Virginia survived a bit of an unusual scare when head coach Tony Bennett collapsed of dehydration in the first round of its game against Hampton. Thankfully, Bennett was fine and returned in the second half as the Cavaliers easily rolled Hampton. Now Virginia has a much stiffer test when it takes on the always upset-minded Butler Bulldogs.
College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Butler Bulldogs +7
Virginia Cavaliers -7
Over/Under 132
HOW THE VIRGINIA CAVALIERS WILL COVER THE SPREAD
ACC Player of the Year Malcolm Brogdon gets most of the love for the Cavs and rightfully so, but Brogdon was just alright in UVA's opening round win over Hampton. Instead the Cavaliers were paced by Anthony Gill and London Perrantes, who each had stellar games in the winning effort. Gill went 8-13 from the floor and led all scorers with 19 points, while Perrantes went 4-8 from three point range in the blowout.
The story was Virginia's stellar defense, as usual. Quinton Chievous had a solid game for Hampton, but the rest of the team combined to go 10-43 from the floor and 1-15 from three point land.
That is not a recipe for pulling off an upset and why Virginia is so difficult to beat. UVA can shut you down and suffocate you with in your face defense all game long. For a team to knock out the Cavaliers, they have to have athletes who are able to create their own shots and shoot from range and not many teams have players that can do that.
HOW THE BUTLER BULLDOGS WILL COVER THE SPREAD
Butler and Texas Tech played pretty evenly for the first 20 minutes, but the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half thanks to Kellen Dunham's stellar shooting. Dunham hit five threes and shot better from 50 percent from the floor to help Butler pull away.
His performance was especially important as Roosevelt Jones, one of the usual stars of this team, really struggled from the floor, hitting just one of eight field goal attempts.
Jones still had a solid game in other aspects, collecting eight rebounds and dishing out six assists, and Butler winning by double digits with him struggling shows how deep the Bulldogs are. Tyler Wideman had a great performance with Jones having a bad night and Andrew Chrabascz and Kelan Martin stepping up as well.
To knock off No. 1 Virginia, all the pieces will need to click for 40 minutes.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Virginia is 18-14 ATS on the season and has now covered six of its last seven and eight of its last ten after handily covering a 23 point spread against Hampton. Unsurprisingly, the Cavaliers game against Hampton went under the total as 62.5 percent of UVA games have finished under the total this season.
The Bulldogs enter on an ATS tear covering six of their last seven and eight of their last ten as well. Butler has seen its last two games go under the total, but its previous five matchups all flew over the number.
Butler is a pretty good shooting team and has the experience to be able to pull off the upset. Virginia is seen as an overrated team by many that doesn't play the type of basketball that it takes to succeed in March. The Bulldogs will keep it close and cover the number, but Virginia will hold on for the win and advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
Virginia 68, Butler 62
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Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! Bet on college basketball today as the Virginia Cavaliers and the Butler Bulldogs square off Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 7:10 ET from the PNC Arena in Raleigh. The matchup will be televised nationally on TBS.
