PORTLAND, Ore. The NCAA Tournament kicks off Thursday in high gear in Indiana, fresh from its first four wins over Wyoming on Tuesday, coming right back to work with a hard-fought game against Saint Mary’s here at Moda Center, home of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers.
Indiana is the No. 12 seed in the Eastern Regional, but it’s Saint Mary’s, based in Moraga, California, a little east of Oakland, that is expected to win. Indiana is a 2.5-point underdog in the game, according to the OpLay.com Gaming website, and the over / under is set at 126.5.
Indiana is 21-13 this season. The Hoosiers finished ninth in the Big Ten during the regular season, winning two games in the Big Ten tournament before losing to Iowa 80-77 in the semifinals.
Saint Mary’s is 25-7 this season, finishing 12-3 at the West Coast Conference, good for second place in the league behind number 1 ranking Gonzaga.
Indiana is 20-14 against the point spread this season, and were very good at home to Bloomington. The Hoosiers were 14-4 at home straight and 12-6 against the spread in the Assembly Hall. On the road, Indiana was just 4-8 straight and 4-8 against the spread.
But they are 4-1 straight away and have covered all five of their neutral court games this season, beating NCAA-bound Notre Dame in December in Indianapolis and Michigan and Illinois in the Big Ten tournament. They lost to Iowa, but covered as a 6-point underdog, and won and covered Tuesday night in their first NCAA tournament game in Dayton against Wyoming.
The Hoosiers have covered in five straight games, and seven of their last eight.
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Here are Indiana’s results so far this season, both straight up and against the spread:
- Nov 9 – Beat Eastern Michigan 68-62 as 24-point favorite (lost)
- Nov 12 – Beat Northern Illinois 85-49 as 25.5-point favorite (won)
- Nov 17 – Beat St. John’s 76-74 as 6-point favorite (lost)
- Nov 21 – Beat Louisiana 76-44 as 11.5 point favorite (won)
- Nov 23 – Beat Jackson State 70-35 as 22.5 point favorite (won)
- Nov 27 – Beat Marshall 90-79 as 10.5 point favorite (won)
- Nov 30 – Lost on Syracuse 112-110 as 2.5-point favorite (lost)
- December 4th – Beat Nebraska 68-55 as 11-point favorite (won)
- December 8th – Lost on the 22nd Wisconsin 64-59 as a 4.5-point underdog (lost)
- December 12th – Beat Merrimack 81-49 as 20-point favorite (won)
- December 18th – Beat Notre Dame 64-56 to Indianapolis as 4.5-point favorite (won)
- December 22nd – Beat Northern Kentucky 79-61 as 17-point favorite (won)
- Jan 2 – Lost on Penn State 61-58 as 2.5-point favorite (lost)
- Jan 6 – Beat N ° 13 Ohio State 67-51 as 2-point favorite (won)
- 9 Jan. – Beat Minnesota 73-60 as 11-point favorite (won)
- Jan 13 – Lost on Iowa 83-74 as a 4.5-point underdog (lost)
- Jan 17 – Won around Nebraska 78-71 as 9-point favorite (lost)
- Jan 20 – Beat Number 4 Purdue 68-65 as a 4-point underdog (won)
- Jan 23 – Lost Michigan 80-62 as 4-point favorite (lost)
- Jan 26 – Beat Penn State 74-57 as 8.5 point favorite (won)
- Jan 29 – Won around Maryland 68-55 as 1.5-point favorite (won)
- February 5th – Lost on Number 18 Illinois 74-57 as 1.5-point favorite (lost)
- February 8th – Lost on Northwest 59-51 as 2-point favorite (lost)
- February 12th – Lost on the 17th Michigan State 76-61 as a 4-point underdog (lost)
- February 15th – Lost to number 15 Wisconsin 74-69 as 3.5-point favorite (lost)
- February 21st – Lost on the 22nd Ohio State 80-69 and OT as 7-point underdog (lost)
- February 24th – Beat Maryland 74-64 as 6.5-point favorite (won)
- February 27th – Won around Minnesota 74-69 as a 3-point favorite (won)
- March 2nd – Lost Rutgers 66-63 as 5.5 point favorite (lost)
- March 5th – Lost on Purdue 69-67 as a 10-point underdog (won)
- March 10th – Beat Michigan 74-69 to Indianapolis as a 3-point underdog (won)
- March 11th – Beat N ° 16 Illinois 65-63 to Indianapolis as 5-point underdog (won)
- March 12th – Lost on the 24th Iowa 80-77 to Indianapolis as 6-point underdog (won)
- March 15th – Beat Wyoming 66-58 to Dayton, Ohio in the NCAA Tournament as a 4-point favorite. (won)
Saint Mary’s gets the bulk of its recognition for being the second-best team in its league on high-profile Gonzaga every year. This is their 12th NCAA Tournament, and they have made the field eight times since 2005.
