Virginia vs Coastal Carolina
Time: FRI 9:25 PM ET, Mar 21, 2014
TV: TBS
Spread: VIR -21
Betting odds courtesy of Bovada
The Virginia Cavaliers finished the season 28-6 with a dominating 16-2 record in ACC play.
It faces the Big South champion Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in a game college basketball oddsmakers are not expecting to be close. Opening lines at Bovada showed the college basketball odds to be favoring Virginia by 21 points in second round play Friday night.
Coastal Carolina did not face many major conference opponents over the course of the season, and lost badly to both Minnesota and Clemson on Nov 19 and Nov 29, respectively. The team shot just 43 percent from the floor over the course of the year, though it did generate 72.7 points per game (119th). 6’4″ freshman guard Elijah Wilson leads the team in scoring, with 16.1 points per game, as well as grabbing 4.1 boards per contest. He scored in double-figures in all but three games this season and scored 20 points or more on seven occasions.
If Wilson gets hot, it could keep the Chanticleers in the game for half or so, which may account for the team covering the spread set in the college basketball odds. Coastal Carolina will encounter a plethora of defensive problems against a tough ACC school like Virginia, but if it is shooting lights out, that can often make the difference with big 21-point spreads and the like.
Virginia took care of business against its ACC counterparts down the stretch, with victories over FSU, Pittsburgh and Duke. The Cavaliers were 6-4 this season against NCAA Tournament teams, with Duke accounting for both a win and a loss. The team is notoriously tough defensively, and is capable of controlling the pace of the game well.
The Cavaliers averaged just 65.8 points per game, but held opponents to 55 points. The team features a strong seven man rotation, and it features size and strength at each position. Mike Tobey, a 6’11” sophomore, has made a big impact in limited minutes. Though he sees just 18 minutes per game, Tobey blocks 1.1 shots, 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
6’5″ sophomore guard Malcolm Brogdon leads the team in scoring with 12.6 points per game, while also snagging 5.6 rebounds per game. He came up big in the ACC Championship game against Duke, scoring 23 points on 7-of-17 shooting. Virginia is 10-2 when Brogdon scores at least 15 points in the game.
VA Trends: 1-7 ATS in last 8 Friday games; 15-4-2 ATS in last 21 overall; UNDER 8-3 in last 11 Friday games.
