NCAAB News and Notes Tuesday 3/24

Tuesday's NIT Quarterfinals
By Judd Hall

We still have a few days to find out who will be heading to the NCAA’s Final Four in Detroit. But it won’t be long before we have the four teams who will be playing at Madison Square Garden in the NIT semifinals.

There are two games on Tuesday night to punch the first two tickets to New York City. One of the matches pits two of VegasInsider.com’s own against one another.

Baylor Bears at Auburn Tigers

--Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened the Tigers as 5 ½-point home favorites with a total of 146.

--Baylor (22-14 straight up, 11-17 against the spread) has continued its solid play from the Big XII postseason into this tournament. The Bears have advanced to the quarterfinals thanks to crushing Virginia Tech as four-point road ‘dogs on March 21, 84-66. Baylor’s win was truly a team effort as six of its players scored at least 10 points against the Hokies. Kevin Rogers (no relation to the Insider Edge’s host) led all scorers with 16 point and eight rebounds.

--The Bears have won five of their last six matches. More importantly to bettors, they’re covering at a nice 4-2 ATS clip.

--Auburn (24-11 SU, 21-7 ATS) is doing its level best to look like they should have been in the big dance. Jeff Lebo’s crew has made it one match closer to the Big Apple by dropping Tulsa last Friday night, 74-55. The Tigers easily covered as six-point home faves in that matchup.

--The Tigers continue to be a great team to get behind as they’ve gone 11-2 ATS in their past 13 tilts.

--If there is one thing you can say about Auburn right off the bat is they lack size with just one player at 6-foot-10, junior Brendon Knox. So how do you open up some space in the paint when you don’t have the big bodies? Why you stretch the defense with a long range attack.

--The Tigers have been damn near automatic from three-point land, completing 22 of their 50 shots. Keep a close eye on guys like DeWayne Reed as he’s hitting 32.8 percent of his shots from beyond the arch.

--Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum has been a den of despair for non-conference clubs as Auburn is 12-1 SU and 5-1 ATS this season against them. The ‘over’ is 4-2 in those matchups.

--Baylor has been awful in true road games this season with a 3-8 SU and ATS mark for the year.

--The Bears have seen the ‘under’ go 11-3-1 in their previous 15 matches.

--Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN.

Penn State Nittany Lions at Florida Gators

--LVSC has opened the line up for this game with the Gators as 9 ½-point home favorites with a total of 140.

--The frustration of not making the NCAA Tournament has been turned into the motivation for Penn State (24-11 SU, 15-12-1 ATS) to keep its season alive. The Nittany Lions are just two wins shy of having the best record in the program’s history after dropping Rhode Island as one-point home favorites on March 19, 83-72.

--The Nittany Lions were able to pull out the win despite being without Jamelle Cornley, who sat out with a bad shoulder. Stanley Pringle helped take care of business with 19 points and four rebounds. Talor Battle was solid as well with 16 points, five assists and four boards. It wasn’t all happy times for PSU since Battle left the game with a little over three minutes remaining with a hip injury.

--Regardless of Cornley and Battle playing on Tuesday, the Lions will be trying to proof themselves and the Big Ten Conference. VegasInsider.com’s own, and Penn State alum, Chris David believes the league’s stigma is unwarranted.

--“People often mistake the Big Ten for being overrated, but the conference is tougher than expected. The brand of basketball may be boring to some, but it’s arguably the most competitive group in the land.”

--David continues, “The only doormats were IU and Iowa, leaving nine teams with an opportunity to dance. Two teams are left in the Sweet 16 and Michigan played respectively against OU.”

--Florida (25-10 SU, 12-15-1 ATS) is on the verge of making its fourth NIT Final Four after beating the Hurricanes as a 5 ½-point home “chalk” on March 20, 74-60. Nick Calathes helped keep the Gators’ season going by scoring 21 points with six boards and seven assists…12 of his 21 points came from the perimeter.

--The Gators shot 52 percent from the field against Miami, FL last Friday night as a team. Playing at home has definitely helped them out during the postseason as they’re hitting 54.2 percent of their field goals in the NIT. Compare that to the 39.3 percent UF connected on while at the SEC Tournament.

--The ‘under’ has cashed a lot of tickets in Florida’s matches as it has hit in five straight tilts.

--Penn State is on the other side of the spectrum with the ‘over’ going 5-1 in its last six contests.

--Billy Donovan’s club loves playing at the O’Connell Center as evidenced by its 17-1 SU mark. Yet they’re only 5-6 ATS.

--Break down that home record down to when UF was a single-digit “chalk” and you find out that they are 4-1 SU and 3-2 ATS.

--The Gators are just 4-3 SU against teams from the Big Ten, but 2-5 ATS. The ‘over’ is 5-2 in those matches as well.

--The Nittany Lions aren’t that great when playing in true road tests with a 5-6 SU and 6-5 ATS record this season.

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