Wichita St Shockers at Davidson Wildcats
Belk Arena – Davidson, North Carolina
Saturday, February 18, 2012, 12:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN2
Opening Line: Wichita St -3
Current Line: Wichita St -3
Opening Total: 148 1/2
Current Total: 150
Opening Money Line: Wichita St -140 / Davidson +120
Current Money Line: Wichita St -140 / Davidson +120
Both Wichita St and Davidson lead their respective conferences with 14-2 records as they meet in the Bracketbuster event. It is one last chance for these two mid-major programs to have a national television showcase before the conference tournaments start in a couple of weeks. Wichita St is 23-4 this season out of the Missouri Valley Conference and ranked #24 in the AP poll and receiving votes in the Coaches’ poll. Davidson is 20-6 out of the Southern Conference this season. Davidson and Wichita st have never met in basketball before.
Wichita St is coached by Gregg Marshall. The Shockers have losses to Alabama, Temple, Creighton, and Drake. Wichita St has wins over Colorado, UAB, CS-Fullerton, UNLV, Tulsa, Utah St, Evansville twice, Illinois St, Indiana St twice, Northern Iowa twice, Missouri St twice, and Creighton. The Shockers have won 5 games in a row and 13 of the last 14 including at home versus Missouri St Wednesday 73-58.
Davidson is coached by Bob McKillop. The Wildcats have losses to Duke, Vanderbilt, Charlotte, Massachusetts, Samford, and Charleston. The Wildcats have wins over Richmond, Wofford twice, Kansas, Penn, UNC-Greensboro, Charleston, and Samford 81-54 Wednesday. The Wildcats have won 13 of their last 15 games.
Wichita St is outscoring opponents 78-63 this season. The Shockers are shooting 48.7% from the field and 37.3% from 3 point range. WSU is in the top 20 nationally in scoring and field goal percentage. The Shockers are shooting 74.8% from the free throw line. Wichita averages 37.7 rebounds with a rebounding margin of +6.4. The Shockers average 15 assists, 12.2 turnovers, 6.2 steals, and 3.8 blocks a game. WSU opponents are shooting 39.8% from the field and 30.4% from 3 point range. The Shockers force 13.1 turnovers a game.
Wichita St center Garrett Stutz averages 14.3 points, 8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1 block a game. Stutz leads the Shockers in scoring, rebounding, and blocks. Joe Ragland averages 13 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists to lead the team. He is shooting 46.3% from 3 point range. Toure’ Murry averages 12 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.1 steals a game to lead the team. Ben Smith averages 9.5 points and 2.9 rebounds a game. Smith is shooting 39.3% from 3 point range. Carl Hall averages 9 points and 5.2 rebounds a game. David Kyles averages 8.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1 steal a game. He is shooting 38.1% from 3 point range.
Davidson is outscoring opponents 79-68 this season. The Wildcats are 15th in scoring nationally. Davidson is shooting 44.8% from the field, and 35.4% from 3 point range. The Wildcats average 38.7 rebounds a game, with a rebounding margin of +7.1. Davidson averages 13.9 assists, 12.3 turnovers, 5.5 steals, and 3.1 blocks a game. Wildcat opponents are shooting 43.2% from the field and 34.4% from 3 point range. The Wildcats force 12.7 turnovers a game.
Davidson has 5 players averaging double digits in scoring. Davidson forward De’Mon Brooks averages 15.7 points, 6.3 rebounds to lead the team, and 1 steal a game to tie for the team lead. he doesn’t try a lot of three pointers but is shooting 39.5% from beyond the arc. Jake Cohen averages 13.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.4 blocks a game to lead the team. He is shooting 37.9% from 3 point range. J.P. Kuhlman averages 11.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3 assists a game. He is shooting 37% from 3 point range. Nik Cochran averages 11.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists to lead the team, and 1 steal a game. He is shooting 40.8% from 3 point range. Chris Czerapowicz averages 10.2 points and 4.4 rebounds a game. He is shooting 34.9% from 3 point range.
Davidson is 13-11 ATS and the total is 16-8 this season. Wichita St is 12-12 ATS and the total is 15-9 this season. The Shockers are 5-0 as a road favorite of 6.5 points or less, 4-1 against teams with winning records, in road games, overall, and in road games against teams with winning home records, 22-8 as a favorite of 6.5 points or less, 13-5 as a road favorite, 5-2 after a cover, 7-3 as a favorite, and after a win, and 2-7 in Saturday games. The Wildcats are 7-0 ATS at home, 4-1 as a home underdog, and at home against teams with winning road records, 9-21-1 in Saturday games, 1-4 as an underdog of 6.5 points or less, and 1-5 in non-conference games.
Both of these teams have very prolific offenses and decent on defense. Wichita St is better on defense than Davidson and that should be the difference. Davidson is tough at home with only a loss to Vanderbilt this season. I like Wichita St to pull out a tough road victory.
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