After two days of action in Missouri Valley Conference Tournament odds action we are down to the final four teams for today’s semifnals.
As expected, No. 1 Creighton advanced with a 65-53 victory over Drake but the game ended as a PUSH with the Bluejays favored by 12 points. They will now face No. 5 Indiana State, who are coming off a 1-point victory over Evansville as a 2-point underdog on the betting odds at the sportsbooks.
Creighton hammered the Sycamores by 13 points as 14.5-point favorites the first time they met this season, but Indiana State returned the favor in a lopsided 76-57 victory as a 4.5-point home underdog on February 6.
Game 2 of the MVC semifinals pits No. 2 Wichita against No. 6 Illinois State. The Shockers could not cover the 13-point spread in a 69-59 win over Missouri State in yesterday’s quarterfinals, but the Redbirds had no problem getting by Northern Iowa 73-65 as 1.5-point favorites.
Wichita State pulled-out a 68-67 victory as a 2-point road underdog the last time these two teams met after beating Illinois State 74-62 earlier in the year as an 8-point home favorite. The Shockers are now 8-1 straight-up and 7-2 against the spread in their last nine meetings.
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It will be a full slate for today’s MVC quarterfinals after both No. 9 Drake and No. 7 Missouri State advanced with wins in Thursday’s opening round.
Game 1 features No. 1 seed Creighton against Drake in what could actually be an interesting matchup considering the last time they met the Bulldogs stunned the conference-champion Bluejays 74-69 as 9-point home underdogs on the betting lines.
Following that game, No. 4 Evansville will square off against No. 5 Indiana State as a 2.5-point favorite on the opening line. These two split their two regular season games both straight-up and against the spread.
The third game on the schedule pits No. 2 Wichita State against Missouri State. The Shockers have dominated this series as of late with four SU victories and a 3-1 record ATS. The total has stayed UNDER in seven of the last 10 meetings.
The No. 3 Northern Iowa Panthers will wrap things up for the day against No. 6 Illinois in a game that is currently listed as a pick'em. The Panthers swept the season series both SU and ATS by a combined 18 points.
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The 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis tips off on Thursday night with the lower four seeds of this 10-team conference in action.
In the first game of the day No. 8 Bradley faces No. 9 Drake. Bradley was one of three teams at 7-11 straight-up in conference play, but the only one to have a winning record overall at 16-15. The second game on Thursday pits No. 7 Missouri State against No. 10 Southern Illinois.
The real action gets underway in Friday’s quarterfinals when the top six teams in the MVC take to the court. No. 1 Creighton will start things up against the winners of the Bradley/Drake game. The Bluejays finished the regular season 24-7 SU and 15-13-1 against the spread. They were 13-5 SU in conference play, edging out Wichita State by one game for the MVC regular-season title.
The second of four games on Friday’s schedule is a matchup between No. 4 Evansville and No. 5 Indiana State. Evansville had one more SU win in conference play than Indiana State and was a healthy 17-11 ATS. The Sycamores lost five of their last six games SU and went 1-8 ATS in their last nine outings.
The No. 2 Shockers will square off against the winner of the Missouri State/Southern Illinois contest in the third game on Friday’s slate. Wichita State lost its final two games of the regular season both SU and ATS including a 91-79 pounding by Creighton as a 5-point underdog this past Saturday. It remains the top shooting team in the nation, hitting 51.1 percent of its shots from the field.
The final game on Friday has No. 3 Northern Iowa against No. 6 Illinois State. The Panthers went 18-13 SU and 15-14-1 ATS. They closed out the regular season with an 80-72 victory over Illinois State as 3.5-point home favorites. The total went OVER the 133-point line.
Saturday’s semifinals feature the winners from Friday’s contests, and the MVC Championship Game will be held on Sunday afternoon and broadcast on CBS Sports.
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Odds - courtesy of :
Creighton 1/1
Wichita State 2/1
Northern Iowa 9/1
Evansville 14/1
Indiana State 20/1
Illinois State 7/1
Missouri State 250/1
Bradley 100/1
Drake 50/1
Southern Illinois 50/1
Thursday, March 7 - Opening Round
6:05 PM ET – No. 8 Bradley vs. No. 9 Drake
8:35 PM ET – No. 7 Missouri State vs. No. 10 Southern Illinois
Friday, March 8 - Quarterfinal Round
12:05 PM ET – No. 1 Creighton vs. No. 8/9
2:35 PM ET – No. 4 Evansville vs. No. 5 Indiana State
6:05 PM ET – No. 2 Wichita State vs. No. 7/10
8:35 PM ET – No. 3 Northern Iowa vs. No. 6 Illinois State
Saturday, March 9 - Semifinal Round
1:35 PM ET – No. 1/8/9 vs. No. 4/5
4:05 PM ET – No. 2/7/10 vs. No. 3/6
Sunday, March 10 - Championship Game
1:05 PM ET – Semifinal Winners
