Day 1 of March Madness was great, as 16 teams secured their place in the round of 32. Will they be able to keep their momentum going into the Sweet 16? Or will they fall short of greatness, ending their run with just one win in this year’s Tournament?
We’ll find out on Saturday, as the field gets a bit smaller, and we get another chance to see how everything will shake out. The games have enough excitement as it is, but adding some player props from Underdog into the mix will make it that much more exciting!
Javohn Garcia (McNeese St) OVER 10.5 Points
McNeese State did what they had to do against Clemson in Round 1, scraping by with a narrow win that had fans on the edge of their seats. Clemson has one of the best defenses in the country, and bench player Brandon Murray ended up having the most success in the box score, putting up 21 points in that game.
This left his teammates with fewer scoring opportunities, including Jahvon Garcia, who averaged over 12 points during the regular season but finished the game with just 3. We love Garcia’s chances of bouncing back with an 11+ point game on Saturday, knowing that Purdue’s defense isn’t quite as strong as Clemson’s.
RJ Lewis (St. John's) UNDER 18.5 Points
RJ Lewis had a great game in Saint John’s opener, putting up 22 against Omaha. While this might indicate that he’s in for another big scoring night, we’re fading him against Arkansas, believing this could be more of a defensive game than people realize.
Both teams can put up a ton of points, but with more on the line in the second round, we expect the defense to clamp down and see fewer overall points scored. This will limit Lewis’ ceiling, and with a high projection, we feel much better about taking his under, at least in this round.
Khalif Battle (Gonzaga) OVER 12.5 Points
Run, don’t walk to Underdog to smash the over on this projection before it changes. Khalif Battle went off against Georgia in the first round, scoring 24 points in what turned out to be a massive blowout.
He averaged 13.5 PPG during the regular season, and with a great matchup coming up with Houston in the round of 32, Battle shouldn’t have any issues hitting the 13-point threshold, if not getting back closer to 20 points.
