Another NCAA Tournament second round matchup is ahead of us as the Fighting Irish meets the Mountaineers this weekend. Notre Dame defeated Princeton in the first round 60-58, while West Virginia went by Bucknell, 86-80. Game tip-off is scheduled for Saturday, 12:10 PM ET.
Place: Key Bank Center, Buffalo, N.Y.
Date/Time: Saturday, March 18th, 2017 12:10 PM ET
TV Coverage: CBS
#5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. #4 West Virginia Mountaineers
Line: West Virginia -3 (-102)
Total: 145.5 points (-105)
The Fighting Irish enter the Big Dance for the 36th time in program history
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish ended the regular season schedule with a loss by Louisville and an 11-7 conference (26-9 overall) record that granted them a No. 3 spot prior to the conference Tournament. In the Tournament, they defeated Virginia in quarterfinal and Florida State in semifinal but lost the ACC Championship game against Duke. In the first round of the NCAA play they narrowly defeated Princeton, 60-58. Bonzie Colson led the team against the Tigers with 18 points and seven rebounds while Matt Farrell added 16 points and team-high four assists. Steve Vasturia also recorded a notable performance with 10 points and eight rebounds. The Fighting Irish had their hands full in this game and got into the second round thanks to Devin Cannady’s missed three-pointer with three seconds remaining on the clock.
Forward junior Bonzie Colson leads the team this year with 17.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. V.J. Beachem and Matt Farrell add 14.7 and 14.2 points while Farrell also tops the team in passing aspect with 5.4 assists in average. Steve Vasturia contributes across the board with 13.2 points, 3.9 boards and 3.3 assists per matchup.
The Mountaineers record at least 25 wins for the third straight year
The West Virginia Mountaineers are 28-27 all-time in the NCAA Tournament play and 9-8 under head coach Bob Huggins. They finished the regular season schedule with a win over Iowa State, ranking second in the conference with a 12-6 record (26-8 overall). In the conference tournament they defeated Texas and sneaked by Kansas State in semifinal, eventually to lose a Big 12 Championship game to Iowa State. Victory over Bucknell in the opening round of the Big Dance was their 27th win of the year, matching 1982 and 2008 seasons for the third-most wins in program history. Five Mountaineers scored in double-figures in the game against the Bison with Tarik Phillip leading the way with 16 points. Esa Ahmad and Lamont West scored 15 each while Nathan Adrian added 12 and Jevon Carter recorded 11 points. Adrian topped the team with 10 rebounds. Dexter Miles contributed with a team-high four assists.
Jevon Carter leads the team on individual stat sheet with 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.6 steals per contest. Esa Ahmad adds 11.3 points and 4.3 rebounds on average while Nathan Adrian contributes with 9.9 points and team-high 6.1 boards per game. Tarik Phillip is also making a notable impact with 9.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
#5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. #4 West Virginia Mountaineers Game Trends & Prediction
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish is 16-10 ATS overall, 9-7 at home and 7-3 away. They are 13-11 against the Over/Under, 10-5 at home and 3-6 away. The Fighting Irish is 5-4-1 ATS and 3-7 against the Over/Under in the last 10 overall games. They are 2-2 ATS and 1-3 against the Over/Under in the conference tournament and in the first round of NCAA play.
On the other side, the Mountaineers are 15-11 against the Over/Under, 10-5 at home and 3-6 away. They are 13-17 ATS overall, 8-12 at home and 5-5 away. The Mountaineers are 2-8 ATS and 5-5 against the Over/Under in the last 10 overall games. They are also 0-4 ATS and 2-2 against Over/Under in conference tournament and first round of NCAA play.
The Fighting Irish scores 75.5 ppg and allows 68.9 ppg this season while the Mountaineers score 82.1 ppg and allow 66.7 ppg.
The Fighting Irish’s Rex Pflueger sustained a laceration on his head in the last game but he is likely to play against the Mountaineers. On the other side, West Virginia Teyvon Myers is nurturing an ankle injury but is also expected to play on Saturday.
The winner between No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 4 West Virginia will advance to Sweet 16 round of the West region bracket where they will most likely go head-to-head with the Gonzaga Bulldogs. I will give the slight advantage to the Mountaineers just on a hunch because these two teams are pretty much equal in most of the aspects. I think that the total is set too high, and taking the recent trends into consideration, I will go with the under in this one!!!
My Pick: West Virginia Mountaineers -3
Total: Under 145.5 points
