Savannah State North Carolina Central Betting – Independents Clash in Winston-Salem
The March Madness spotlight will be focusing on the ACC Tournament semifinals this Saturday, but don’t forget about another game in the Carolinas: a clash in Winston-Salem, N.C.
NCAA basketball betting: Savannah State Tigers @ North Carolina Central Eagles
Why To Bet On Savannah State
March Madness betting experts know that as an independent school with no affiliated conference, Savannah State needs to grow its program from the ground up. Savannah State head coach Horace Broadnax, a fixture on John Thompson’s great Georgetown teams of the 1980s, is acutely aware of this. As a result, Broadnax scheduled anyone and everyone in the first half of the Tigers’ season. Savannah State played Dayton and Cincinnati, Clemson and Southern Mississippi, Kansas State and Nebraska. Savannah State lost stacks of games and fell to 2-17 on the season. However, anyone with a long-term perspective should have been able to see what Broadnax was doing. First of all, he was playing the kinds of games that would give his fledgling program a fat paycheck; the big schools pay smaller schools to fill schedule slots during the first part of the season, the November-December stretch before conference play begins for keeps in early January. Savannah State filled its coffers and learned a lot of on-court basketball lessons along the way. Because the Tigers absorbed so many losses against brand-name opponents in the world of college basketball, they’ve become a tougher and more resilient team, one which is very much equipped to win against the small-conference schools in its back yard. After ending the tour of power-conference schools, Savannah State has indeed found a groove. The Tigers have won nine of their last 10 games to reach a respectable 11-18 record. Against North Carolina Central – not North Carolina – Savannah State stands a very good chance of winning the game outright.
Why To Bet On North Carolina Central
The sports betting reason to pick the Eagles and coach LeVelle Moton is that they’ve won eight of their last 13 games against comparable foes. North Carolina Central hasn’t played the same kind of schedule Savannah State has, but the Eagles – also an independent program – have held up reasonably well over the course of the long season. They’re 15-14 and have been slightly better than .500 over the past two months of competition. One thing which gives North Carolina Central a fighting chance every time it takes the floor is that it possesses two high-quality scorers. Guards C.J. Wilkerson and Landon Clement both average 19 points a game for Moton and the NC Central coaching staff. Having one meal-ticket scorer at this level of competition is a baseline necessity, but having two guys who can go off for roughly 20 points per night is a luxury not every team has in major college basketball. The Eagles have multiple ways to thrive in late-game situations.
How The Game Will Play Out
The online betting skinny is that while North Carolina Central’s two top-flight scorers will make this game close and competitive, Savannah State has turned the corner this season against a comparable level of competition. You can’t judge the Tigers’ 11-18 record on a linear level. This is a team that got beaten up by power-conference opponents but has since excelled against more modest foes. Take Savannah State in a game that will tip off at 11:05 a.m. local time in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Savannah State North Carolina Central Betting Pick: Savannah State
