I think Northeastern has enough to stay within the number against Kansas on Thursday. Kansas isn’t as good on the road this year and two freshmen guards. I will be taken Northeastern + 7 as my first pick.
Let’s attempt to break down the matchup instead of just dart throwing.
Northeastern is straight fire from 3, with 4 legitimate shooters hitting 40% from beyond the arc. Kansas really struggles defending the 3; definitely their biggest weakness this season.
However, NE is one of a handful of teams in the tournament with 0 wins against tourney teams. They beat Alabama on neutral court and Hoftra twice, but were severely outmatched against Va Tech and Syracuse and got blown out. Even with the injuries, Kansas will be putting 3 or 4 McDonald’s All Americans on the court. Kansas will be looking to up the pace on offense and look to score inside and should be able to take advantage of NE very weak interior defense.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see NE come out firing from deep early on for a potential 1H play +points, but Kansas should eventually outmatch them and pull away for the win.