Friday NCAA: Midwest Region – Dayton vs. West Virginia
The Dayton Flyers are back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years, but as the No. 11 seed they have their hands full with No. 6 West Virginia, a Big East Tournament semifinalist, in Friday’s Midwest Region game in Minneapolis.
The Mountaineers are 9.5-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.
The Flyers probably were definitely one of the last at-large teams to get a bid and are the third team out of the Atlantic 10. Still, this is a good club, having won 26 games and tying for second in the A-10. And WVU better be ready, because Dayton is 5-2 in the last three years against BCS programs and has won three consecutive games against Big East opponents.
Plus one of WVU’s best players is struggling. In the past nine games, or since a career-high 43 points, De’Sean Butler is shooting just under 35 percent from the field and 26 percent on his 3-point attempts. Prior to a 9-for-17 effort in WVU’s last game, a loss to Syracuse in the Big East tournament semifinals Friday night, he was shooting only 32 percent in eight previous games.
Still, over the last six games of the regular season, when he wasn’t shooting well, he averaged 3.2 assists and had three double-figure rebounding games. Butler, a second-team Big East pick, 17.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game on the season. Freshman Devin Ebanks was named to the Big East rookie team after averaging 10.4 ppg and 7.7 rpg.
The Flyers are a great defensive team, having held all but five teams under their scoring average. They are 22-3 when out-rebounding the opponent and have held the opposition to under 50 percent shooting from the floor in all but three games.
Dayton is led on offense by Chris Wright (12.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Marcus Johnson (12.2 ppg). The Flyers are 0-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 11 seed. But they are 11-1 this season in games decided by five points or less, the best record of close games in the nation.
WagerWeb.com Trends
* Flyers are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games following a S.U. loss.
* Flyers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog.
* Flyers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS loss.
* Flyers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. Big East.
* Flyers are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.
* Mountaineers are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games following a S.U. loss.
* Mountaineers are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games as a favorite of 7.0-12.5.
* Mountaineers are 8-1-1 ATS in their last 10 NCAA Tournament games.
* Mountaineers are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games following a ATS loss.
* Mountaineers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 NCAA Tournament games as a favorite.
* Mountaineers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 Friday games.
* Mountaineers are 5-11 ATS in their last 16 vs. Atlantic 10.
* Mountaineers are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 neutral site games as a favorite.
* Mountaineers are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 non-conference games.
NCAA Basketball Betting at WagerWeb.com
