Oklahoma will try to avoid another first-round upset when the second-seeded Sooners open against No. 15 Cal State Bakersfield. Two years ago OU dropped its opener to No. 12 North Dakota State, but rebounded to make the Sweet 16 in 2015.
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CS Bakersfield Roadrunners +14.5
Oklahoma Sooners -14.5
Over/Under: 140
HOW THE CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD ROADRUNNERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
All Cal State Bakersfield had to do was beat New Mexico State for the first time ever to advance to its first NCAA Tournament. Check. While a DI member for just nine seasons, the Roadrunners captured three DII National Championships during the 1990s.
Four players hail from the neighboring state of Texas, so the Roadrunners shouldn’t feel completely out of their element. Third-leading scorer Dedrick Basile, who’s averaging 14.5 points per game during a five-game winning streak, and fourth-leading scorer Damiyne Durham, are two of the Lone Star state connection.
The pair takes nearly 75 percent of the team’s three-point shots and will need to be deadly from distance in order to keep up with the Sooners.
The Roadrunners are solid defensively, forcing 15.2 turnovers a game while averaging 8.0 steals and 5.1 blocks. They hold opponents to an average of 62.2 points on 39.1 percent shooting, but haven’t faced a team like Oklahoma.
HOW THE OKLAHOMA SOONERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Kudos to Bakersfield for their run through the WAC tournament and first NCAA Tournament bid, but the Roadrunners are overmatched by a superior team from a superior conference.
Oklahoma will throw several high-caliber players on the court that Bakersfield will have no answer for, especially Big 12 Player of the Year Buddy Hield.
Hield’s half-court heave came a split second too late against West Virginia and the Sooners were denied a rematch with Kansas in the conference tournament title game. Hield may still be steaming from his performance in that game. He was held to a single-digit point total for the first time this season, and that’s not good for the Roadrunners.
The national player of the year candidate has followed up most of his subpar performances with huge efforts, most recently scoring 33 points against Texas last month after finishing with 17 the game before. Just in case Hield has another off-game, fellow guards Jordan Woodard and Isaiah Cousins will pick up the scoring slack.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
The Roadrunners have won five straight and nine of 10, but the closest they’ve come to playing a team the caliber of Oklahoma was a 94-59 loss to Saint Mary’s. Basile did his best Buddy Hield impression to secure Bakersfield’s first Tournament appearance since transitioning to Division I hoops. Basile dialed up a contested three-point shot at the buzzer to beat New Mexico State, 57-54, in the WAC tournament title game. The Roadrunners had lost twice to the league’s first-place team during the regular season, but got the win when it counted. The victory was arguably the team’s best of the season with zero ranked opponents on the schedule.
OU faced tough defensive teams all season in the Big 12, most notably West Virginia and Texas, and fared quite well. So it’s hard to imagine the Roadrunners will throw a scare into the seasoned Sooners. The only way Oklahoma falters in this game is if they take Bakersfield too lightly. That happened two years ago with a first-round ouster and I don’t see that happening this year.
Oklahoma 76, Cal State Bakersfield 59
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