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00:00a sweet 16 Thursday a quadruple header back in the NCAA tournament two games in
00:07the East region in Newark New Jersey let's fly across country and head out to
00:12the bay that would be San Francisco California that will house our two West
00:17region games that we have tonight including a one seed in Florida taking
00:21on a four seed in Maryland it is the first game inside the Chase Center
00:26that's the home of the Golden State Warriors who can perform like the Dubs
00:30we shall see Flora a six and a half point favorite DRS against Maryland
00:36total 157 and a half this game is really compelling if you've been following
00:41along in college basketball despite the Terps being in the big dance despite
00:46Maryland in a late game three act at theatrics courtesy of Derek Queen on
00:50Sunday evening in the round of 32 there has been a lot of speculation centered
00:55around the Terrapins head coach that is Kevin Willard one that he was going to
00:59leave for the Villanova job then he basically called out the entirety of
01:03Maryland athletics saying we are a poor University I need more money ousted the
01:09ad headed on his way to SMU and now yesterday DRS seemingly a lock to go to
01:16Villanova and be on the mainline once again when he was asked about his job
01:21status completely deflected and he is doing things in such a strange way that
01:27I'm not sure it's not a distraction tonight for Maryland a supremely
01:31talented team but now they go up against one of the most dangerous teams of the
01:35big dance that is Florida six and a half points spread in favor of the Gators
01:40with all the context necessary how do you break down this matchup yes it's the
01:45whole coaching scenario is odd like at least in the NFL there's sort of like a
01:48decorum there right you knew who the head coach of the Saints was going to be
01:52which was the Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore for weeks and
01:55weeks on end but there were no questions about it Kellen Moore wasn't deflecting
01:58Kellen Moore wasn't sound like you know I took the job don't really like it here
02:01was just like you know what keep that in the background that'll be settled up
02:03once the season ends it's crazy how these coaches in the biggest moments can
02:07be so so selfish and I don't care that will wait and McNeese state he was
02:10crying in the locker room he did those kids a huge disservice by saying I'm
02:14leaving here and making it about us instead of us at this point it's
02:19horrible it's the same thing well he was here exactly no he's not no no it's very
02:23different what will wait was a completely honest and transparent when
02:26he was asked about it at his press conference he said no no no doubt he
02:34told his team this is the plan here is what is happening here is our mission
02:38nonetheless Kevin Willard has probably told his team 19 different things
02:41instead of them being the story the Terrapins get into the sweet 16 for the
02:46first time since 2016 he has made it about himself who by the way in seven
02:51NCAA tournament trips Willard has made it to the sweet 16 once this year
02:56because of an all-world freshman in Derek Queen and a buzzer beater despite
03:01Nico Medved absolutely outclassing and out coaching Kevin Willard the will
03:06wait scenario is far far different in one of the reasons McNeese was locked in
03:10for the round of 64 game because they understood the entirety of the
03:15situation nobody at Maryland has a clue what is happening right now in Kevin
03:19Willard has made the story his own persona which is frankly not nearly as
03:23large as he thinks it is based on his actual coaching success I'll rather my
03:28coach Willard doing what he's doing exactly now we don't know what he's
03:31doing as opposed to we're like oh you go my guys used you abused you peace I
03:36don't care if you win or lose if I coach this game I hope we don't even win a
03:40tournament game so we can go over there and then I'm gonna turn on the
03:44waterfalls here oh guys you were my favorites I couldn't wait to get the
03:48hell out of this dust down here down in the south to get out to some real
03:52basketball teams not you bums in my locker room thanks for all the help see
03:56you lose my number new phone who dis if you're trying to call that's what I
04:00don't like about it so to me crab five that's not what happened coach now
04:04looking at that's exactly what happened from the same guy why you're guys under
04:09the table he was doing he was on the front of it
04:20no way one of the biggest scumbag coaches I've ever seen in college
04:24feel that way don't lie about what he did we should sue him he should have
04:30lied about it it was all about him this team finally gets to the biggest stage
04:34you get to win any pieces because he left him there news did you hear him on
04:43the wiretap with the FBI what an actor this guy is I never said that he also
04:46got busted for being honest his entire career has been a fraud fraudulent it is
04:54fun I speak the truth all right tonight in San Francisco Texas Tech taking on
05:01Arkansas the Red Raiders a five and a half point favorite total 147 and a half
05:06we will break down the games a little bit later on best best picks and preview
05:11welcome to our number three live right here on this glorious Thursday in the
05:16world of sports it is Major League Baseball opening day it is the return of
05:21the 2025 men's NCAA tournament a sweet Thursday at that the sweet 16 a
05:27quadrupleheader of games for us tonight back in the big dance we'll talk some of
05:32those upset alert possibilities on this Thursday night with four games to break
05:37down here to begin this third and final hour we'll talk to John Rothstein on the
05:42other side of the break as well we'll get you ready for the sweet 16 matchups
05:46and of course before the host of pro baseball today Donnie right side departs
05:50for the money line we'll get a best bet perhaps for opening day in the 14 games
05:55that we do have DRS a lot to dive into here in this third and final hour on a
06:02huge Thursday in the sports landscape we got a lot of certainties today and
06:06that's one we're gonna love the sweet 16 tonight we're gonna love Major League
