UC Santa Barbara vs. Creighton Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The No. 5 seeded Creighton Bluejays are looking to put their worst loss of the season, a 73-48 defeat to Georgetown in the Big East title game, behind them as they enter the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. Standing in the Bluejays’ way is UC Santa Barbara, a No. 12 seed team led by Big West coach of the year, Joe Pasternack.
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos vs. Creighton Bluejays NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
After Creighton opened as 8-point favourites over UC Santa Barbara, the line has shifted slightly to -7. UC Santa Barbara was a perfect 10-0 at home this year, leading to a 21-4 overall record, while Creighton was 20-8. The Gauchos were the better team at covering, going 14-10 against the spread. Creighton struggled to cover and posted a 13-15 record ATS. Bettors are clearly seeing UC Santa Barbara as a value pick, as 72 per cent of early action is siding with the Gauchos and 80 per cent is taking the Over on a 138 total.
(12) UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
This is just the sixth Tournament appearance for UC Santa Barbara and their first since 2011. The Gauchos hit the 20-win mark for the fourth straight year and ran away with the Big West this season. They’ve only lost once in 2021 and they’re fresh off a 79-63 win over UC Irvine to win the Big West Tournament. They led the Big West with 47 per cent field goal shooting and they have an experienced lineup led by JaQuori McLaughlin. The Oregon State transfer averaged team-highs in points (16.2) and assists (5.2). The main problem with the Gauchos is the quality of opponents they’ve faced. They didn’t face any tier-one opponents, so we really won’t have an idea of how good this team is until after Saturday’s game.
(5) Creighton Bluejays
If last year’s NCAA Tournament hadn’t been cancelled, Creighton likely would have been one of the higher seeds. The Bluejays are coming into this game after suffering their biggest loss of the season and they’ve dropped three straight Tournament games. Creighton comes at opponents with a balanced attack. It’s tough for opponents to game-plan around them because all five of their starters are averaging double-digit points. You have to watch out for them defensively too because Creighton also led the Big East with 198 steals. Marcus Zegarowski leads the team in points (15.5) and assists (4.3). The Bluejays will be the hardest team UC Santa Barbara has faced this year, so Creighton will likely try to use that to their advantage and come out looking to put this game away quickly.
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