Old Dominion Monarchs vs. Baylor Bears (-4.5) Point Spread Picks

On Saturday in a 2nd round match up in the South Region 3rd seed Baylor takes on 11th seed Old Dominion. The Monarchs may have scored the biggest upset in the 1st round beating Notre Dame 51-50 while Baylor only beat 13th seed Sam Houston State 68-59.

Old Dominion is on fire, as they have won 9 of their last 10 games and their last 5 including winning their conference tournament. Baylor lost to Kansas State in the semis of the Big 10 conference tournament, but before that they had won 5 straight.

This season Baylor is 16-10 ATS and Old Dominion is 13-17-1 ATS.

Old Dominion does not play in a big conference, but they will not be intimidated in this game, as they beat Notre Dame on Thursday and they faced Missouri, Mississippi State, and Georgetown during the regular season.

The Monarchs will have to win this game with their defense, as they only have one player that is averaging in double figures in Gerald Lee (14.4 ppg). Old Dominion has one of the best defenses in the nation, as this season they held opponents to an average of only 56.9 ppg.

Old Dominion held Notre Dame to a paltry FG of 35.6% in the 1st round win and if they play like that again they have a good chance to score another upset and advance to the Sweet 16.

Baylor is led by their solid backcourt with guards LaceDarius Dunn (19.2 ppg) and Tweety Carter (15.2 ppg). The Bears will be facing a great Monarchs' defense, but they have a solid offense averaging 77.3 ppg.

Old Dominion does not have one guy who is their main guy on the glass so they will have to play good team defense on Bears' C Ekpe Udoh (14.1 ppg 9.9 rpg) and not let him kill them on the glass. He had 20 points and 13 boards in their win over Sam Houston State in the 1st round and if he can put up those numbers the Bears are set.

To open up the lane for Udoh to operate the Bears will have to hit their 3-pointers, which they did not do in their win over San Houston State with a 3-pt FG% of only 25%.

Old Dominion is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 non-conference games and 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games as an underdog and Baylor is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 non-conference games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite.

Old Dominion has an Under record of 9-3 in their last 12 games as an underdog and Baylor has an Over record of 4-1 in their last 5 games.

Game Prediction

Take the Baylor Bears