06:09Baseball opening day and the question will be will Kevin Walsh show up on
06:12today's edition of money line we never know we hope he's there he could be
06:15there it's a big day in sports LeBron had a tip in last night so maybe pushes
06:19them over the top to join us today on the radio so that's the way we're gonna
06:22spend our number three having fun getting after it and setting the table
06:25as usual I believe Kevin Walsh will be there because I believe straight days
06:30not Kevin Walsh but he's not working tonight we move some things around
06:34because in New Jersey and our other studios out there there you can't bet
06:39the games that are in Newark in the East region so because of that Ian Lee are
06:45you working tomorrow tomorrow night no ah Sunday Sunday's my next day in the
06:50studio driving up there Sunday Sunday next day all right sounds good just
06:53wanted to make sure all right DRS let's get the people ready for our four games
06:56on this sweet 16 Thursday night two in the West region out in San Francisco two
07:02in the East region at the Rock in Newark New Jersey a lot to break down in which
07:08underdogs have the best chance not of just keeping the game close and
07:11competitive but maybe playing spoiler in pulling off the upset that was the
07:15question to all of you and fade the public
07:23which of tonight's underdogs is the best bet to win outright is it Arizona
07:31catching the most points they're getting nine and a half from Duke in the night
07:35cap tonight in Newark is it Arkansas with the return of a do-zero the big man
07:41down low for John Calipari makes his return tonight they are just a five and
07:46a half point dog against Texas Tech BYU only getting five and a half against
07:50Alabama as well in Maryland six and a half point dogs in the first game of the
07:55night in the West region out in San Fran against the Florida Gators those
08:00were your four options of course for a quadruple header sweet 16 Thursday
08:04night slate and Donnie it's really a split between BYU plus 188 that money
08:11line number or Arkansas at a plus 184 price against Texas Tech most of the
08:18public or at least a little bit more of the public around 37% backing Kevin
08:23young and his coogs on this heater which way to Donnie right side though look
08:28it's easy for me when you need an upset you need a team and a coach you can
08:32trust in the biggest moments here and that's the Maryland Terrapins at a plus
08:36205 price only 19% of the votes coming in so not necessarily a fade here but
08:41better than Arizona's getting Maryland the crab five on the west coast away
08:45from everything at an early start which could throw things off for the favorite
08:49team they're going up against so for me I picked Maryland I don't think BYU
08:52broke it down earlier I love Alabama today Arkansas to plus way to four I
08:56think that run ends and Arizona plus 360 playing the best team in college
09:01basketball which leads me with Maryland extenuating circumstances far away from
09:05home both teams earlier start maybe primed for an upset there how about that
09:09yeah the RSS we shared and things got a little bit tasty during the end of our
09:14opening hour I'm not believing in the Terps today I do wonder what the
09:18preparation level is for Florida not to say they're gonna get run out the gym
09:23but it's an interesting circumstance around this Terrapins team and I still
09:27believe Florida in my national championship pick is dangerous the
09:31Gators have yet to cover so far in the big dance and yet are the best covering
09:35team remaining in the NCAA tournament UF 26 and 10 against the spread this year
09:4126 and 8 ATS entering the NCAA tournament I don't know if Arizona
09:47keeps this game close I really do wonder about what the Wildcats can do
09:51offensively pacing up this game against such a stout Blue Devils defense that I
09:57do wonder how this looks and frankly DRS Duke has been a hefty favorite in every
10:02ACC game they have played they've been a hefty favorite so far in the big dance
10:06and they have been a great great cover team this year covering in both games
10:11in the NCAA tournament they have won 13 in a row including both victories in the
10:17big dance they have covered in 10 of those 13 booked as at least an eight and
10:22a half point favorite in every one I really do think the two spots of what
10:27the public is deciding between listen when the line opened up for the sweet 16
10:32at the end of our round of 32 action on Saturday for Texas Tech in Arkansas I
10:37backed the Red Raiders but injuries are going to be a huge component of tonight
10:41I hope chance McMillan can play still dealing with an upper body injury he is
10:45the best three-point shooter by far for Grant McCaslin and Texas Tech still
10:50questionable for tonight's game a new hero should be back for Arkansas one of
10:56the bigs and their leading scorer this year boogie flan some more time to get
11:00back into the rotation this is an Arkansas team DRS that we saw bring
11:04that physicality to st. John's they have the athleticism to play with the Red
11:09Raiders I bet the five and a half early expecting this number to be six and a
11:13half by the time we reach the second weekend it's not I think this is going
11:17to be a really great game tonight out in the West region to end out the night in
11:21San Francisco it is going to be a good one also understand this like the
11:25evolution of the NCAA tournament right for me so many years it was take the
11:28points and pray which is a moniker we're not just picking out games
11:31willy-nilly but a team that you think has a legitimate chance to hang around
11:34and or win a game which used to mean some of those mid-major teams that would
11:38surprise that teams weren't used to and you know senior leadership that's out
11:41the window so in the first couple rounds we saw the big boys really handled those
11:46seven eight nine ten point spreads here where the other teams which were out
11:50manned weren't able to cover that but now you get into Ben the sweet 16 and
11:53the elite eight they're all heavyweights at this point do we finally turn the
11:57tide where it is true take the points and pray because I'm gonna ask you this
