The 14th-seeded Morehead State Eagles (23-7) hit the court in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament against the No. 3 seed West Virginia Mountaineers (18-9) on Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium. The contest tips off at 9:50 PM ET on TRU. Morehead State is a heavy, 13-point underdog in the game. Here’s what you need to know before filling out your brackets for this 3-14 matchup in the Midwest Region.
The Mountaineers were led by 19 points from Taz Sherman in their 72-69 loss to Oklahoma State on Thursday. They failed to cover the spread in the contest and the teams combined to go under the 150-point over/under.
Johni Broome led the way for the Eagles with a team-high 27 points last time out as they picked up a 86-71 win over Belmont and covered the 6.5-point spread as underdogs. The teams combined to go over the 135.5 point total set for the matchup.
Morehead State at West Virginia: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list.
Lines last updated at 6:25 AM ET on March 19, 2021.
- Money line: Morehead State +650 (bet $100 to win $650) | West Virginia -1100 (bet $1100 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Morehead State +13 (-110) | West Virginia -13 (-110)
- Over/Under: 137.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
West Virginia: Three things to know
- Miles McBride leads the Mountaineers in points and assists. He averages 15.4 points per game while adding 4.7 assists. Sean McNeil averages 2.3 made threes per game to pace the team.
- The 77.3 points per game the Mountaineers average are 13.9 more points than the Eagles allow (63.4).
- West Virginia has a 17-9 record overall and a 13-0-1 record against the spread when scoring more than 63.4 points.
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Morehead State: Three things to know
- Broome leads the Eagles in scoring (13.9 points per game) and rebounding (9.0 rebounds per game). Skyelar Potter paces the squad with a team-high 2.0 made three-pointers per game.
- The Eagles score an average of 68.8 points per game, only 3.3 fewer points than the 72.1 the Mountaineers give up to opponents.
- Morehead State has put together a 10-0 ATS record and a 14-0 overall record in games where it scores more than 72.1 points.
Morehead State at West Virginia: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
West Virginia 76, Morehead State 64
Money line
The West Virginia Mountaineers are the favorites to win this game according to both the model and BetMGM.
Against the spread (ATS)
The spread for this matchup suggested by the model (12.2 points) is slightly less than the 13-point edge MGM gives to the Mountaineers, though the data still has them as the favorite.
Over/Under (O/U)
The MGM point total for this game is just 3.3 points lower than the model projection.
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