Will Michigan Dominate In Round 2 vs LSU?

After pulling away from St. Bonaventure late Saturday afternoon, LSU looks to cover the spread for the seventh straight game against Michigan. LSU is coming off a 19-9 SU regular season and covered the spread in 15 of those contests. Michigan (21-4 SU, 17-8 ATS), meanwhile, finished with its highest regular-season win percentage since the Fab 5 era.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

Following up a 16-point victory against Texas Southern, Michigan opens this contest as just a 5-point favorite. LSU has covered six in a row and may be getting a tad too much respect in this matchup from oddsmakers. The total for this contest opened at 148 and has risen to 149.5 since.

LSU News & Notes

In his fourth season at LSU, head coach Will Wade has put together one of the best offensive teams in program history. Entering the NCAA Tournament as a top-10 scoring offense and averaging just shy of 82 points per game, it shouldn’t be a shock to see this total hovering around 150. Pace of play has been an emphasis for the Tigers on offense but the spotty defense has resulted in LSU ranking outside the top 250 in defensive points per game.

LSU is coming off a strong performance against a very gritty St. Bonaventure team. Dominating the Bonnies in both halves, the Tigers outrebounded them by 19. The Tigers also had one of their best defensive performances of the season, limiting the Bonnies to just 3-for-20 behind the arc.

Michigan News & Notes

In just his second season as the Wolverines head coach, Juwan Howard has already made his footprint. Dominating the Big Ten Conference schedule at 14-3 SU in 17 games while finishing the season at 21-4 SU overall, Michigan averaged the most points in the program since the 1997 season. Maybe the most impressive statistic with this ballclub is, even with their quick pace of play, the Wolverines rank 13th in the country in defensive field-goal percentage, limiting opponents to just 39.2 percent from the floor.

Michigan is coming off an 82-point performance in the Sportsbook round, shooting a shade over 48 percent from the floor. Senior guard Mike Smith is coming off a dominant 18-point performance. Freshman center Hunter Dickinson put up 16 points in 24 minutes while going 6-for-7 from the floor.

Betting Pick: Michigan -5

Despite the underdog prevailing quite a bit in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, I am willing to bet chalk Monday night on this one. Michigan is too well-coached and way too deep for this erratic LSU ball club. The Wolverines should make a statement in this one from start to finish.