2011 NCAA Tournament Second Round – Southwest Region
#2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. #15 Akron Zips, United Center, Chicago, IL
Friday, March 18, 2011, 1:40 pm Eastern, TV: TBS
Opening Line: Notre Dame -13
Current Line: Notre Dame -14
Opening Total: 136
Current Total: 135.5
Money Line: Notre Dame -1400 / Akron +900
The second-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish (26-6) are hoping to put past disappointments in the NCAA tournament behind them and start anew when they battle the 15th-seeded Akron Zips (23-12) on Friday in Southwest Region second-round action at the United Center in Chicago. The Fighting Irish (-14) have been upset in the first round two of the last three times they have appeared in the Big Dance and want to prove themselves worthy of their seeding this time around.
Notre Dame was in the running for a #1 seed heading into the Big East Conference tournament last week but fell short of that goal with an 83-77 overtime loss to Louisville in the semifinals. The second-seeded Irish had covered the spread in their previous four games and beat the third-seeded Cardinals a month earlier in overtime, 89-79. Still, they ended up getting a very respectable seed in the NCAA tournament and will be riding Big East Player of the Year Ben Hansbrough as far as he can take them.
Hansbrough’s older brother Tyler led North Carolina to the national championship two years ago as a senior, and he would like to do the same in his final year. The younger Hansbrough was incredibly consistent for Notre Dame this season, and even in defeat against Louisville he totaled 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists despite making only 3 of 16 shots from the field. He failed to score in double figures just twice in 32 games and averaged nearly 22 points in the last 15 since his last single-digit outing.
Akron will try to contain Hansbrough and fellow 3-point gunner Tim Abromaitis, who averaged nearly 21 points himself over the last six games. The Zips did a great job defending the 3-point shot this season, limiting opponents to less than 32 percent shooting from beyond the arc. They were even more effective over the last five games, holding the opposition to 26.2 percent on 3-pointers en route to winning the Mid-American Conference tournament.
Kent State was the top seed in the MAC tournament but lost to Akron 66-65 in overtime last Saturday for the conference’s automatic bid. The Zips also topped #2 seed Miami of Ohio 82-75 in overtime in the quarterfinals after blowing a 26-10 halftime lead. They finished with a 9-7 mark during the regular season in conference play and are back in the Big Dance for the first time since losing to Gonzaga 77-64 in the opening round two years ago.
Akron has won its last four games both straight-up and against the spread along with 11 of 13. The total has gone UNDER in five of the team’s last eight games, which is a trend the Irish have not seen much lately. The OVER is 3-0-1 in Notre Dame’s last four games overall and 8-2-1 in the past 11.
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