Posted at 11:15 AM EST. Odds subject to change.

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MVP Arena Albany, NY - West Region - 2nd Round

Streaming: TNT

St. Mary’s +4 over UConn

6:10 PM EST. There might not be a better defensive team in this tournament than the Gaels of Saint Mary’s, who were able to shut down VCU in Round 1 by generating 14 takeaways. Not only that, but the Gaels also limited the Rams to just 36.7% shooting from the floor. Perhaps most impressively, Saint Mary’s smothered VCU in the second half by allowing just six buckets in 27 attempts. That is just 22.2% from the field if you’re keeping track of these sorts of things. One can never predict who will or won’t be the hotter shooting team, but when the Gaels are on the court, one can trust that the defense is going to be strong.

UConn is a team with much pedigree, and their fans are going to travel the two hours to Albany to make this second-round game and cheer their team on to the Sweet 16. With this game practically being in UConn’s backyard, there is a perception in the market that they are going to “show up” and play for those fans. However, we’ve seen time and again that those fans in the building that do not have a rooting interest are getting behind the “little guy.” If you watched the Mizzou/Princeton game yesterday, you know what we are talking about. With every Princeton success, the arena roared.

While all things are not equal from a strictly numbers game, asking the Huskies to spot a number here against a team as tough as Saint Mary’s is a big ask. Prior to waffling Iona in Round 1, the Huskies were a 4-point choice over Marquette and a 6-point choice over Providence in the Big East tournament. On no planet are those two Big East programs in the same league as Saint Mary’s. We mean that figuratively, of course (as they are literally not in the same league), but we hope you take our point. If Providence was a 6-point pooch on a neutral court to UConn, the Gaels should be favored. They aren’t. We’re going to scoop up the inflated points being offered here, but we’re not likley going to need them.

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