NCAA Tournament Betting – Thursday’s Basketball Review

Just the first day into the tournament, and upsets are already happening!  All the basketball excitement makes NCAA tournament betting all the more fun and complex. Let’s check out what happened Thursday and see what’s up next for the victorious teams.

The first major upset of the tournament took place in Denver, when tiny Morehead State upset Louisville 62-61 when Demonte Harper calmly dribbled up the court, let a few seconds tip off the clock and sank a beautiful three-point shot with just four seconds left to crush any hope for the Cardinals to advance.  Next up, the Eagles from the Kentucky school of 9,000 students will face the Richmond Spiders.

The Spiders, a twelfth seed upset the Vanderbilt Commodores, 69-66, after a closely-fought game determined by offensive rebounds in key moments. Despite several chances and coaching strategies, Vanderbilt was unable to secure the win.

The last big upset of the day was also in Denver, as Gonzaga dominated St. John’s Red Storm in a run-away game, winning 86-71.  Next up, the Bulldogs will be tested by BYU in the third round.

Although there were no other big upsets on the day’s action, there were many tightly-played games with no clear winner until the final seconds.

West Virginia rallied from behind to beat the Clemson Tigers 84-76, in a matchup that was supposed to be manageable to the Mountaineers.  Butler, the Cinderella team from the 2010 tournament, defeated Old Dominion 60-58 at the final buzzer.  Temple beat out Penn State by two points, 66-64, with a one-footed, off-balance shot by Juan Fernandez from just inside the three-point line with less than one second left.

In a close-call game that would have destroyed a lot of betting brackets, Kentucky barely escaped from the grip of Princeton, 59-57, when freshman Brandon Knight scored his only points of the game by making a lay-up with two seconds left to win the game.

Several games brought no surprise: Pittsburgh routed NC – Asheville as expected, 74-51, and San Diego State handled Northern Colorado easily, 68-50. Likewise, second-seeded Florida dominated UC-Santa Barbara 79-51.

Meanwhile. Jimmer Fredette, the best scorer in college hoops, put up 32 points to lead BYU over Wofford, 74-66. UConn cruised to an easy win over 14th –seeded Bucknell, 81-52, putting on the most dominating performance in the first day of action. The Wisconsin Badgers won their fifth consecutive NCAA tournament opener, this time over Belmont, 72-58.

The Spartans of Michigan State did all they could to win, but could not hold on until the end, as UCLA stood on top at the final buzzer, 78-76. The Cincinnati Bearcats played strong ball and ran over Missouri, 78-63. The Kansas State Wildcats held off Utah State, 73-68.