Marco Morales 
We’re down to 8 teams that are ready to put it all on the line for a national championship. The PAC-12 has 3 out of 8 teams in the Elite 8, which I personally had none of them advancing here, but hey, what do I know. Two double-digit seeds have made it this far, #12 Oregon State and #11 UCLA. With the way this season, and tournament, has gone, in the wise words of Kevin Garnett, anything is possible! Enjoy my article, March Madness: Elite 8 – 3/29 Game Previews!
March Madness: Elite 8 – 3/29 Game Previews #2 HOUSTON VS #12 OREGON STATE
Houston (27-3; 14-3 American) takes on Oregon State (20-12; 10-10 PAC-12) at 7:15 pm on CBS
Houston enters this contest off of the domination of Syracuse. The already great Houston defense proved why they were deserving of their #2 in the country. They held a solid Syracuse offense to only 46 PTS all game, as they only made 14 shots all game. They forced Syracuse to turn the ball over 11 times that game, where they scored 18 PTS off of those extra possessions. Houston didn’t have a great game offensively, making only 38% of their FG attempts, but still ran away with a solid 62-46 victory.
The starting lineup contributed most of the offense for Houston, as the bench only scored 12 points. The Cougars’ leading scorer is the same person who has been doing it for them all year, Quentin Grimes. The junior guard had 14 PTS on the night, hitting 4 3s in the process. DeJon Jarreau did a little bit of everything, posting a near triple-double with 9 PTS 8 REB and 8AST.
Oregon State is on one of the best runs we’ve seen in a while for a team seeded this high. The Beavers are undefeated in the post-season, dating back to their PAC-12 championship win. They are fresh off of a win against Loyola Chicago, who has the best defense in the country. Oregon State’s defense was going to work as well, allowing only 16 points in the 1st half. They scored an impressive 65 points against the top defense, and they stand yet another test matching up with the next best defense in the country.
Senior guard Ethan Thompson has been the man for them all year, and he continues to put this team on his back. He dropped 22 PTS against Loyola Chicago to lead them past one of the best teams in the tournament. Warith Alatishe posted a double-double, scoring 10 PTS and coming down with 10 REB. The bench helped out a little bit, scoring 15 of their 65 points. Ethan Thompson has had an amazing tournament, and he can be a serious problem for Houston if he keeps playing at this level.
Houston has been showing just how good their defense is, as they have held every opponent to 60 PTS or less throughout this whole tournament. People say that defense wins championships, and although the season isn’t over yet, this much is still true for Houston. Their gameplan is very simple, keep to their defensive strengths and look to their top scorer, Grimes, to create his own shot and help to get his teammates involved as well.
Oregon State has been super impressive in every game they played this tournament. They have also been playing solid defense, holding two of their opponents to under 60 points. This game will be a battle on the defensive end, but Oregon State is going to have to keep it clicking on offense to be able to keep up with Houston. Running the offense through Thompson and limiting their turnovers can help the Beavers pave their path to victory. People have been writing off Oregon State all season, including me, and they have been proving everyone wrong each game, so watch out for this team that plays with a big chip on their shoulder.
Betting Odds:
Houston -8 (20-9 ATS)
-380 ML
Oregon State +8 (21-9-1 ATS)
+300 ML
O/U 129.5
Betting Trends:
*HOU is 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 Monday games
*HOU is 9-2 ATS in their last 11 neutral site games as a favorite
*HOU is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 NCAA Tourney games as a favorite
*ORST is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight-up win
*ORST is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 neutral site games as an underdog.
*ORST is 13-3-1 in their last 17 games vs a team with a winning record
March Madness: Elite 8 – 3/29 Game Previews #1 BAYLOR VS #3 ARKANSAS
Baylor (25-2; 13-1 BIG 12) matches up against Arkansas (25-6; 13-4 SEC) at 9:57 pm on CBS
Baylor yet again gets the job done, as they have been all season. After a slow start, Baylor outscored Villanova 39-21 in the second half, taking the win 62-51. The Bears had only scored 23 points in the first half, but their top-tier defense kept them in it. They forced 15 turnovers, while only giving it away 5 times themselves. Taking care of the ball and not wasting possessions has been a huge factor in Baylor’s success.
It took a team effort on offense for the Bears to overcome their early deficit. Davion Mitchell was the top scorer in the starting lineup, with 14 PTS on 7 for 13 shooting. The Bears got a huge performance from their bench, as Adam Flagler dropped a game-high 16 PTS in only 24 minutes off the bench. The sheer scoring talent on this team is such an advantage. Someone will always pick up the slack if the Bears’ stars aren’t shining.
Arkansas slid past the red hot Oral Roberts, winning 72-70. Arkansas has won the last 2 games by 2 points, so regardless of the score, they know how to win and get it done. The Razorbacks got a ton of extra possessions, which eventually was the reason they came out victorious, as the defense forced 13 turnovers. They attempted 16 more shots than Oral Roberts, which you can credit to their 16 offensive rebounds, totaling 46 all game.
Jalen Tate was the leading scorer for the Razorbacks with a stat-line of 22 PTS 4 REB and 6 AST. Three other starters scored double digits; Justin Smith (12 PTS), Davontae Davis (16PTS), and Moses Moody (14 PTS). Their top scorer, Moody, shot a miserable 4-20 in this contest, so he will have to come out with a better performance this time around if the Razorbacks want to make it past this phenomenal Baylor squad.
Baylor has a top 5 offense in the country, which isn’t surprising. It is no mystery why they are ranked this high, but they have to be careful, as Arkansas isn’t too far behind them at #11. The Baylor defense must step up and allow their offense to get easy looks to run up this score. If they slack on defense, Arkansas will have no problem taking advantage of lazy defense and will drop buckets with ease. I believe the key to victory for Baylor is to play solid defense, and limit their turnovers so Arkansas doesn’t get extra opportunities to get their offense kicking.
On the flip side, Arkansas must find a way to get their offense clicking fast. Their defense is average, but average isn’t good enough when you’re facing an offense that has as much firepower as Baylor’s. They’re going to have to click on all cylinders on offense and show Baylor that they can score too. I think they should try and get Moody going early to prevent a performance similar to last week, and then start to look for his teammates to alleviate the pressure. This has the potential to be another close game, but it will come down to if the Razorbacks can keep up with Baylor’s offense.
Betting Odds:
Baylor -8 (17-10 ATS)
-370 ML
Arkansas +8 (19-10-1)
+290 ML
O/U 148
Betting Trends:
*BAY is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS win
*BAY Over is 6-1 in the last 7 games following an ATS win
*BAY Over is 11-2 in their last 13 games following a straight up win
*ARK Under is 5-0 in their last 5 games overall
*ARK Under is 5-0 in their last 5 NCAA Tourney games
*ARK Under is 5-0 in their last 5 Monday games
These two games are going to be very interesting, despite both of them having high spread numbers. We have seen time and time again that the spread doesn’t always portray how the game ends up going. Every team left in the Elite 8 are all legit teams and any of them can win it all, obviously, some have a better chance than others. Regardless, these games are worth the watch and definitely have some intriguing betting value. I hope you found this information useful and enjoyed my article, March Madness: Elite 8 – 3/29 Game Previews!
Follow me on twitter @marcomorales_1 to stay up to date on my hot takes!
Be sure to check out Win Daily Sports for more sports betting content!
