North Carolina Tar Heels versus Butler Bulldogs March Madness Betting preview
Date: Friday, 24th March
Place: FedEx Forum – Memphis, TN
March madness odds:
Butler +7½ (-110) 153 (-110) +280
North Carolina -7½ (-110) 153 (-110) -340
The Tar Heels knocked off Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday to make it to the Sweet 16 for the third year in a row. Kennedy Meeks had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Justin Jackson added 15 points and eight rebounds, and Joel Berry II scored 10 points. UNC blew a 17-point lead in the first half, but tip-in with 44.2 seconds remaining made all the difference in the world. Berry drove and collided with Adrio Bailey like Dagwood Bumstead crashing into Mr. Beasley. The ball flew off onto the backboard Meeks came through with his the tip-in to make it 68-65.
Butler dispensed with Middle Tennessee 74-65 in the second round on Saturday to return to the Sweet 16 after an absence of five years. It is worth noting that the last two times the Bulldogs appeared in the Sweet 16 (2010, 2011) they made it all the way to the national championship game. Andrew Chrabascz scored 15 points and Kamar Baldwin added 13, but it was Kelan Martin who came off the bench swinging with 19 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Defensively, Butler held Giddy Potts to 0 of 8 from the floor. Talk about a giddy spell.
UCLA Bruins versus Kentucky Wildcats March Madness Betting Preview
Date: Friday, 24th March
Place: FedEx Forum – Memphis, TN
March madness odds:
UCLA -1 (-110) 168 (-110) -118
Kentucky +1 (-110) 168 (-110) -102
The Bruins defeated Cincinnati 79-67 in the second round on Sunday for their third Sweet 16 appearance in four years with head coach Steve Alford. Lonzo Ball posted 18 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists, while Bryce Alford added 16 points, and TJ Leaf and Thomas Welsh scored 11 apiece. UCLA shot 63.3% from the floor in the second half to overcome a 33-30 deficit at halftime. The Bruins will go on to face No. 2-seed Kentucky. UCLA knocked the Wildcats right off the top spot in the AP poll back in December with a 97-92 win in Lexington.
Kentucky beat Wichita State 66-62 in the second round on Sunday to go back to the Sweet 16 after coming up short last season. Malik Monk and Deaaron Fox scored 14 points each, and Edrice Adebayo added 13. And speaking of 13, that’s the number of consecutive games that Universitas Kentuckiensis has won. Adebayo also had 10 rebounds for a second straight double-double and the fifth in nine games, thus becoming only the second Kentucky player to post double-doubles in their first two NCAA Tournament games and the first since Julius Randle in 1985. The core of the Wildcats is comprised of freshmen, and they are in fact the youngest team in the NCAA tourney, yet they will enter Friday as the slight march madness betting favorite against UCLA.