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College Basketball

Davidson Wildcats vs. Michigan State Spartans Picks, Predictions, Odds

6 minute read

The Davidson Wildcats (27-6) of the Atlantic 10 Conference will meet the Michigan State Spartans (22-12) of the Big Ten Conference in first-round action in the NCAA Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 9:40 p.m. ET at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C., and the game can be viewed on CBS.

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Score Prediction

Michigan State 73, Davidson 68

Best Bet

Michigan State -110 ML

NCAA Tournament Expert Picks | NIT Tournament Picks

MARCH MADNESS BETTING RESOURCES

DAVIDSON WILDCATS vs. MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS PREDICTIONS

Davidson was tripped up in the A-10 Final against Richmond, along the Spiders to crawl in for the automatic bid. The Wildcats had a fair body of work, including a neutral-floor win over Alabama Dec. 21, as well as a regular-season win over Richmond. They were also a darling of bettors, especially early on, going 11-1 ATS across the first 12 games this season.

Michigan State ended up getting dumped in the Big Ten semifinals by Purdue, who avenged an earlier 68-65 loss to the Spartans in East Lansing on Feb. 26. Sparty also recorded resume-building wins over Wisconsin in the league tourney, and once in the regular season, as well as victories over tournament teams Connecticut, Loyola-Chicago, Indiana and Michigan. Head coach Tom Izzo always seems to get the most out of his players, especially at this time of the year, and this is a rather intriguing matchup for that reason.

DAVIDSON WILDCATS vs. MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS BETTING ODDS

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DAVIDSON WILDCATS vs. MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS BETTING RESOURCES

  • Date: Friday, March 18, 2022
  • Matchup: No. 10 vs. No. 7
  • Region: West
  • Venue: Bon Secours Wellness Arena
  • Location: Greenville, S.C.
  • TV-Time: CBS - 9:40 p.m. ET

DAVIDSON WILDCATS BETTING ANALYSIS

Straight Up - SU, Against the Spread - ATS, Over-Under (O/U)

  • SU: 27-6
  • ATS: 20-12
  • O/U: 18-14

As mentioned above, Davidson opened the season on an 11-1 ATS run. They closed the regular season on a strong run against the number, too, going 4-0 ATS from Feb. 19-March 2, while cashing in six of the past eight games overall.

The Wildcats are 5-1 ATS in the past six neutral-site games, while going 6-1 ATS in the past seven as a favorite. They're also 4-1 ATS in the past five neutral-site affairs when installed as a favorite.

In terms of totals, the UNDER has cashed in six of the past eight for Davidson when favored, as well as four of the past five NCAA Tournament gams, The OVER is 4-1 in the previous five neutral-site games, however, including two of the three A-10 tourney games.

MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS BETTING ANALYSIS

Straight Up - SU, Against the Spread - ATS, Over-Under (O/U)

  • SU: 22-12
  • ATS: 18-15-1
  • O/U: 18-15-1

Michigan State covered all three Big Ten games, and each of the league tourney games were decided by six or fewer points, including a solid 69-63 win over Wisconsin in the league quarters. The Spartans have cashed in four straight games overall, and four neutral-site games in a row, too.

The OVER has hit in five of the past six games overall for Michigan State, although postseason and neutral-site trends point to the UNDER. The UNDER is 4-1 in the past five NCAA Tournament games, while going 6-2 in the past eight neutral-site games as an underdog.

Michigan State has covered four consecutive games entering the NCAA Tournament. (AP)

INSIDE THE STATS - DAVIDSON WILDCATS

  • Record: 27-6
  • PS/G: 75.6 (57th)
  • PA/G: 65.8 (76th)

INSIDE THE STATS - MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS

  • Record: 22-12
  • PS/G: 72.1 (148th)
  • PA/G: 68.4 (157th)

KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH

  • DAV: Luka Brajkovic - F (14.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.2 BPG, 58.7 FG%, 42.3 3P%)
  • DAV: Foster Loyer - G (16.8 PPG, 3.4 APG, 3.2 RPG, 45.0 3P%, 93.5 FT%)
  • MSU: Gabe Brown - F (11.5 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.2 APG, 37.0 3P%, 91.8 FT%)
  • MSU: Malik Hall - F (9.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.1 APG, 53.8 FG%, 48.3 3P%)

DAVIDSON WILDCATS vs. MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS BETTING CONCLUSION

At first glance, this looked like a sexy 10-7 mild upset for the bracket nerds who like to tell you all about the huge $5 they invested in the office pool, and then they whine incessantly on social media about teams they never watched all season. Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox, but I appreciate you reading these previews and betting games for real, instead of that nonsense.

Anyway, looking at Davidson's overall body of work, yes, it has 27 victories, but who did the Wildcats really beat? Do victories over Duquesne, Fordham and La Salle really move the needle for anybody? The only win of note was a 79-78 neutral-floor win over Alabama back on Dec. 21. The Wildcats went 1-3 SU against other NCAA Tournament teams, with the only win against Richmond, a team only in the Field of 64 due to mostly to the Wildcats allowing for that to happen in the A-10 Final loss. Davidson lost to San Francisco. Davidson lost to New Mexico State. And Davidson lost to Richmond in the A-10 final, while barely beating the Spiders 87-84 in the only regular-season meeting. What did Davidson deserve to get all of the amateur bracketologists to love them? Because of what Steph Curry did there years ago? Because Bob McKillop is a great coach and super likeable guy?

Michigan State also has a great coach in Tom Izzo. Is this his best team? Not by a long shot, but this Spartans team has wins over quality foes like Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin a couple of times, Purdue, UConn, Loyola. They have the resume. Davidson doesn't, and for me, that's the difference here.

MARCH MADNESS PICK RESOURCES

DAVIDSON WILDCATS vs. MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS BETTING TRENDS

  • Davidson is 6-2 ATS in the past eight games overall.
  • Davidson is 6-1 ATS in the past seven games as a favorite.
  • Davidson is 5-1 ATS in the past six neutral-site games.
  • Michigan State is 4-0 ATS in the past four games overall.
  • Michigan State is 4-0 ATS in the past four neutral-site games.
  • The UNDER is 6-2 in Davidson's past eight as a favorite.
  • The UNDER is 4-1 in Davidson's past five NCAA Tournament games.
  • The OVER is 5-1 in Michigan State's past six games overall.
  • The UNDER is 4-1 in Michigan State's past five NCAA Tournament games.

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