Betting On Davidson - NCAA Tournament Odds

[Qbins Missile Crisis]

NCAAB: Cinderella in the house

The Davidson Wildcats are this year’s ‘Cinderella’, but will they finally meet their match in the ornery Badgers of Wisconsin?

Number three seed Wisconsin is a 4 ½-point favorite over 10th seed Davidson for Friday’s 7:10 pm ET game in Detroit. So far, an incredible 89% of the betting public is backing the Badgers.

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Wisconsin (31-4, 19-13 ATS) is the Big Ten champion, led by one of the most underrated coaches in the country in Bo Ryan. Ryan preaches great team defense and unselfish offense and that’s paid off so far in this tournament.

In the first round, the Badgers struggled in the first half against Cal State Fullerton, but pulled away in the second for a 71-56 win. That made many ‘cheeseheads’ ecstatic as they covered the 11 ½-point spread. Wisconsin played even better in their last game, easily handling Kansas State, 72-55 as 4 ½-point chalk.

The Kansas State game signified what this team is all about. They got 25 points from guard Trevon Hughes, and they won handily even though two of their top scorers, Brian Butch and Marcus Landry combined for just 11 points. Wisconsin is capable of getting a big scoring night from any of their top six players, but they don’t depend on any one player.

Defensively, they held one of the top scorers in the country, Michael Beasley, to just six points in the second half when he was needed the most. That kind of effort will be crucial against Southern Conference Davidson (28-6, 21-11 ATS) and their red-hot guard, Stephen Curry.

Curry is the son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry, and is one of only six players to score 30 points or more in each of his first three NCAA Tournament games, dating back to last year. The other five players were Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Glenn Robinson, Jerry Chambers and Clyde Lovellette so he’s in very impressive company.

Curry almost single-handily propelled Davidson to wins (and covers) over Gonzaga and Georgetown in the tournament. His 35 PPG average in this tourney is almost 10 points more than his season average.

Wisconsin knows they will win this game as long as Curry doesn’t go crazy again, and that’s why they’ll have Michael Flowers covering him. Flowers is one of the best lockdown defenders in the country, and he’ll make sure Curry earns every one of his points. Flowers is sure to get a lot of help from his teammates who will jump out at the screens.

When Wisconsin is on offense, look for them to get the ball down low to the 6’11” Butch. Butch has a big size advantage and he should get it in the post early and often. Davidson was very fortunate that Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert was limited in their game due to foul trouble, but they can’t count on that again.

Something has to give in this game as Davidson has the nation's longest winning streak at 24 games. The Badgers have won 12 straight games and 25 of 27 overall. Someone’s going home unhappy, but it should be a can’t-miss game either way.

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