Round 2 – Bulls vs Bobcats CBB Handicapping Prediction
Both 12th seed South Florida and Ohio have already pulled off some upsets in the Big Dance and USF and their stellar defense has held their 2 opponents in the Big Dance to only 54 and 44 points respectively.
Venue/ Stadium: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Time/Date: 7:10 PM EST Sunday, March 17, 2012
NCAA Odds From: Bovada
Moneyline: Ohio +125 / USF -145
Spread (ATS): USF -2.5
Over/Under: 115
Ohio Bobcats vs. South Florida Bulls Preview
The Bobcats play an up-tempo style while USF plays a slow half-court game and the team that can execute their strength will win this game and advance to the Sweet 16.
In their last games Ohio beat Michigan 65-60 and USF beat Temple 58-44.
This season Ohio is 14-13 ATS with an O/U record of 11-16 and South Florida is 18-14 ATS with an O/U record of 9-23.
The Bulls will have to rely on their D to win since they only rank 328th in the nation in scoring and they do not have one player that is averaging in double figures in scoring. In the win over Temple the Bulls played great D holding the Owls to only 35.7% shooting, but they also were ice cold on offense and luckily they shot the 3 well.
Victor Rudd Jr. and Anthony Collins combined for 34 points in the win over Temple and these 2 and Augustus Gilchrist, who was 0/6 from the field in the game, have to give the Bulls some offense.
Ohio leading scorer D.J. Cooper (14.6 ppg) has been playing great at the end of the season and had 21 points and hit 3 of his 6 3-pointers in the win over Michigan. He and backcourt mate Walter Offutt (11.7 ppg) can both drain the 3 and the Bulls have to play good perimeter D in this game. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The Bobcats held Michigan to only 40.7% shooting in their win and if they play good D again they will not have to score many points to win.
4 out of 5 starters for Ohio shot at least 50% from the field and the Bulls will have their hands full since the Bobcats have several guys that can score.
Ohio G Walter Offutt said it best about this game stating, “We need to go out there and be aggressive and play our game. It will be fun, and we’ll be fine.”
In some betting trends for this Midwest Region 3rd round game Ohio is 19-6-1 ATS in their last 26 games as an underdog, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, and they have an Under record of 4-1 in their last 5 games.
USF is 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games overall, 4-0 ATS in their last 4 non-conference games, and they have an Under record of 4-0 in their last 4 games as a favorite.
Jason’s Pick: Have to go with the Bulls in this game, as they have won 2 straight Big Dance games and their D with shut down the Ohio offense. Take the Bulls to win this game and cover the spread.
