Wichita State Shockers vs Arizona Wildcats NCAA Betting Preview & Odds
NCAA Tournament 2nd round action on Thursday and we will see the Wichita State Shockers take on the Arizona Wildcats at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence in Rhode Island. This one should be a doozy. TNT will carry this game, which has a start time of 9:20 pm EST.
Current betting odds for this game have the have the Wildcats listed as 1.5 point favorites, while the total has been set at 136.5.
The Wichita State Shockers come in off a strong 70-50 win over Vanderbilt in a First Four game on Tuesday night. The Shockers were 3.5 point favorites in the game and covered that spread easily. Defense has been their calling card all year and it really showed up in this none vs a good Vanderbilt offensive team as they held the commodores top just 30.2% shooting overall and 3-19 from long range. Wichita State is now 25-8 on the year, which includes an 8-5 mark SU in non-conference play, but they are just 5-6 ATS in those games and we note that teams that win a play in game are just 5-25 SU in their next game. The Shockers have 7 players that average at least 6.2 ppg They are led by the duo of Ron Baker, who averages 14.2 ppg and Fred VanVleet, who scores 12.0 ppg. The duo has also combined for 102 3-point makes on the year, while Baker leads the team in rebounding at 4.9 rpg. Overall Wichita State ranks 177th in the nation in scoring, putting up 73.1 ppg, while also ranking 214th in shooting overall, 255th from long range and 111th from the charity stripe. On defense they have been very strong this year as they come in ranked 1st in the nation in points allowed, giving up just 59.0 ppg, while also ranking 3rd defensive FG% overall and 45th in 3-point defense. Wichita State is 81st in the nation in rebounding, while they commit just 9.7 turnovers per game (9th) and force 15.2 turnovers per game (17th).
The Arizona Wildcats have had another strong year as they went 25-8 overall and 12-6 in a very tough Pac-12, but still they are just a 6th sewed in the tournament and now have to travel to the east coast to take on a dangerous Wichita State team. Seems a bit unfair, but Arizona was 12-1 SU and 7-6 ATS vs Non-conference teams this year and HC Sean Miller is 13-2 SU and 11-3-1 ATS in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Arizona goes about 8 deep, with all 8 players averaging in 5.2 ppg or more. Ryan Anderson leads the team in both scoring (15.5 ppg) and rebounding (10.1 rpg), while Gabe York (15.2 ppg) and Allonzo Trier (15.0 ppg) also average in double figures for the Cats. Overall the Cats check in at 19th in the nation in scoring, putting up 81.2 ppg, while also ranking 19th in shooting overall, 32nd from long range and 87th from the charity stripe. On defense they have been solid this year as they come in ranked 103rd in the nation in points allowed, giving up just 69.0 ppg, while also ranking 64th defensive FG% overall and 56th in 3-point defense. Arizona is 18th in the nation in rebounding, while they commit 12.8 turnovers per game (188th) and force 11.6 turnovers per game (265th).
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