South Carolina (22-15) –3, o/u 129 vs. Michigan (22-10), 7 p.m. Eastern
by Ultimatecapper.com Staff
The South Carolina Gamecocks seek their second consecutive National Invitation Tournament title when they battle the Michigan Wolverines Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
South Carolina beat St. Joseph’s 60-57 in the NIT championship game last spring. The Gamecocks figured to build on that success and make a run into the NCAA tournament this season, but struggled through a disappointing regular season, finishing fifth in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division. They did make it to the SEC tournament title game, but lost a close contest to Florida.
The Wolverines finished tied for sixth place with Michigan State in the Big 10 this season, then lost to Minnesota in the first round of the conference tournament. But since then Michigan has beaten UTEP, Notre Dame, Miami-Florida and Old Dominion to reach the NIT finals.
In their latest outing, the Wolverines routed OD 66-43 Tuesday in an NIT semi-final, holding the Monarchs to 15 of 53 shooting from the field.
South Carolina has won eight of its last nine games, and covered nine in a row. The Gamecocks beat Louisville 78-63 in the other NIT semi-final Tuesday, hitting 33 of 55 shots from the floor.
Thanks in large part to some key injuries, Michigan struggled through the second half of the regular season. But now they're as healthy as they've been all season, recently welcoming back forwards Chris Hunter and Lester Abram.
Michigan is 15-11 against the spread this season, 6-3 ats as underdogs.
South Carolina is 20-14 vs. the number this season, 11-10 ats as favorites.
Michigan is shooting 48% from the floor this season and 76% from the line. And the Wolverines outrebound their opponents by 4.6 per game.
South Carolina is shooting 46% from the floor on the season, 69% from the line, and the SC defense limits foes to just 43% shooting from the field.
The Sagarin PREDICTOR ratings at usatoday.com rank the Gamecocks 17th at 86.9, the Wolverines 30th at 84.4. The RPI at NCAAsports.com ranks Michigan #47, South Carolina #62.
The most recent Sagarin conference rankings rate the SEC #1 out of 31 Division 1 leagues, the Big Ten #3.
The over is 14-13 in Michigan games this season, 16-17 in SC games.
The Ultimatecapper Pick: We LOVE South Carolina here! Get it before the line continues to go up!