12:00question now you got four games here today obviously four games tomorrow you
12:05look at all the dogs like what is the percentage for you so if there's eight
12:08total games I truly believe four and four at worst for the underdogs not not
12:13winning out right just covering the spread I'm interested yeah exactly I'm
12:16interested to see where they go because now it's like first like competition
12:20neutral court sites with legitimately good brands of basketball going toe-to-toe
12:24with each one and again different points friends we understand that like you're
12:28getting close to ten points with Arizona but I would be surprised if the
12:31favorites pull through with like let's just say a five and three record as
12:35opposed to a three and five record I think the dogs might shine in the sweet
12:3916 and the elite eight DRS we didn't see many upsets in the opening two rounds we
12:44didn't even see many of those teams booked as the underdog keep the game as
12:48close as maybe we hope for or believe they could be Arkansas one of the few
12:53the Razorbacks won outright as a dog in each of their opening weekend games five
12:57and a half point dog against Kansas and of course I think the number was six and
13:01a half at close against st. John's the hogs have been good as an underdog
13:05spurred on by that underdog upset victory inside rep arena to where they
13:10stand now BYU winning outright as a slight underdog against Wisconsin only a
13:16two and a half point favorite in that opening round of 64 game against VCU the
13:21reason I like the public voted for BYU DRS is because I think the game is going
13:26to present the opportunity for the Cougars to stay around because it is
13:30like first like because it is similar style of play and if the offense is
13:35there BYU can hang with anybody yeah again the ultimate equalizers of the
13:40three-point shot if you had a defensive different defensive in deep footprint I
13:44should say for Alabama that might change for me nobody's gonna be shocked if you
13:48while you pulls this upset again it continues to roll Richie Saunders and
13:50the crew so that's my favorite game of this entire weekend it's gonna be that
13:54one we'll continue to break it down a little bit later on John Rossi joins the
13:59show up next the NCAA tournament returns to our lives on this very sweet Thursday
14:04as we get you ready for our quadruple header of action that we have now to
14:09begin the second weekend of the NCAA tournament and after a very long and
14:15grueling stretch that makes three days feel like forever John Rossi joins us
14:21here on this Thursday morning on the early line on sports grid as the big
14:26dance returns to our lives on this Thursday John we appreciate the time as
14:31always thank you for being here great to be here with you Ben a busy three days
14:38for you John because of course elsewhere outside of the sweet 16 we have the
14:43transfer portal we have the coaching carousel we have so much to dive into
14:47which will make this Thursday feel even that much more sweet just pass your ball
14:52just the big dance John as we enter the second weekend let's look at those
14:55national championship odds on the fan duel sportsbook and as we saw before the
15:00tourney got underway it's still the teams on the one line that have the
15:04shortest prices to win a national championship and cut down the nets in
15:08about a week and a half in San Antonio John with only 16 teams left this might
15:13seem like an easy question to you but as you look at the odds do you expect
15:17our national champion to come from the one line I think it's too close to call
15:22Ben I think that's the one thing that this sweet 16 can provide is really
15:27really balanced matchups I mean in theory the one seeds that are all still
15:32alive Auburn Florida Duke and Houston have played better than everybody else
15:36in the field but I'll say this if Michigan beats Auburn if Maryland beats
15:42Florida if Arizona beats Duke and if Purdue 69 miles away from Mackey Arena
15:47tomorrow night beats Houston I don't think any of those four games would be a
15:51major surprise I think it speaks to the fact that we've been talking about this
15:54for a couple of weeks that we don't have a dominant team this year in college
15:58basketball John there are no double-digit spreads for this round of
16:0216 but the loftiest numbers nine and a half including in favor of that national
16:07championship favorite tonight in Newark New Jersey it is the one seed in the
16:11East region Duke taking on the four seed in Arizona nine and a half point spread
16:16153 and a half is that total John when you start to break down this game what's
16:20the key matchup that will determine the outcome tonight at the Rock you know I
16:25think the big thing obviously for Duke is just the continued play of tired
16:28proctor you know I spoke about him you know multiple times before the post
16:32season began as being the difference maker for Duke in two NCAA tournament
16:37games he's averaging 22 points per game and now all of a sudden Duke has that
16:42third scorer behind Cooper flag and conca nipple to take the Blue Devils to
16:47a different ceiling level and also John Shire said at media availability yesterday
16:52that there is a chance that Malik Brown could play tonight for Duke which
16:57would obviously be a difference maker on the defensive side of things Tyrese
17:01Proctor 7 of 8 from 3 in Sunday's win in the round of 32 against Baylor one of
17:06the better three point shooting performances you will ever see in the
17:10big dance the other one seed in action tonight out in San Francisco in the West
17:14region first game of the night by the Bay Florida six and a half point
17:19favorite against Maryland total stands at 157 and a half John just how
17:23competitive are you expecting tonight's game to be really competitive you know
17:29Maryland has obviously been at the forefront of the college basketball
17:32landscape this week for different reasons involving its head coach Kevin
17:36Willard and his potential interest in the vacancy at Villanova but Maryland
17:40unequivocally in between the lines can win this basketball game you know
