The St. Joseph’s Hawks will face the Oregon Ducks in the second round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in Spokane, Washington with a scheduled tip-off of 9:40 PM ET. The betting odds opened with Oregon -7 points over St. Joseph’s with an O/U line of 157.
No. 1 Oregon held up their end of the deal, routing No. 16 Holy Cross 91-52. Friday’s performance against Holy Cross certainly bolstered Oregon’s legitimacy. St. Joe’s also in their own right enter in impressive fashion. The No. 8 Hawks defeated No. 9 Cincinnati most recently in the first round but previous to this, the Hawks took down George Washington, Dayton and VCU in route to an Atlantic 10 Championship.
St. Joe’s is 28-7 for a reason, they are a premiere squad in defending the three-ball, something Oregon does not do. Furthermore, the Hawks surrender just one more point per game than Oregon does in scoring defense and far more formidable in disrupting opponent shooting. The Ducks as mentioned, rank among the worst in defending the three-ball in America, allowing a success rate of 36.3%. The Ducks score 78.8 points per game and hit 46.7% of their shots, St. Joe’s averages 77.6 points per game and hits 45.5% of their shots. On a neutral court, this game is likely a 50/50 bet, yet the market indicates otherwise. St. Joe’s is a team that can go blow for blow with Oregon in virtually every key offensive capacity.
St. Joseph’s Hawks: 28-7 SU, 23-10 ATS
Oregon Ducks: 29-6 SU, 20-12 ATS
- Oregon has won their last nine consecutive games.
- St. Joseph’s is 7-3 SU in their last ten fixtures.
- Both squads are 6-4 ATS in their last match-ups.
An overwhelming 84% of the public haven taken the Ducks against the spread. This same sample of 84% have also laid to juice to grab Oregon on the Money Line at -290, as opposed to booking the Hawks at 230. 70% of the public are on the over for a Total Line sitting at 157.