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The Ohio Valley Conference is going to send a team to the dance that has never made the NCAA Tournament before. After the Jacksonville State Gamecocks and UT-Martin Skyhawks both emerged victorious on Friday night, we were guaranteed to see a team reach the tournament for the first time ever and now these teams square off to see who it will be. UT-Martin will likely be the favorite, but Jacksonville State knocked off the No. 1 overall seed Belmont and will be a tough match.
This was on the floor will go down Saturday, March 4, 2017, at 8 p.m. ET at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. We will have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
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Jacksonville State was much better against the number on the road than it was at home this season. The Gamecocks managed just a 2-6 ATS mark at their place in Alabama, but were 10-6 ATS away from home. Under has been a great bet in Gamecocks’ games this season, with 9 of their last 10 games finishing short of the number.
UT-Martin knocked off Murray State on Friday to get here and has covered its last two. Over has been the play in Skyhawks’ games these last few weeks, with the over having a record of 6-3-1 over the last 10.
Last Meeting
These teams met just once during the regular season, all the way back at the end of 2016, when Jacksonville State waxed UT-Martin on its home court. The Gamecocks dominated from beginning to end, on their way to an 18-point victory, despite being a slight underdog in the game.
Jacksonville State shot the lights out when these teams met, with the team combining to hit 53.8 percent of its field goals and the starting five all cracking double digits. Greg Tucker was the only starter to shoot under 50 percent from the floor, but made up for it by getting to the line eight times.
Additionally, the Gamecocks outrebounded the Skyhawks significantly. Jacksonville State ended up grabbing 13 offensive rebounds, compared to just four for UT-Martin and picked up 13 more rebounds in total on the night.
Matchup to Watchohio
You will see two different styles in this title game as Jacksonville State relies more on its defense and UT-Martin relies more on its offense. Despite the explosion from the Gamecocks in the last meeting, this team is averaging less than 70 points a night and needs to lock down opponents to win. That was on full display when they knocked out the regular season champions Belmont by holding the Bruins to just 59 points.
Meanwhile. UT-Martin is looking to outscore everyone and has four players that are averaging double figures on the season. The Skyhawks have two guys that love to fire away from three, Jacolby Mobley and Matthew Butler, and Javier Martinez is one of the most efficient shooters in the country, hitting 67.7 percent of his shots.
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The one area where Jacksonville State struggles defensively is defending the three. The Gamecocks have allowed opponents to sink 37.9 percent of their threes on the year and that is great news for Mobley and Butler. They will be more than happy to keep shooting from distance against this team.
UT-Martin will have a little bit of a home-court advantage, playing in its home state, but it won’t make much of a difference. The Skyhawks have more talent than the Gamecocks do and that talent is going to shine out in the end. UT-Martin will be much more stout on the glass this time around and will shoot well enough to get the win and an invite.
College Basketball Odds: UT-Martin 74, Jacksonville State 69
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