17:43talking to Todd Golden before the NCAA tournament he felt that that Florida's
17:49depth would be a major factor I think you're gonna see that tonight especially
17:53up front against Julian Reese and Derek Queen I expect the Gators to regularly
17:57have fresh bodies going up against the Terps big man so John let me ask you a
18:01quick follow-up question because Kevin Willard has been at the forefront will
18:05he leave for Villanova's job with the Terps on the verge of their first week
18:0916 birth since 2016 what's the latest update you have in terms of Kevin
18:14Willard's job status well this is what I can tell you Ben you know I reported on
18:19selection Sunday that Maryland had put a term sheet in front of Kevin Willard
18:23that would make him one of the top 10 highest paid coaches in college
18:27basketball I have since been informed since I did that report that that number
18:32is going to be at least in the neighborhood of five million dollars and
18:37likely well over five million dollars annually the question is though whether
18:41or not Kevin Willard wants to stay at Maryland which obviously does not have
18:45an athletic director right now or does he want to return to his roots in the
18:49Big East where he spent many years at Seton Hall but obviously Villanova is a
18:54much much higher level basketball job than Seton Hall is so that right now is
18:59the elephant of the room and it's something that's dominated the headlines
19:02this week in San Francisco you touched on it this is the first time since 2016
19:07that Maryland has played in the Sweet 16 and Maryland unequivocally has enough to
19:12win a couple more games in this NCAA tournament but this storyline is not
19:17going away and I've never seen in all my years covering this a team dance this
19:22far in the NCAA tournament and have this type of a cloud over its game I think
19:28it's very well said John let's look at the nightcap tonight in San Francisco
19:32Texas Tech five and a half point favorite against Arkansas the Hogs the
19:36only double-digit seed to see the second weekend but it's an interesting thing
19:40John to consider John Calipari an underdog Arkansas has been in their
19:44opening two games in the big dance they have won outright in both if that is a
19:49third time in a row tonight how does Arkansas play spoiler against the Red
19:53Raiders well the wild card in this game is a do-zero and I think he's a wild
19:57card in the whole round of the sweet sweet 16 you know John Calipari said a
20:01couple of days ago that Theo would be available to play 12 to 15 minutes I
20:05talked to him after he said that report on the Pat McAfee show and he said that
20:09Theo had to make it through a full contact practice before he was going to
20:13be given that green light I have texted him so far this morning Ben I haven't
20:17heard back yet obviously it's on the west coast so there's a little bit of a
20:20time gap but to me this is difference maker potentially for Arkansas because
20:26Arkansas has flipped its season in the last month beaten Bill Self and Rick
20:31Patino and back-to-back NCAA tournament games all without in all SEC caliber
20:38player in a do-zero so a zero can get back in the fold then we could see
20:43obviously a scenario where the ceiling for Arkansas could be much higher than
20:47the ceiling we saw in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament last week
20:51in Providence all right 30 seconds very quick John we expect offense tonight
20:55between BYU and Alabama if I said first to blank wins it what is that number 95
21:02I agree with that and that's why you see a total of 175 and a half between the
21:08Cougars and the Crimson Tide John Rothstein your time on this sweet 16
21:13Thursday is greatly appreciated my friend have a beautiful day back to the
21:17big dance more on the early line next Donnie right side is back live right
21:21here on the early line on sports grid on this sweet Thursday to preview all
21:26of our action into the second weekend a quadruple header of matchups tonight in
21:31the sweet 16 we will go in order we will go chronologically and just because the
21:36RS cannot bet the game if it is in the state of New Jersey does not mean he
21:41does not have thoughts on this game and what he wishes he could do that all of
21:45you should for this sweet 16 Thursday night DRS let's start with our first
21:50game to tip a little bit after 7 p.m. Eastern Time tonight inside the
21:54Prudential Center in Newark New Jersey affectionately known as the Rock
21:59offense expected to the nth degree a total of 175 in a hook between Alabama
22:06and BYU the 2-6 matchup in the East region with a five and a half point
22:10spread in favor of the Crimson Tide DRS offense expected just how much offense
22:17do we see tonight yeah we are gonna see a lot of offense enough to get the 175
22:22and a half that's a lot that's the value in the eye of the beholder like hey man
22:25they're a great over team well not if your overs continuously or in the 170s
22:29as opposed like a flat line of 135 and a half we'll get points tonight I think
22:33most of those points gonna come from the Alabama side as we talked about it
22:36earlier in the show that minus four and a half minus five and a half so they're
22:39out there at this point we'll see if that actually in the final minute comes
22:43into play but for me Alabama's gonna win this game the better three-point
22:46shooting team technically not necessarily 37% for BYU to Alabama's 35%
22:52but volume shooting should take care of business for Alabama as we stated
22:56Alabama's gonna shoot the three-point shot BYU is not gonna defend it all that
22:59well or chase you off the three-point line complete opposite for Alabama they
23:03defended extremely well and chase you off the three-point line forcing you to
23:06do some things that you might not want to do like your point distribution Ben
23:09talking about BYU 319th in the country at 44.8% of their total
23:15offense coming from inside the arc that's not gonna do it here so either
23:18the three-point shot falls or they lose I'm gonna take Alabama this game to win
23:21and cover this point spread yeah DRS I think when you look at the differences
23:26here for the Crimson Tide they are now inside the top 30 in terms of defensive
