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In a battle of teams looking to play a similar style of basketball, the No. 13 seed Ohio Bobcats will be playing the No. 5 seed Creighton Blue Jays in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
Game date: Monday, March 22
Game time: 6:10 p.m.
TV channel: TNT
Location: Hinkle Fieldhouse
March Madness Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
Spread: Creighton -5
Total: 149.5
Moneyline: Creighton -220, Ohio +180
No. 13 Ohio Bobcats: 17-7 record (9-5 MAC)
KenPom rating: 78 Overall, 30 Offense, 152 Defense
NET ranking: 87 (1-2 VS QUAD 1)
Leading scorer: Jason Preston (16.6 ppg)
The No. 13 Ohio Bobcats pulled a 62-58 upset over the defending champ and No. 4 seed Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday night. Ohio was down one at halftime, but ended up scoring 35 points in the second half to move onto the second round.
The Cavaliers’ defense did not have an answer for Ben Vander Plas, who scored a game-high 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 3-of-9 from three-point range. Jason Preston almost had a triple-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists. The junior guard is an absolute playmaker and always found a way to get his teammates involved. The Bobcats shot 42% from the field, while holding the Cavs to an abysmal 35% shooting from the field and 25.8% from three-point range.
No. 5 Creighton Blue Jays: 21-8 (14-6 Big East)
KenPom rating: 24 Overall, 16 Offense, 42 Defense
NET ranking: 26, (7-3 VS QUAD 1)
Leading scorer: Marcus Zegarowski (15.5 ppg)
The No. 5 seed Blue Jays escaped a nail bitter on Saturday afternoon, defeating the No. 12 seed UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos 63-62 in the first round.
Creigton’s leading scorer, Marcus Zegarowski, scored a game-high 17 points (7-11 FG, 3-6 3pt) and dished out seven assists. Zegarowski hit a couple of huge shots towards the end, while Christian Bishop sealed the game with some key free throws. Bishop had a double-double consisting of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The Blue Jays played good defense on Gauchos as they held Jaquori McLaughlin to only 13 points (4-9 FG, 2-4 3pt), seven rebounds, and six assists. UCSB had four players score at least 10 points or more, but they shot 38.6% from the field and 23.8% from behind the arc.