They have some common enemies with Indiana, both Notre Dame and Wisconsin playing in a vacation tournament. Much like the Hoosiers, they beat the Irish, but lost to Wisconsin.
They are 25-7 overall and 18-13 against the spread this season. In neutral court games, they are 3-3 overall, but 2-4 against the spread.
Here are the results from Saint Mary’s so far this season, both straight up and against the spread:
- Nov 9 – Beat Prairie View A&M 87-68 as 18-point favorite (won)
- Nov 12 – Beat Texas Southern 67-58 as 15.5-point favorite (lost)
- Nov 15 – Beat Southern Utah 70-51 as 11-point favorite (won)
- Nov 17 – Beat Bellarmine 73-64 as 15.5-point favorite (lost)
- Nov 22 – Beat Notre Dame 62-59 at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational to Las Vegas as a 1.5-point favorite (won)
- Nov 23 – Beat Oregon 62-50 at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational to Las Vegas as 2.5-point favorite (won)
- Nov 24 – Lost Wisconsin 61-55 at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational to Las Vegas 112-110 as a 2.5-point underdog (lost)
- Nov 29 – Beat UC-Riverside 67-50 as 9.5 point favorite (won)
- December 2nd – Beat Utah State 60-58 as a 1.5-point underdog (won)
- December 4th – Lost on Colorado State 74-58 as a 4.5-point underdog (lost)
- December 11th – Beat UC-Santa Barbara 80-59 as 8.5 point favorite (won)
- December 14th– Beat Stanislaus State 76-39. Keng Linn
- December 17th – Lost San Diego State to Phoenix 63-53 as 3-point favorite (lost)
- December 22nd – Beat Missouri State 75-58 as 6.5-point favorite (won)
- December 28th – Beat Yale 87-60 as 13.5 point favorite (won)
- January 1 – San Francisco, ppd. COVID
- Jan 6 – Santa Clara, ppd. COVID
- Jan 8 – Lost on BYU 52-43 as a 4-point underdog (lost)
- Jan 13 – Won around Pepperdin 77-62 as 12.5-point favorite (won)
- Jan 15 – Pacificcanceled COVID
- Jan 20 – Beat Santa Clara 73-65 as 8.5 point favorite (lost)
- Jan 22– Won around Loyola Marymount 83-51 as 7.5-point favorite (won)
- Jan 27– Won around San Francisco 72-70 as a 2-point underdog (won)
- Jan 29 – Beat Pepperdin 81-57 as 19.5 point favorite (won)
- February 3rd – Won around Portland 75-54 as 16.5-point favorite (won)
- February 5th – Beat Loyola Marymount 71-60 as 16.5-point favorite (lost)
- February 8th – Lost on Santa Clara 77-72 as 2-point favorite (lost)
- February 10th – Beat San Diego 86-57 as 13.5 point favorite (won)
- February 12th – Lost on the 2nd Gonzaga 74-58 as a 15.5-point underdog (lost)
- February 17th – Beat San Francisco 69-64 as a 3-point underdog (won)
- February 19th– Beat BYU 69-64 as a 6.5-point favorite (lost)
- February 24th – Won around San Diego 60-46 as 12-point favorite (won)
- February 26th – Beat Number 1 Gonzaga 67-57 as a 10.5-point underdog (won)
- March 7th – Beat Santa Clara 75-72 in Las Vegas at West Coast Conference semifinals as 4.5-point favorite (lost)
- March 8th – Lost on the 1st Gonzaga 82-69 in Las Vegas at West Coast Conference semifinals as 11.5-point underdog (lost)
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