23:31efficiency rating that is a really good thing for this Tide team in the style
23:36that they play one of the main reasons is the anchor down low the Rutgers
23:40transfer in Cliff Amore but this is just a better Alabama defensive effort
23:45of course last year the Crimson Tide making program history reaching the
23:49first-ever Final Four for Alabama men's basketball and they did so with a
23:54defense that ranked outside of the top 100 nationally in terms of their
23:58efficiency on the defensive end of the floor something that has stood out to me
24:03Donnie about this Alabama team and what we have seen so far from the Tide in
24:07their opening two games here in the big dance they want to take more than 46% of
24:12their overall field goal attempts from three they have not hit that number yet
24:17and that number is now dropped inside 46% in terms of that three-point rate
24:23that's very important because on the other side you will see a similar style
24:28of play from BYU more than 47% of the Cougs overall field goal attempts come
24:34from beyond the arc as well it is really a matchup Donnie of two teams
24:38that construct their teams in a very similar manner Alabama a little bit
24:43better defensively in playing at a little faster pace but just a little bit
24:48this is almost like looking in a mirror which leads to that very lofty total of
24:52175 and a hook yeah it's gonna be a great game and again talking about the
24:56theatrics here we talked about like even BYU entering into the tournament taking
24:59on VCU and then Wisconsin awesome games then BYU again is gonna take on Alabama
25:03awesome game maybe the most fun region and series of games you're going to find
25:07is this BYU squad they're fun they bomb away from the three-point land they're
25:10taking logo threes here I expect a lot more of that but again you're talking
25:14about leveling up in competition the deeper you go in the tournament the tougher
25:17the games become and now you're leaning on a team in the SEC that's had some
25:21monster victories this season that plays at a high tempo that may be able to
25:25outlast you at this point I think there still is value on Alabama side I think
25:29they win and move on but if BYU does win boy that's gonna be a lot of fun to
25:33watch them continue because it's a fun brand of basketball that both of these
25:36teams play the highest points prop tonight is Alabama's guard in Mark
25:41Sears at a game we expect to see a ton of points he had 22 in the opener
25:46against Robert Morris of course Alabama very much tested by Bobby Moe winning
25:50that game by only nine as a nineteen and a half or even twenty and a half point
25:55pregame favorite that game went to the over for Alabama their second game in
25:59the round of 32 going under Sears at 22 points against the Colonials but was one
26:05of five from deep over from deep against st. Mary's oh of four just one of nine so
26:09far for Alabama's point guard on the other side so many guys that can hoop
26:14for BYU Richie Saunders ya go Dimon and the big man K Makeda playing really big
26:19minutes against Wisconsin BYU has won 11 of their last 12 covering 10 times in
26:26those 11 victories five of those 11 victories outright as an underdog
26:32should be a great game tonight to get us started in the sweet 16 in Newark the
26:37other action we have a sweet 16 Thursday after a very long three days
26:42off from the 2025 men's NCAA tournament we are back to dancing tonight our first
26:48game of the night as we shared in the East region in Newark New Jersey
26:52Alabama and BYU expected to be a high-scoring affair our first game of
26:57the night in West regional action that is out in San Francisco by the Bay
27:02inside the Chase Center the home of the Golden State Warriors between the
27:05Florida Gators the one seed in that portion of the bracket in a four seed
27:10the Maryland Terrapins the Terps in their first sweet 16 since 2016 the
27:15first for Kevin Willard first sweet 16 appearance for Todd Golden in three NCAA
27:21tournament trips including his second in Gainesville with the Gators six and a
27:26half point spread in favor of Florida total stands at 157 and a half now live
27:32on the fan duel sportsbook Donnie where does the breakdown begin for this
27:36matchup interesting to me like in the last round like I had Alex Khan that I
27:40thought he would get over eleven and a half points came up short made to get to
27:43the free throw line shot I believe eight free throws and still wasn't able to get
27:45there I think I only shot maybe two or three times from the field the reason I
27:48bring him up is you take a look at Florida's footprint on offense awesome
27:51efficiency there number two in the country only behind Duke Maryland's
27:54defense however Ben is sixth overall in efficiency that's a great matchup
27:58Maryland doesn't bow they rebound they play great from the three-point line
28:02which includes top 15 in the country on defense and only 30% of three-point
28:06shots made going against Maryland why is that important you know Walter Clayton
28:09jr. likes to get off from three-point range sometimes it just doesn't matter
28:11he rises he fires he hits guy in his face he's that talented but look at the
28:16distribution years which I want to bring up Florida is 259th in the country at 47
28:20percent of their offense been coming from inside the three-point arc which
28:23isn't great however Maryland's defensive footprint there 30th in the country giving
28:28up 54 percent of their total offense inside the arc so maybe you can get some
28:31layups there some easy putbacks buckets and get to the free throw line if you're
28:35Condon so I missed out on last game maybe this is the game to go back because
28:39for me if I have a team that plays electric defense from the three-point
28:42line what do you start looking to splash into the bucket making layups in the
28:45paint maybe getting to the free throw line that would be an angle for me and
28:48as I said this is an earlier game on the West Coast it's a 739 tip East Coast
28:53time but a 439 tip on the West Coast I think it throws them off a little bit to
28:57East Coast teams playing on the West Coast maybe lean towards the under but
