Last Updated on March 18, 2010 11:18 am by drew
Richmond-St. Mary’s
One of the most intriguing matchups of Thursday’s NCAA Tournament schedule has to come in the South Regional as Richmond faces St. Mary’s at 2:50PM ET.
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These two teams will battle it out from the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. Richmond is the No. 7 seed while St. Mary’s is the No. 10 seed.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL have made Richmond 2-point favorites over St. Mary’s on Thursday afternoon. The over/under has been set at 134.
Richmond is making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and first showing since 2004. The Spiders were 26-8 this season and 13-3 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Richmond scores 69.3 points per-game, which ranks 149th in the country. The Spiders give up 62.2 points per-game on defense, ranking 39th in the nation. Kevin Anderson averages 17.8 points per-game for Richmond. David Gonzales also averages 14.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per-game while Justin Harper posts 10.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per-game.
St. Mary’s is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance and second in three years. The Gaels are 26-5 this season and 11-3 in the West Coast Conference. The Gaels defeated Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament championship to earn the tournament bid. St. Mary’s scores 79.5 points per-game, which ranks 16th in the country, while the Gaels give up 66.3 points per-game, which ranks 117th in the nation. The Gaels are led by Omar Samhan who averages 20.9 points and 11 rebounds per-game. St. Mary’s also has three others that average in double figures, including Ben Allen, who scores 10.8 points per-game while also pulling down 7.6 rebounds.
Richmond is a good team, but it got an unfortunate draw in this one, as it faces the Gaels, who have become a solid program over the last handful of years. The Spiders had a breakout season and played well in a highly competitive A-10 Conference. No matter which team wins, they are likely setup to pull off an upset in round two. In this game, the Spiders lack of offense could become an issue. Look for a mild upset here as we suggest taking St. Mary’s and the points.
Our NCAA Tournament Free Pick for this matchup is: ST. MARY’S +2 and UNDER 134
March Madness Betting Trends
St. Mary’s is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Mary’s last 5 games
St. Mary’s is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Richmond is 12-2 SU in its last 14 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Richmond’s last 8 games
Richmond is 10-3-1 ATS in its last 14 games
March Madness Injury Report
RICHMOND
[G/F] 01/08/2010 – Kevin Hovde out for season ( Ankle )
ST MARYS-CA
[G] 11/17/2009 – Tim Harris out indefinitely ( Hamstring )
[G] 12/12/2009 – Wayne Hunter out for season ( Knee )
March Madness Game Odds
Richmond Spiders -2 Over 134
St. Mary’s Gaels +2 Under 134
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Posted: 3/18/10 11:18AM ET