West Regional – Oklahoma City, OK (truTV, 7:45 p.m. ET)
No. 11 Northern Iowa vs. No. 3 Texas A&M
— This is a West Region matchup between third-seeded Texas A&M (27-8 straight up, 16-12 against the spread) and 11th-seeded No. Iowa. The winner moves on to Anaheim to face the Oklahoma-VCU winner. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. Eastern on TruTV.
— The Westgate SuperBook opened Texas A&M as a 6.5-point favorite with a total of 127. The tally was adjusted to 127.5 by early Saturday night. The Panthers were +250 on the money line (risk $100 to win $250).
— No. Iowa (23-12 SU, 20-13 ATS) advanced to the Round of 32 with a victory over Texas in one of the most thrilling finishes in NCAA Tournament history. With 2.7 seconds remaining, the Panthers had the ball in a tie game on the opposite baseline. Matt Bohannon threw the inbound pass to Paul Jesperson, who took the pass at the opposite timeline, took two dribbles to his left and forward a touch and took off. By the time he released the shot, he was at halfcourt. The ball hung in the air, kissed home off the glass just after the horn sounded and the Longhorns were sent home in gut-wrenching fashion.
— NIU’s Wes Washpun was the catalyst with 17 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Jeremy Morgan added 16 points.
— NIU has won seven in a row while going 6-0-1 ATS.
— No. Iowa has been an underdog 12 times this year, going 6-6 both SU and ATS. However, the Panthers have won outright in four consecutive games from the role of underdogs.
— Washpun averages team-highs in scoring (14.3 PPG) and assists (5.1 APG). Morgan (10.5 PPG) averages team-bests in rebounds (5.1 RPG), field-goal percentage (48.4%), steals (1.9 SPG) and blocked shots (0.9 BPG).
— Since losing four straight games in early February, Texas A&M has been hot with nine wins in its last 10 games while going 8-2 ATS. The only defeat came in overtime to Kentucky in the finals of the SEC Tournament.
— Texas A&M advanced to the Round of 32 by spanking Wisconsin-Green Bay by a 92-65 count as a 13-point favorite. Danuel House paced the Aggies with 20 points by draining 8-of-12 from the field and 2-of-3 from downtown. Tonny Trocha-Morelos added 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals with zero turnovers.
— Billy Kennedy’s squad has been a single-digit ‘chalk’ 17 times, posting a 9-7-1 spread record.
— The ‘under’ is 20-14 overall for the Panthers, 7-2 in their last nine games.
— The ‘under’ is 17-13 overall for the Aggies, but they have seen the ‘over’ go 4-1 in their last five outings.
East Regional – St. Louis, MO (TNT, 8:40 p.m. ET)
No. 2 Xavier vs. No. 7 Wisconsin
— This is an East Region 2/7 matchup that’ll be contested Sunday in St. Louis at 8:40 p.m. Eastern on TNT. The winner advances to Philadelphia to meet the winner of
— The Westgate opened Xavier (28-5 SU, 20-13 ATS) as a 4.5-point favorite with a total of 136. That’s where both numbers remained early Saturday night. The Badgers were +180 on the money line (risk $100 to win $180).
— Chris Mack’s squad advanced to the Round of 32 while simultaneously hooking up its backers in a 71-53 win over Weber State as a 13-point favorite. James Farr stole the show with 18 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots. Jalen Reynolds added 12 points and five boards, while Myles Davis contributed six points, eight boards and six assists.
— Xavier has been a single-digit ‘chalk’ 13 times, cashing tickets at a frenetic 9-4 ATS clip.
— Xavier is led in scoring by Trevon Bluiett, who averages 15.3 points per game. Farr (11.0 PPG) averages 8.0 RPG and has a team-high 33 rejections.
-Wisconsin (21-12 SU, 17-16 ATS) won a 47-43 decision over Pittsburgh as a one-point underdog Friday night. The 90 combined points easily stayed ‘under’ the 130.5-point tally. Ethan Happ led the way with 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocked shot. Nigel Hayes was an abysmal 3-of-17 from the field but made enough free throws to contribute 12 points and five boards.
— Wisconsin is 11-4 ATS in its last 15 games.
— Wisconsin has been an underdog 13 times, compiling a 7-6 spread record with six outright victories.
— The ‘under’ is on a 9-1 run for the Badgers to improve to 19-14 overall.
— The ‘over’ is 21-12 overall for the Musketeers, cashing in eight of their last nine contests.
— These schools haven’t squared off since the 2009 NCAA Tournament when Xavier knocked off the Badgers 60-49 as a 2.5-point favorite.
West Regional – Spokane, WA (TBS, 9:40 p.m. ET)
No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 St. Joseph’s
— This is a West Region showdown in Spokane, WA., between top-seeded Oregon and eighth-seeded St. Joseph’s with the winner advancing to Anaheim to face No. 4 seed Duke. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. Eastern on TBS.
— The Westgate opened Oregon as a six-point favorite with a total of 157. Since then, the total hasn’t budged but the Ducks are now favored by 6.5 points. They are 3.5-point ‘chalk’ for first-half wagers.
— Oregon (29-6 SU, 20-12 ATS) advanced to the Round of 32 by beating up on Holy Cross 91-52 as a 22.5-point favorite. The 143 combined points jumped ‘over’ the 133.5-point total. Chris Boucher scored a team-high 20 points in only 17 minutes of playing time, hitting 8-of-12 shots from the field. Elgin Cook finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, while Dillon Brook tallied 11 points, six boards and five assists without a turnover.
— Brooks averages 16.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Boucher (12.3 PPG) averages team-bests in rebounding (7.5 RPG), field-goal percentage (54.8%) and blocks (3.0 BPG).
— Oregon has won nine in a row while going 6-3 ATS. The Ducks have taken the money in three straight and six of their last seven.
— Oregon has been a single-digit favorite 17 times, compiling a 10-7 spread record.
— St. Joseph’s (28-7 SU, 23-10 ATS) hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2004 until late Friday night, when it slipped past Cincinnati 78-76 win as a 3.5-point underdog. Isaiah Miles buried the go-ahead 3-pointer with nine seconds left to put the Hawks up by two, but Cincy’s Octavius Ellis dunked at the buzzer to tie it. After a video review, however, the dunk was waved off as it came just a fraction of a second late.
— DeAndre Bembry was the catalyst against the Bearcats, producing 23 points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Miles finished with 19 points, seven boards, two blocks and two assists without a turnover. Aaron Brown was also in double figures with 13 points.
— St. Joseph’s has been an incredible underdog this season, going 9-1-1 ATS with nine outright victories.
— The ‘under’ is 17-15 overall for the Ducks, but they’ve seen the ‘over’ hit in three consecutive contests.
— The ‘over’ has hit at a 12-2 clip in the Hawks’ last 14 games, going 20-13-1 overall.
