After surviving in overtime in the quarterfinals of the MEAC tournament, the No. 2 seed Norfolk State Spartans punched their ticket to the title game by coming back to win and cover against Howard. The top seed N.C. Central Eagles waltzed their way to the championship game with a pair of blowout wins over Bethune Cookman and Maryland Eastern Shore. The conference winner will have to deal with playing the Spartans on their home court, but will take to the hardwood confident knowing it beat them handily earlier this season.
This war on the floor will go down Friday, March 11, 2017, at 1 p.m. ET at the Norfolk Scope Arena. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on Saturday’s college basketball schedule.
Odds at BookMaker.eu
North Carolina Central has had absolutely no issue getting to this point with blowout wins and covers. The Eagles have actually gone on to cover all five of their lined games this season, and will be a decided favorite to win this game as well. With it owning the country’s No. 22 ranked scoring defense and No. 11 ranked field goal percentage defense, it comes as no surprise the under cashed in all but one of them.
Norfolk State has partaken in five lined games this season. It got its doors blown off at Butler but covered in a losing effort at Bowling Green. After splitting its pair of games in the conference tournament, they’ll battle NCC for the right to go to the Dance owners of a 2-3 record against the spread. The over cashed in three of those contests.
Players to Watch
The Eagles have a dynamic duo at the guard position in the forms of Patrick Cole and Dajuan Graf. They’ve combined for an impressive 347 total assists which is one of the main reasons why the offense proved to be one of the more formidable units the MEAC had to offer. Cole led the team with 21 points and 6 assists in their semifinal win over the Hawks on Saturday, whole Graf chipped in with 14 points and 4 assists on 6 of 10 shooting. They combined for 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists in the team’s 15 point win over Norfolk State back on January 14 and will be quite the load for the Spartans to handle in this one.
Key Stat
44% – For all intents and purposes, Norfolk State has a pretty decent defense of its own with it allowing a 40.3 percent conversion rate from the field ( No. 26 ). Where it does falter however is in defending the 3-ball, and the Eagles had no problem exposing that deficiency in the first meeting by draining 11 of its 25 shots from long range to pull out the double-digit victory. Save for that aspect of the game, the Spartans competed mightily with N.C. Central. It will however need to cut done on the turnovers and limit the amount of Eagles’ free throws if it’s to avenge that home defeat.
Free College Basketball ATS Pick
N.C. Central has been the class of the MEAC all season long. It won’t be intimidated by being forced to go into Norfolk State’s house to punch a ticket to the NCAA tournament with it already winning on this floor earlier this season. It’s won 11 of 17 true road games and actually covered all three that were lined. Norfolk State is simply going to have too hard a time trying to score on the Eagles defense, but that won’t stop it from fighting till the bitter end. The Spartans were extremely shorthanded when these teams last met, but they’re fully healthy now and will be out for revenge. Look for this one to be a bit more competitive than the first go round, but for the end result to be the same.
College Basketball Odds: N.C. Central 64, Norfolk State 59
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