— Wednesday, March 02nd Connecticut Huskies @ Creighton Bluejays
The three seed in the Big East Tournament is up for grabs as the #18 Connecticut Huskies (21-7, 12-5) face the Creighton Bluejays (19-9, 11-16) on Wednesday night. Creighton already won in Connecticut this season and would take control of the tiebreaker with another win over the Huskies. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET at the CHI Health Center Omaha, and the game will air on FS1.
Earlier this season, the Bluejays won at UConn 59-55 despite being a 10.5 point underdog. These teams have met four times in Big East play, with Creighton winning all four of those contests. Last year the Jays won 74-66 at home, 76-74 in overtime on the road, and 59-56 in the Big East Tournament.
UConn Playing Their Best
UConn is 12-15-1 ATS, and the over is 18-10 in their 28 games. They are 5-4 in true road games and 8-5 away from home on the season. They won their last two road games, at St. John’s and Georgetown, and enter Wednesday’s contest on a five-game win streak.
UConn ranks 51st offensively at 76.7 ppg, and they are ninth in the nation in rebounding. They shoot 44% from the field and 36% from the 3-point range. The Huskies allow 65.6 ppg and hold opponents to 39.9% shooting overall, 24th in the country.
R.J. Cole leads the Huskies at 16.1 ppg with Adama Sanogo at 14.9 to go with a team-best 8.2 rpg. Tyrese Martin contributes 13.3 ppg and 7.4 rpg. Cole averages 4.2 assists per game and leads the team with 51 3-pointers made, while Tyler Polley has made 43
In the first game, the Huskies shot 30% at home and were just 5-for-21 from 3-point range. Isaiah Whaley led the way with 20 points while Cole had 13, but the other three starters were a combined 7-for-30 from the floor. Uconn was also outrebounded 40-38.
Moving On Without Nembhard
Creighton is 15-13 ATS, and the under is 17-10-1 in their 28 games. They have covered in three of the last four games overall and are 6-1 at home against Big East opponents. Overall the Bluejays are 10-3 in Omaha but just 1-7 against ranked teams, with that win coming against UConn.
Creighton’s 3-point shooting has been bad this season, even before Ryan Nembhard went down. They rank 316th at 30.8% shooting and are 220th overall offensively at 69.5 ppg. The Jays rank 115th defensively at 66.9 ppg and are right behind UConn in FG% defense at 40.0.
Creighton has played just one game without Nembhard, who injured his wrist against St. John’s and is out for the season. One of the top freshmen in the conference, Nembhard averaged 11.3 ppg and 4.4 apg while starting 27 games and averaging 34.8 minutes per game, the most by a Big East freshman in a decade.
Without Nembhard, the Bluejays scored just 51 points in a 21-point loss at Providence over the weekend. Ryan Hawkins averages 14.3 ppg on the season, with Ryan Kalkbrenner at 12.2 ppg while both players average 7.5 rpg. With Arthur Kaluma in the starting lineup Saturday, the Bluejays didn’t get any points off the bench against Providence.
In the first game this season, Hawkins had 23 points, and 11 rebounds for Creighton as the Jays uncharacteristically shot 41% from deep. Trey Alexander was also in double figures with 11 points, while O’Connell had ten rebounds.
Betting Analysis
- Connecticut Huskies -4 (-110)
- Creighton Bluejays +4 (-110)
- Total Points: 135.5 Over -110 Under -110
Creighton is still getting used to life without their offense-running point guard, and going against a determined UConn team is not going to make it easy. The Bluejays will be a tough out in the Big East tournament next week, but this week they aren’t ready to beat a top team.
Betting Pick: UConn -4 (+115)
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