Notre Dame Fighting Irish at West Virginia Mountaineers

Betting Odds

Point Spread: West Virginia Mountaineers(-4)
Game Total Line: (143)
(wagering lines available at 5Dimes)

The WVU Coliseum is the site of Saturday’s Big East showdown between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the West Virginia Mountaineers. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on CBS.

Notre Dame continues to be the most surprising team in the Big East this season. It ran its current winning streak to seven games with a 78-55 romp over South Florida last Saturday as a 6 ½-point road favorite. This followed an exciting 89-79 OT victory over No.16 Louisville as a 4 ½-point home favorite on Feb.9. The Irish are currently 21-4 straight-up overall and 12-8 against the spread. They are in second-place in the conference at 10-3 SU, two games behind Pittsburgh.

A duo of seniors; guard Ben Hansbrough and forward Tim Abromaitis are responsible for much of Notre Dame’s success this season. Hansbrough is averaging 17.3 points and 4.1 assists, while Abromaitis is averaging 14.3 points and 6.4 rebounds. A third senior, Scott Martin is also scoring in double-figures to round out a very talented and experienced lineup.

Notre Dame is shooting 46.2 percent from the field and averaging 76 points a game. The Irish are hitting 38 percent from three-point range and are converting 73.2 percent of their attempts from the foul-line. They are ranked 70th in the nation in rebounds with an average of 37 a game.

West Virginia is in the middle of a brutal stretch of games that have resulted in losses to three straight top 25 teams including a 63-52 loss to No.20 Syracuse as a five-point road underdog this past Monday. The Mountaineers have also lost to No.14 Villanova 66-50 as a 4 ½-point road underdog and to No.4 Pittsburgh 71-66 in a ‘pick’ at home. They have fallen to 16-9 SU on the year (9-13 ATS) and 7-6 SU in Big East play.

Senior guard Casey Mitchell remains the team’s leading scorer with 15.4 points a game while junior forward Kevin Jones is second with an average of 12.7 points. Jones is also the leading rebounder with seven a game. Junior guard Darryl Bryant and senior forward John Flowers are each averaging over 10 points a game. Bryant leads the team in assists with 3.3 a game and Flowers is second in rebounds with 6.2.

West Virginia matches up well with the Irish with an average of 71 points and 37 rebounds a game. The Mountaineers are shooting 43.6 from the floor and are not really known as a three-point team; hitting just 33 percent of their attempts. They have also been weak from the foul-line; converting on less than 70 percent of their attempts.

Notre Dame is 3-2 ATS in its last five games on the road and is 6-1 ATS in its last seven games overall. The total has gone ‘over’ in five of its last six games.

West Virginia is 2-4 ATS in its last six home games and is 0-4 ATS in its last four games. The total has stayed ‘under’ in six of its last eight games.

Head-to-head, the Mountaineers have won three of the last four games SU and the series is tied at 2-2 ATS. The total has stayed ‘under’ in the last 10 meetings.

Against the Spread Game Pick

Yes the Fighting Irish are playing outstanding basketball in recent weeks winning 7 straight games which in some cases were versus top notch teams. That being said, the Mountaineers did beat trhem last season at home and West Virginia does fins themselves in a must win situation and I'm going to call for them to get the straight up win on Saturday.
Take West Virginia -4 at 5Dimes and get reduced juice on game day!