Welcome back.
I assume you’re not here for the preamble, so let’s jump right in. There’s no time to waste.
Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper have to start preparing for the NBA Draft.
USC (-1) over Rutgers
If the Scarlet Knights could flip a switch, they would have done so by now. Instead, they will soon complete one of the nation’s most disappointing seasons, likely finishing with a losing record despite the presence of a pair of projected top five draft picks. Bailey is part of the problem, averaging 11.6 points since late January. The greater issue is the loss of their defensive identity, the backbone of Steve Pikiell’s remarkable reconstruction of Rutgers basketball. A program with a top 20 defense in four of the past five years currently ranks outside the top 100, leaving Rutgers vulnerable to a Trojans offense that ranks in the top 25 in shooting percentage, hitting nearly 37 percent of 3-pointers.
Seton Hall (+10.5) over Villanova
Beware the team with nothing to lose. Last year, 11-seed DePaul lost to the Wildcats on a 3-pointer in the final seconds. Two other times this decade, the Big East’s worst team advanced to the quarterfinals. The Pirates have just one win in the past two months, but coach Shaheen Holloway — the leader of Saint Peter’s miraculous March run and last year’s NIT champions — can offer belief to a group that held a 16-point second half lead against Villanova three weeks ago. Kyle Neptune’s hot seat only adds more pressure to a group that relies too heavily on star Eric Dixon and could be pulled into another rock fight.
Arkansas (-2) over South Carolina
John Calipari’s NCAA Tournament hopes hinge on defeating a team that handed the Hogs a 19-point beatdown less than two weeks ago. The performance at last-place South Carolina was a collection of aberrations, the result of 3-of-22 3-point shooting, a 14-point first half — Arkansas’ lowest this century — and a career-high 35 points from Collin Murray-Boyles. It is the outlier of the Razorbacks’ recent run, in which they’ve averaged over 90 points in their past four wins, including a pair over ranked opponents. The more talented group won’t give away another game.
Betting on College Basketball?
DePaul (+3.5) over Georgetown
Chris Holtmann’s first season in Chicago is already a success, having lifted the Blue Demons out of the Big East basement. Now, DePaul comes to the Garden with back-to-back wins, most recently completing the regular season sweep of Georgetown, which has lost four of five games since Thomas Sorber’s season-ending injury. Hoyas coach Ed Cooley has lost in the first round of the Big East Tournament in three of the past four years and was knocked out as the higher seed twice in that span.
2011-24 record: 378-340-12
