as Marshall, and this is a team that makes you pay from the stripe. As a whole, the Thundering Herd are hitting 76.7 percent of their freebies, one of the best totals of any tournament team.
In this department, Marshall is led by Jon Elmore. Elmore gets to the line more than almost anyone in the country. He has taken an incredible 262 free throws this season, and he will look to get to the line as much as possible in this game. However, Wichita State is a well-disciplined team that doesn’t foul too often.
Matchup to Watch
Gregg Marshall has always used a deep bench in order to keep his team fresh, and this year is no different. The Shockers run 10 deep and that has helped them dominate the glass.
It’s pretty impressive how great Wichita State has been at defending the rim this season. The Shockers don’t have a lot of size, but throw a lot of bodies at you and every player comes in with high energy. That has been one of the keys to Marshall’s success over the years and they will look to use that again here.
To even out the battle on the glass, Ajdin Penava will need to have a solid game for the Thundering Herd.
Free March Madness ATS Picks
This smells like a potential upset. It seems like Wichita State has just been unable to slip into that last gear all year long, and it might come back to hurt them here. Marshall is a challenging opponent that won’t back down. The Shockers might pull it out in the end, but the Thundering Herd will get the cover.
NCAAB Basketball Betting Odds: Wichita State 88, Marshall 82
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