In the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the South Region, the 9th seed Kansas State Wildcats (22-11) face the 8th seed Creighton Bluejays (21-11) in a game held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tip-off for this neutral site game is at 6:50 PM ET Friday, March 16. On the NCAA betting board, Creighton is the 1.5-point favorite with the total line at 144 points.
In their latest, Kansas State lost to a ranked Kansas team 83-67 in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament losing not only the match but also against the point spread line. The 150 points scored by the two teams comfortably surpassed the 138.5 total line to send OVER bettors to the window.
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In the game, Makol Mawien was the high scorer for the Wildcats picking up 29 points on 13 of 19 shooting, and he was one of only two players on the team that scored in double figures. Kansas State was outscored by 13 points in the first half and made a run in the second half to get within four before fading late. For the game, they had 46.7 FG%, and Kansas countered with a 48.3 FG%, but the main difference in the game was their shooting from three-point land going 2 of 13. Kansas State had won two in a row before their loss to Kansas, and on the season is 2-3 in games held at a neutral site.
Creighton lost to Providence 72-68 in OT in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament in their last match. The Bluejays were favored by 3.5-points in the game resulting in a point spread loss, and over time couldn’t help OVER bettors with the combined 140 points falling short of the 149 O/U line.
Marcus Foster was the high scorer for the Bluejays with 19 points on 8 of 18 shooting missing five of his seven 3-pointers and three starters for the team scored at least 12 points. Creighton was outscored by four points in the second half to send the game to overtime and then faltered. They played well overall holding Providence to a 36.9 FG% but lost the battle on the glass giving up 16 offensive rebounds while only grabbing six. Creighton has lost two in a row and has a negative record on neutral courts this season in limited opportunities going 1-2 this season.
Kansas State ranks 216th n the nation in ppg and 58th in opponents’ ppg, and Creighton ranks 10th in ppg and 266th in opponents’ ppg.
This game is the first-ever meeting between these teams.
This season Kansas State is 14-16 ATS with an O/U record of 11-18-2 and Creighton is 14-16 ATS with an O/U record of 16-14.
Get more details: Kansas State at Creighton NCAAB Match-Up
SAGARIN RATINGS
Kansas State: 83.94
Creighton: 85.94
INJURY REPORT
KANSAS STATE
(!)[G] 03/11/2018 – Barry Brown is upgraded to probable Friday vs. Creighton ( Eye )
(!)[F] 03/11/2018 – Dean Wade is upgraded to probable Friday vs. Creighton ( Foot )
CREIGHTON
[F] 01/18/2018 – Martin Krampelj is out for season ( ACL )
Kansas State at Creighton Key Betting Trends
- KSU is 0-4 ATS in their last four non-conference games
- KSU is 1-5 ATS in their previous six games held at a neutral site
- KSU has an Under record of 11-5-1 in their previous 17 games
- CRE is 2-8 ATS in their last ten games
- CRE is 21-10 ATS in their last 31 non-conference games
- CRE has an Over record of 10-3 in their last 13 non-conference games
