2010 March Madness Winthrop vs. Pine Bluff Picks & Predictions

Last Updated on March 16, 2010 12:00 pm by drew

Play-In Game Pick

March Madness officially begins Tuesday night as Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Winthrop meet in the play-in game for the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

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Tonight’s game takes place from the
University of
Dayton Arena in

Dayton,
Ohio. The game will tip at 7:30PM ET and the winner will move on to face Duke on Friday in the next round of the tournament.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made

Winthrop 4-point favorites over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday night. The over/under total for this game has been established at 112.5.

Winthrop is 19-13 this season and the Eagles got the big into the tournament due to winning the Big South Tournament. After losing three of their last four games of the regular season,

Winthrop rallied to win the tournament, winning all three games by at least eight points.

Winthrop is making its ninth appearance in the tournament and is in for the fifth time in six seasons. The Eagles hold one win in tournament history, which came in 2007. The Eagles this season average 62.4 points per-game while allowing just 61.4 points.

Winthrop leads with defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 39.7 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from 3-point land.

Winthrop has been led by Reggie Middleton, who averages 10.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per-game.

Pine Bluff lost its first 11 games of the season but still finished the season 17-15 and won the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament. The Golden Lions have won 11 of their last 12 games overall.

Pine Bluff is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance tonight. The Golden Lions score 64.4 points per-game while allowing 64.7. The Lions commit 17 turnovers a game, which could lead to trouble against a smothering
Winthrop defense and

Pine Bluff shoots just 30.4 percent from 3-point land. Terrance Calvin leads the team with 10.4 points, 4.0 assists, and 5.2 rebounds per-game.

With this pick, it seems that
Winthrop has the experience and championship pedigree to defeat

Pine Bluff, which is making its first tournament appearance. The game should be low scoring as both teams struggle to score and

Winthrop has an aggressive defense. Look for

Winthrop to slowly pick apart the Golden Lions to get the victory and move on to face Duke.

Our NCAA Tournament Free Pick for this matchup is:

WINTHROP -4 and UNDER 112.5.
March Madness Betting Trends


Winthrop is 11-3 ATS in its last 14 neutral site games and 0-4-1 ATS in its last five non-conference games.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff is 1-4 ATS in its five lined games this season.

Winthrop has gone under in its last four NCAA Tournament games.

The under is 15-3 in

Winthrop’s last 18 games following a straight up win.

The under is also 14-3 in Wintrop’s last 17 neutral site games, 4-1 in Winthrop’s last five non-conference games and 20-8 in the team’s last 28 overall.

March Madness Injury Report
ARK-PINE BLUFF

No significant injuries.

WINTHROP

No significant injuries.
March Madness Game Odds
Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions +4 Over 112.5 (+155)

Winthrop Eagles -4 Under 112.5 (-175)
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Posted: 3/16/10 12:00PM ET