No. 11 Washington Huskies v. No. 2 West Virginia Mountaineers
2010-03-25
The No. 11 seed Washington Huskies (26 – 9) will meet the No. 2 seed West Virginia Mountaineers (29 -6) this Thursday, March 25, 2010 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York.
This is a matchup between the Pac 10 and the Big East in the East Regional semi-finals for a spot in the Elite 8. Both schools seek their first trip to Final Four in more than 50 years. The Mountaineers lost the national championship in 1959. The Huskies advanced to the national semifinals in 1953, which is the farthest they have gone in the tournament. But this is a whole new year and the past doesn’t really count, Washington has won 9 straight games, including the Pac 10 tournament, while West Virginia has won 8 straight games, which includes beating everyone in the Big East tournament.
Washington averages almost 80 points a game while allowing only 70 points per game. The Huskies opened the tournament scoring 80 on Marquette and 82 against New Mexico. Put it in perspective the New Mexico Lobos usually hold their opponents to 67. West Virginia goes for almost 73 points per night and keeps their opponents to 63 point per game. The Mountaineers held Morgan State to 50 points per game and Missouri to 59 points per game.
West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler has been one of the most exciting players in the tournament to watch play this year. He’s coming off of a great 28 point scoring night against Missouri their last time out, not to mention he will be Washington’s biggest defensive task throughout the game to hold his scoring down. The Washington Huskies will also need to find a way to contain Kevin Jones and Devin Ebanks from the Mountaineers, that is a lot of players and talent the Huskies need to keep an eye on. Both forwards average double digit points per game and are strong rebounders in the paint, which I think is the key to any win in college basketball.
Washington will try to keep the pace of this match up and score as many points in transition as possible, as they do not match up well one on one with the West Virginia Mountaineers. Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas have been solid leaders for the Washington Huskies so far in the tournament, but they will both need to play at a high level to beat out the No. 2 seed in the East Region.
I like how Washington looked in their first two games of the NCAA tournament, but the West Virginia Mountaineers have too many options to give the ball up to on the offensive end for the Huskies to keep track of.
www.Sportsbook.com has the West Virginia Mountaineers as 4.5 point favorites over the Washington Huskies and the over / under is set at 142. Even though I like the Mountaineers to come out on top in this game, I don’t really like the line. However the over / under at 142 is perfect for an over bet.
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