29:00I'm looking from Florida props not from the three-point line for me in this game
29:04Ben ten and a half points is that points prop for Alex John and DRS when I was
29:09asked why Florida is my national championship pick of course you
29:12highlight the guard play you highlight Walter Clayton jr. you highlight Elijah
29:16Martin you highlight will Richard but Alex condon being able to do a little
29:20bit of everything as that big for Florida a key reason why I expect them
29:24still to cut down the nets as a national champ and the big man battle tonight
29:28will be intriguing because on the other side of course for Maryland you've got
29:33Julian Reese who was great in the round of 32 and the superstar and the phenom
29:39in Derek Queen who sent the Terps to the sweet 16 with the buzzer beater off
29:44glass as time expired his points prop in Queen that's 16 and a half tonight
29:51Walton Clayton jr. has the highest number 19 and a hook and Donnie as you
29:55often mentioned from three if you want to bet on Clayton jr. you got to pay a
30:00premium they don't even have a prop listed until you get the four plus made
30:03triples and a plus 162 number four of nine from deep for Walter Clayton jr.
30:09against Norfolk State in the opening round five of eight and of course a
30:14bunch of clutch made threes in that second half and they come back effort
30:18against Connecticut by the way also you take a look at having some fun with like
30:21Kevin Willard being the head coach there how much longer will he go to Villanova
30:24the reason I bring it up is is you already checked out at this point you
30:27say well what play did you call to end that game to Derek Queen I didn't call
30:30anything I just said yeah who wants the ball you do you take it go and lay it up
30:34we win I'm a genius head coach because I drew that up so the sort of cuts both
30:38ways at that point but I do think again we're not talking about playing in
30:41Indianapolis where they're gonna play Lucas oil where it's like a true like
30:44hey I don't know if they're gonna shoot three-point shots I think it does
30:46measure up where both of these teams really defend the three-point line which
30:49makes it interesting but maybe working inside makes more sense and I just look
30:53at again to East Coast teams going out West Coast fan bases aren't there you
30:58have four days to prepare for this one you're not playing back-to-back so you
31:00could stay hot on that same court I just think it lends itself more to an under
31:04than an over in this spot here I think Maryland has a decent chance to cover
31:07but for me I'm gonna get to looking at some of those props once again from
31:10inside the three-point line and maybe even on both teams here but primarily
31:14Condon might be that guy's circle today DRS both teams are very talented and
31:18efficient on both sides of the floor as you would expect at this stage of the
31:23big dance but that does not mean both teams want to play slow in fact the pace
31:27is up there for both teams ranking inside the top 80 throughout this season
31:31in college basketball Florida over in both of their games in the big dance
31:36they have not covered yet so far in the NCAA tournament 26 and 8 against the
31:41number entering the big dance one of the best cover teams this year in college
31:45hoops over in nine straight for Florida in that sweet round of 32 win excuse me
31:52for the Terrapins everybody in the starting lineup known affectionately as
31:56the crab five scored in double figures the eighth time this year the entirety
32:01of Maryland's starting five has scored in double digits they're all favored to
32:06get to at least ten points tonight Selton Miguel the cheapest of the prices
32:10at minus 196 so that's one of the one seeds in action tonight Florida taking
32:16on Maryland six and a half point spread the other our national championship
32:20favorites entering this second weekend and the sweet 16 that's the Duke Blue
32:25Devils nine and a half point favorite tonight in Newark as they host Arizona
32:29in East region action 153 and a half is that total Duke expected a win and do so
32:37comfortably but just how easy of a ride will it be DRS if at all for the Blue
32:42Devils tonight against Tommy Lloyd and his Wildcats I definitely think it
32:46starts to get tougher and tougher and that's what it's supposed to be in the
32:48tournament it's not supposed to get easier with every win you had you get a layup
32:51and around the 16 and you face a nine seed here in Baylor which was a good
32:54team out of the big 12 but not as good as the Baylor teams we've seen in the
32:57past couple years dispatch of them now you get Arizona which can match you
33:01physically per se from a guard and Biggs perspective but talent on the court
33:05itself as a starting five you know it's gonna go towards the Duke Blue Devils we
33:09just talked about the three-point shot in the last game where Florida Maryland
33:11might be a little bit tougher from the three-point line because they both
33:13defend it really well now Duke defends everything well you take that out of the
33:17equation but Duke's offense again Tyrese Proctor I liked him over the weekend to
33:21knock down a couple three-point shots to go over his 13 and a half point total I
33:24wish I would have raised the bar he's been absolutely on fire as of late here
33:29knocking down three-point shots in his last three games I look for that to
33:32continue once again tonight so he's another guy that I have on my radar for
33:36me just taking the points probably makes the most sense in this game at it being
33:39close to ten Duke can still get a convincing good victory seven eight nine
33:43you know right up to ten points there and you're always in it for the Arizona
33:46Wildcats it's interesting to me because how would you play the dog right Ben is
33:50it well if Arizona's gonna be in this game wouldn't you think this game at the
33:54half would have to be 36 to 34 36 to 30 in that range where you probably would
33:59get a cover for Arizona I don't know if I want to play all the way through where
34:03Duke has a chance to hit those spurts and really blow the doors off you in the
34:06final six to seven minutes so if I'm looking for an underdog I do think
34:09Arizona's legitimate Ben to cover the nine and a half but maybe more so is
