The Auburn Tigers got the quite the scare, but held on for a 62-58 victory over the College of Charleson Cougars in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 on Friday. Auburn never really came close to covering the 9.5-point spread, making College of Charleston an easy winner on the betting line. Like many other First Round games, the over never had a chance. This game sailed under the total of 148 by a considerable margin.
Auburn will now face the winner of the NCAA Tournament First Round match-up between Clemson and New Mexico State on Sunday. The betting odds for that showdown will be released soon by BetDSI Sportsbook. Auburn is going to be the favorite no matter who it faces, but it will be a considerably shorter favorite over Clemson than it would New Mexico State.
Auburn escaped with the victory in this one thanks to some sloppy play from College of Charleston. The Cougars turned the ball over a whopping 21 times in this game, negating some excellent shooting and defense of their own.
No one on Auburn ever got into a real shooting rhythm. The Tigers’ shooting numbers were abysmal across the board with the team hitting just 35.6 percent of their field goals and 20.8 percent of their three-point attempts. Auburn’s free throw shooting was particularly poor and it’s a wonder that it was able to get the victory with numbers like these. The Tigers went a combined 15-32 from the charity stripe, failing to punish College of Charleston for its mistakes.
Prior to the tip-off of the opening game, Auburn had odds of +6000 to win the NCAA Tournament at BetDSI. The Tigers’ next opponents have much higher odds to cut down the nets in San Antonio in early April. Clemson is +15000 to win March Madness, while New Mexico State is +50000 to win it all.
