Venue: University of Dayton Arena, Dayton
First Four
16.03.2023, @ 04:10 AM (+03:00 UTC)
The NCAA Play-in tournament offers a chance for unranked squads to pose a special challenge to make it to the first round of the March Madness tourney. These squads are now playing a direct knockoff to enter the perpetual knockout stage that begins in the first round. In this “First four” battle, Arizona State is going to take on Nevada.
Get Your Welcome Bonus!Arizona State
Under the coaching of Bobby Hurley, Arizona State improved a lot and has jumped to 22 wins, and finished fifth in the packed Pac-12 Conference. The defense was the calling card for the outfit as they had the sixth-best field goal percentage at 43.8%. Their defense in terms of points per game was in the top 33% and gave just 67.7 points per game. Marcus Bagley, Desmond Cambridge, and DJ Horne averaged 12-13 points per game. Devan Cambridge, Frankie Collins, and Warren Washington all averaged around 10 to make a balanced scoring effort but it was the defense that rescued them.
Nevada
Nevada won 22 and lost 10 to finish fourth in Men’s Mountain West Conference. They did a great job of limiting teams to around 42% field goal which put them in the top hundred. Jarod Lucas, the 6’3’’ Guard led the scoring effort, averaging over 17 points a game. Kenan Blackshear and Will Baker both combined for around 28 points. Darrion Williams averaged over 7 rebounds. Nevada’s scoring depth is a big boost for them in terms of the Play-in tournament.
Injuries
- OUT: Arizona State: Austin Nunez;
- Nevada: Nothing to report.
Expert Betting Tips
This makes for an exciting battle because both teams almost have a similar record and it will be tough to predict this one. Both teams have balanced scoring and Nevada has the trump card of Jarod Lucas. This seems like a close battle and I believe that defense will prevail here with Nevada closing things out.
Other predictions