34:12you'll know in the first if Arizona's down 15 points at the break slim chance
34:17they cover it yes and they win the game no Duke might just prevail but at that
34:20point I think Arizona's got to be in at the half as well so dog play first half
34:23Arizona might be the better look Arizona as a team this year nearly 33 and a half
34:28percent from three but they don't love to take the three they will allow the
34:33opposition to hoist I really do think Duke is deserving of being a nine and a
34:37half point favorite but to your point DRS how do the Wildcats stay in this
34:41game oftentimes natural handicapping especially in football is underdog
34:46covers underdog keeps it tight especially if they are a heftier dog
34:50it's ugly it's a muck it up type of game complete opposite for me tonight for
34:55Arizona if they settle in the half court they play into Duke's hand they got to
34:59get out and run as they would like to do for Tommy Lloyd and his cats that is led
35:04by Caleb love so I'm going to look at actually Duke's team total to the over
35:09of 82 and a half because I do believe if Duke is winning this game comfortably
35:13they score in to the 80s now these two teams have already met this year early
35:19in non-conference play the Blue Devils made a road trip to Tucson as a slight
35:23underdog which sounds crazy to see say they won that game outright by 14 69 55
35:31of course Caleb love the North Carolina transfer very comfortable against Duke
35:36in fact Arizona and Duke have played each other in the regular season each of
35:39the past two years that love has been in Tucson he is known of course for that
35:45final four game against the Blue Devils 28 points burying a triple with just
35:50about 30 seconds left to hand Duke a loss in coach K's final game trying to
35:55find that figure once again more on the early line up next we round out our
36:02sweet 16 previews here on this Thursday on the early line on SportsGrid all four
36:08matchups we continue to break down for you and DRS will get to our final one in
36:13San Francisco late night tonight between Texas Tech and Arkansas in just a moment
36:19but of course because of the narrative because of the storyline of Caleb love
36:23playing Duke in the big dance once again I think a lot of people are going to be
36:28targeting that points prop of 16 and a half knowing that Caleb love always has
36:33the green light whether from Tommy Lloyd or in his own mind knowing Caleb love
36:37just dropped 29 points on Oregon in the round of 32 victory and knowing of
36:43course the familiarity against these Blue Devils how would you approach Caleb
36:48love tonight in a matchup against Duke it's pretty simple because like we can
36:52use other sports like you take the Kansas City Chiefs and you say to stuff
36:55okay Kansas City let you say in some other realm they're getting seven and a
37:00half points well if Patrick Mahomes plays poorly they're probably not going
37:03to be anywhere near the seven and a half but he plays well they'll probably be in
37:07the seven half with a chance to win but you don't even need them to win that
37:09game you seem to cover the seven and a half and he plays well that's the same
37:12thing I have a look here with Caleb love where to me it's a direct correlation
37:16you tell me before the game Caleb love is 10 points in this game they're not
37:20covering that spread you tell me Caleb love has 20 points in this game like
37:23they probably hung around maybe cover the spread I'm not still not so sure
37:27they want at that point Caleb love gets 30 then you're probably cooking with
37:30grease and they maybe pull off the upset so the reason I bring that up is it's
37:33almost like would you rather take Arizona getting the nine and a half
37:36points or factor it in and say well if I took him get nine and a half and Caleb
37:40got ten we're not covering that but if I took the nine and a half and Caleb got
37:4325 there's still a chance we didn't cover that spread so for me it's
37:46basically just give me Caleb that'll tell me exactly how this game plays out
37:50because if he does play well and scores 18 points with six minutes to go and
37:54they're down ten mission accomplished you did your job at that point so I
37:58expect everything to run on Arizona through Caleb love at this point and I
38:03expect him to get his points prop I'd rather bet that than the actual side
38:06itself Arizona plus 360 moneyline number to pull off the outright upset as a nine
38:12and a half point dog plus 434 Caleb love to score 25 plus points so there is a
38:19thought process there DRS to make it make sense our final game of the night
38:24in San Francisco now DRS let me get your thoughts on this point a little bit
38:28after 7 p.m. local time but after 10 p.m. Eastern time here it's going to be a
38:35late night of sweet 16 action does that anger you from a schedule perspective as
38:40we enter the second weekend oh it certainly does like I brought this up on
38:44radio all week long it's again the NCAA must make so much money they're trying
38:48to hide it and they can't make too much because somebody will find out how much
38:51money they make so you have to bury some of the ratings this game supposed to
38:53start at 10 or 9 it's not starting at 10 or 9 you can book this 10 19 10 25
38:58at the latest which is a travesty when maybe the best college basketball day
39:03of the year so far is lining up for you we are gonna bury these games late you
39:08play Thursdays and Fridays Ben in the afternoon why can't we do this year I'm
39:11not even asking you start them at noon how about a game that starts at 4 o'clock
39:14then 1 at 6 then you start the slow stag room 1 it may be 730 1 at 830 at
39:19night so everybody can enjoy every single game with the ratings being
39:23absolutely massive it's just a shame they're cutting two games off from the
39:27public tonight and two really good basketball games yeah I hate it by the
39:32way though if you are going to stay up and we hope that you do we will be live
39:36for the entirety of this sweet 16 Thursday here on the sports grid network
39:41it will be myself in the coach JY James Young live in studio 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.
