Long Island was quite dominant in the Northeast Conference.
The Sharks, who are 24-10 overall, went 15-3 in NEC play during the regular season before winning the league championship. LIU, led by head coach Rod Strickland, beat Mercyhurst for the NEC Championship, 79-70.
LIU has won 13 of its last 15 games, including each of its last five. But it’s fair to say the Sharks’ next opponent has been doing pretty well, too.
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LIU, seeded 16th in the West Region of the bracket, will play No. 1-seeded Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Arizona is 32-2 overall and was 16-2 against Big 12 teams before the conference tournament. The Wildcats ended up defeating Houston 79-74 for the league crown, their latest in a nine-game winning streak.
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Arizona vs. LIU Odds
LIU is a +30.5 college basketball betting odds underdog against Arizona, with the Over/Under being 150.5 points as of this writing.
Arizona vs. LIU On TV
The matchup between Arizona and LIU will be televised on TNT. The game will tip off at 1:35 p.m. ET on Friday, March 20.
The contest is taking place at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California.
Arizona vs. LIU Prediction
I predict Arizona will win but LIU will cover the 30.5-point spread. I also project the game will go Over 150.5 total points.
I think LIU can make this interesting early on.
Jamal Fuller leads the Sharks with 16.4 points per game while shooting 52.5% from the field and 43.8% from 3-point range. Malachi Davis is averaging 14.4 points and a team-high 3.4 assists per contest. Greg Gordon leads LIU with 5.5 rebounds per game and 1.8 steals per game while scoring 14.1 PPG.
But Arizona is excellent in myriad ways.
The Wildcats are 14th in the country in scoring (86.1 PPG), sixth in rebounding margin (plus-10), and 37th in assist-to-turnover ratio (plus-1.57). They also are eighth in the nation in defensive field goal percentage, as their opponents have made 39.17% of their shots.
I don’t see a clear weakness of Arizona’s that LIU is capable of exploiting. So I expect the Wildcats will manage to win by about 20 points.
