The Notre Dame three-point barrage will simply be too much for the upstart Winthrop Eagles to overcome this afternoon.
Winthrop is a bracket-buster favorite of a lot of experts this year, but we feel that the 28-4 Eagles are in for a reality check here.
Yes, Winthrop has won 18 games in a row including a perfect 17-0 conference slate, and the only bad Eagle loss all year was by 20 points to Texas A&M. However we do not like this matchup defensively for the Eagles, who surrendered 81 points to VMI in the Big South Championship Game. Now they must contend with a Big East school in Notre Dame that averages 81.5 points for the entire year, hitting 46.1 percent from the field overall including 39.7 percent on three-point attempts.
We expect the Irish sharpshooters to connect early and often from the perimeter, giving Notre Dame a comfortable early lead en route to a rather safe victory.
Winthrop seems to be everyone's Cinderella pick this year. But the glass slipper will not fit the Eagles tonight against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
Everyone seems to have fallen in love with this Winthrop squad and many have advanced them to the second round of the tourney in their brackets. I’m not buying it, not for one second!
Sure, Winthrop has put together a very nice season this year. Wins at Miss State, Old Dominion, and Missouri State are nice, and close losses against UNC, Maryland, and Wisconsin look even better. But don’t let that blind you from the fact that this Irish club put forth a very nice campaign as well.
Head Coach Mike Brey probably did his best coaching job since arriving in South Bend, and the Irish had a number of solid wins themselves. They represented themselves very well in Big East play amassing a total of 12 wins, and they gave eventual Big East tourney champ Georgetown a major run for their money in the semifinal round.
Statistically, these teams are about even, except for the huge advantage the Irish own at the free throw line, and that’s going to be the reason they pull away in the end of this one for the first round win and cover. Winthrop struggled to pull away from a VMI squad in the finals of their conference tourney, and that’s not a good omen considering the Keydets play no form of defense whatsoever.
Look for this one to be close throughout, but the Irish will be able to muster up just enough at the charity stripe to put this one out of reach. Lay the short chalk.
yup im with you dan. I agree that winthrop is a good team, but the line is way to small to take them. Notre Dame should be at least a 5 point favorite, and in that case id just lay off. but there is too much value with ND only -3.5
well that makes me feel good about my ND +3.5 judging by your results so far this tourny illusion.......haha im just kidding it was too hard to resist. Hope ur luck turns around today...just not in the winthrop game
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Notre Dame over Winthrop: Two Supporting Plays
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