39:47Eastern is what we have on the docket right now it could go later we hope not
39:52but we will be with you for the entirety of our quadruple header on this sweet
39:5616 Thursday now the actual game itself Texas Tech five and a half point
40:01favorite against Arkansas total stands at 147 and a hook tonight in San
40:05Francisco injuries key returning tonight for the Hogs more than likely a do
40:10Thero an all-scc performer Arkansas's leading scorer throughout this year an
40:15athletic big man down low for John Calipari and company for Texas Tech
40:20Chance McMillan their best perimeter threat DRS still remains a game time
40:25decision good show a game time decision tonight for Grant McCaslin and the Red
40:30Raiders what is your approach to this matchup by the bag it's a tough one
40:34because you're reevaluating what you think Arkansas is based on some injury
40:38information and also how well they played down the stretch going from one
40:41of those teams expected to do some good things at the beginning of the season
40:43midway through the year oh I don't know coach cow you're in a tough spot here in
40:46Arkansas was it a bad hire for them to now turn it on and also I think you're
40:49getting a pretty good matchup in Texas Tech and I love Texas Tech top 37 in the
40:53country on defense top 10 in the country which includes top 5 in
40:56efficiency on offense in a lot of metrics here you take a look at a
40:59basketball team though that Arkansas doesn't found Texas Tech doesn't get to
41:02the free-throw line now having said that I watched some of the videos and some of
41:06the responses where it's like okay why was Chance McMillan had a certain injury
41:10at the end of the regular season then he got injured in his shoulder wasn't
41:14shooting three-point shots last week now finally moving beyond the three-point
41:17range a game time decision doesn't sound like he's not gonna be all that
41:21effective me so white guys bringing this guy up let me the best three-point
41:23shooter in the country and with volume which opens everything up for your
41:27offense up credit Texas Tech has been able to win without him here because I
41:30still have a pretty quality team but I look at this this is danger territory
41:34for Texas Tech I really believe because Arkansas has that defensive footprint
41:37and also that griminess here to play defense and getting one of the better
41:41players back taking the points and pray might start here with Arkansas I hope
41:44Texas Tech wins and moves on because it'll help me win money but I'm worried
41:47about this Arkansas team so the cowl did tell I believe Pat McAfee that a
41:52do-throw was going to be back for this game but he was not a practice yesterday
41:56putting his status a little bit more up in the air we'll see about chance
42:00McMillan of course for Texas Tech on the other side a do-throw has not played
42:05since the end of February we saw Arkansas max the physicality at lez's
42:10athleticism and the strength you need inside to answer the bell against st.
42:14John's another very difficult test tonight against JT Toppin and Darian
42:18Williams for the Red Raiders again Donnie as I shared I laid the five and a
42:23half at open with Texas Tech expecting to get the best of the number I have not
42:28Arkansas is not great offensively as we saw the victory against the Johnny's
42:33that will be a key for the Red Raiders tonight to be sound on the defensive end
42:37of the floor alright TRS that ends out the sweet 1640 seconds left before we
42:42send you to the moneyline though if you had a best bet for opening day in the
42:46bigs what is it I'm gonna try to find a hitter prop partly a little bit later in
42:52the day so keep an eye on that but if I am looking at that it probably starts
42:54and ends they're going to Miami today with Paul skeins and Sandy Alcantara and
42:59saying under three and a half in the first five innings I would be surprised
43:02if it gets the four but it is an opening day we've seen crazier things but two
43:06really good pitchers not really good lineups in a great pitchers ballpark
43:10come on man skeins throw some maybe it's all skip three nothing skeins
43:13throws a shutout first five catch that ticket let's go
43:16DRS have a wonderful time on the moneyline or on the early line up next