WEST VIRGINIA VS DAYTON

1ST ROUND NCAA TOURNEY

Bet Jamaica Line WVA -9 O/U 127

The Dayton Flyers are flying high again. After missing the NCAA Tournament since 2004, they have finally made it back to the big dance on the strength of a 26-11 season. The wily bunch finished second in the Atlantic 10, and they own several quality wins. Their opponent for the first round of the NCAA Tournament will be the Mountaineers of West Virginia. This game promises to be a great one.

West Virginia has evolved as a program since the arrival of ace head coach Bobby Huggins. They were eliminated by the Xavier Musketeers in last years in tournament in a game that was nothing short of thrilling. Their record stands at 23-11. You have to like their play in the ultra tough Big East. They finished with a record of 10-8, and beat #1 Pittsburgh in the Big East Tournament. The Mountaineers have played well on the road at 7-5, and are led by a coach that knows how to win. Best of all, they are 6-4 in their last ten games ATS.

Dayton was high on a lot of radars after beating arch rival Xavier earlier this year. They were probably feeling a little bit too good after that game, because they dropped games to Saint Louis and Rhode Island. They were able to beat a very good Marquette team early in the season, and they also took a game from Auburn in overtime. They are far from a good road team at 5-6. The Flyer’s haven’t beaten Xavier on the road in over twenty five years, so that speaks volumes. Dayton is 5-5 in their last ten games versus the spread.

The best players for West Virginia are Da’Sean Butler, Alex Ruoff, and Devin Ebanks. Butler leads the team in scoring at 17.3 PPG, and is second in rebounding with 6.0 RPG. The junior can explode as he proved with a 43 point bomb on the highly regarded Villanova Wildcats. Ruoff played great in last year’s tournament. This year the 6-6 guard has been good for 15.9 PPG, 3.5 APG, and 3.5 RPG. Granted, Radford isn’t much of a team, he put up a whopping 38 points on them. Ebanks is solid with 10.4 PPG and 7.7 RPG. The freshman had 18 rebounds against Notre Dame, and he will only continue to improve.

The Flyers rely heavily on the support of Chris Wright and Marcus Johnson. Wright leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 12.9 PPG and 6.5 RPG. The sophomore had 13 points and 13 rebounds in Dayton’s win over Marquette. He also had 19 points against Xavier. Johnson isn’t too bad either. He is averaging 12.2 PPG and 3.1 RPG. His best game came against Rhode Island, when he contributed 21 points and 8 rebounds. Rob Lowery was a key part of the Flyer’s team, but they will have to play without him due to injury.

The line could change, but it is currently steady at West Virginia -8.5. All in all, I don’t think the Flyer’s are good enough to beat the Mountaineers. West Virginia has a knack for piling it on when they win, and they recently beat Pittsburgh by 14 points. I don’t see them running into any problems here. On the other hand, Dayton has won 26 games for a reason, and will have blood in their eyes. Lay the points, and enjoy what should be an exciting game. Check back to Bettorsworld.com for the latest information on the NCAA Tournament!