Online betting favors West Virginia on Thursday night as they play Washington in the Sweet Sixteen but the Mountaineers suffered a big loss this week when starting guard Darryl “Truck” Byrant broke his right foot. The Mountaineers are still four-point favorites at Internet gambling companies.
Online betting statistics indicated that Bryant averaged 9.3 points, 3.1 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game. West Virginia will probably replace him in the lineup with Joe Mazzula. “It hurts our depth a little bit,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said, “But Joe is ready. He’s been playing really well for us. He shot the ball really well in practice and in the games. He’ll be fine.”
West Virginia may be hurt a little bit by the loss of Bryant but they still have Da’Sean Butler and he may be all they need in this game against Washington on Thursday. Butler will be the best player on the court and Washington may not be able to contain him. The Mountaineers may also be extremely focused to make sure the injury to Bryant is not an excuse. “Everyone is good,” Huggins said, “They’re sad for Truck, obviously, but they’re fine.”
Washington is led by Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas. The Huskies were not really respected coming into the NCAA Tournament but they are getting some attention now at Internet gambling companies. Washington is an 11 seed but they are only four point underdogs to West Virginia who is seeded second. Normally when a number two seed is facing a number eleven seed the online betting odds would be higher. Washington is playing well though and many people believe they can upset West Virginia and move on to the Elite Eight. “We knew that we were a good team coming into the season and lot of people expected us to do well and we weren’t able to do that during the season,” said guard Elston Turner, “We had our highs and lows and a lot of people doubted us, but we kept it going and we had faith in ourselves and our coaches and we knew at some point it was going to start clicking. We’re glad that point is now.”
Washington has never advanced past the Sweet Sixteen but they believe this is the year. “As a senior you want to go out with the best ending possible. It adds to the legacy but I just want to see this team go as far as possible. I don’t care about anything else personally.” Washington’s Quincy Pondexter said.
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