The New Orleans Privateers are in March Madness for the first time in over 20 years. After winning the Southland Conference during the regular season, New Orleans squeaked past Texas A&M Corpus Christi to get the conference’s automatic bid but has to travel to Dayton before a potential matchup with the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed Villanova. Their opponent will be the Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers, a team that has made four trips to the Big Dance, but is still looking for its first win.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from the UD Arena at 6:40 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 14, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on truTV. We will have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every other First Four college basketball matchup.
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New Orleans -1.5 vs. Mount St. Mary’s
Playing in the Southland Conference means that many of New Orleans’ games don’t have lines, but the Privateers came through for bettors in the tournament twice. First, they knocked off Sam Houston State in the semi-finals and handily covered the 3-point spread but they needed overtime to get the automatic bid, and cover, against TAMU-CC.
Mount St. Mary’s barely got past Sacred Heart in the opening game of the Northeast Conference tournament, but performed much better in its last two showings. The Mountaineers covered 5 points against both Robert Morris and Saint Francis in order to get to Dayton.
Matchup to Watch
Two of the shortest players in college basketball will kick off the first game of the 2017 NCAA Basketball Tournament. Junior Robinson was one of three players that averaged double digits on the season, an impressive feat considering he is the shortest player in college basketball. Robinson is just 5’5, but still manages to get shots off against taller defenders and while he isn’t the most efficient, he is a great three-point shooter.
Across the court, will be another player that can score despite his height in Christavious Gill. Gill is the second-leading scorer on the Privateers, but struggles mightily from the floor. He is hitting just 38.2 percent of his shots from the floor and 31.9 percent of his three-point attempts. He will have the size advantage if he matches up against Robinson as expected, for likely the first time all season.
Key Stat
New Orleans has been a terrible three-point shooting team this season. The Privateers are 298th in the nation in shooting percentage from downtown, making just 32.2 percent of their attempts. Gill is the only person on the team to have attempted more than 80 threes, but there is no one that you can trust to make a corner three with the game on the line for UNO.
Mount St. Mary’s couldn’t be more different. This is a team that lives and dies by the three, but mostly thrives. The Mountaineers attempted 261 more threes than the Privateers did this season and four players attempted 100 or more shots from downtown.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
For New Orleans to get the victory, it must not commit turnovers. Only two teams in the nation have committed more turnovers than the Privateers have this season. They are averaging 17 turnovers per game and that number is more than double their average number of assists per game.
Mount St. Mary’s has a decent defense for a mid-major, but must stop Southland Conference Player of the Year Erik Thomas. Thomas hit an amazing 59.1 percent of his shots from the floor and is a powerful body down low. Although he is just 6’5, he rebounds like a guy four inches taller than that and must be limited.
Look for Mount St. Mary’s to get the victory here. The Mountaineers will be able to force turnovers out of the Privateers’ error-prone line-up and ride those extra possessions to a win.
College Basketball Odds: Mount St. Mary’s 69, New Orleans 62
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