Morehead State and Richmond both pulled off upsets in their tournament openers, but only one of them will live to play another day when the two meet up in a March Madness matchup on Saturday.
No. 13 Morehead State busted a number of brackets and likely beat up a few March Madness betting bankrolls with their shocking upset of No. 4 Louisville on Thursday. The Eagles were a 9.5-point underdog and knocked off the Cardinals 62-61 behind Demonte Harper's clutch three-pointer with 4.2 seconds remaining. Kenneth Farried also came up big with a block on Louisville last-chance shot, and he had a nice game overall with 12 points and 17 rebounds.
The No. 12 Spiders weren't as surprising a Sportsbook on Thursday but they still knocked off a higher seed, No. 5 Vanderbilt, 69-66 as a 3-point underdog. Kevin Anderson dropped in 25 points for the Spiders, who haven't been beyond the second round of the tournament since making the Sweet 16 back in 1988.
The early March Madnesss odds on this No. 13 vs. No. 12 battle at Sportsbook have Richmond listed as a 4-point favorite. The Spiders have won eight straight while also going 8-0 ATS, and Morehead State is 13-1 in their last 14 games with a 9-5 record ATS.
Saturday's Madness schedule includes one rematch from the regular season when Big East clubs Cincinnati (No. 6) and Connecticut (No. 3) collide. The Bearcats won their opener against Missouri 78-63 as a 1-point favorite. Yancy Gates delivered 18 points and 11 rebounds, and he surprised with two three-pointers after making only two shots from beyond the arc all season.
Connecticut continued the roll they started in the Big East Tournament by crushing Bucknell 81-52 as a 10.5-point favorite on Thursday. Kemba Walker scored only 18 points but remained a dominant presence with eight rebounds and a season-high 12 assists.
During the regular season the Bearcats and Huskies met up in Cincinnati in February. UConn was a 3.5-point underdog, but came away with a 67-59 upset win. Walker came alive in the second half when the Huskies needed him, scoring 11 of his 16 points after the break. Gates led Cincinnati with 14 points and eight boards. In Saturday's rematch the Huskies are a 3-point favorite at Sportsbook.
There are two 4 vs. 5 matchups on Saturday but the one garnering the most attention is in the East where No. 5 West Virginia meets up with No. 4 Kentucky for the second year in a row.
In last year's tournament the Mountaineers ended the Wildcats' tournament in the Elite Eight with a 73-66 upset victory as a 4-point favorite. Most of the team that knocked out Kentucky last year is back, including Darryl Bryant, who led West Virginia with 19 points in their 84-76 win over Clemson as a 2-point favorite.
The Wildcats barely avoided a huge upset loss to Princeton in their tournament opener on Thursday. Kentucky was expected to blow out the Ivy Leaguers as a 13-point favorite, but they just scraped by in a 59-57 win. Wildcats leading scorer freshman Brandon Knight struggled in his first tournament game, scoring only two points on 1-of-8 shooting. If Knight delivers another dud on Saturday Kentucky could be upset by the Mountaineers again, this time as a 3.5-point chalk at Sportsbook.
Here is the complete Saturday tournament schedule with odds and totals:
Southwest:
(13) Morehead State 125.5
(12) Richmond -4
West:
(7) Temple 124.5
(2) San Diego State -5.5
(6) Cincinnati 129.5
(3) Connecticut -3
East:
(5) West Virginia 132.5
(4) Kentucky -3.5
Southeast:
(7) UCLA 131
(2) Florida -5
(8) Butler 128
(1) Pittsburgh -7.5
(11) Gonzaga -1
(3) BYU 149.5
(5) Kansas State 127
(4) Wisconsin -2.5
