NCAA Tournament: Oklahoma vs. Ole Miss fearless prediction and game preview.
Broadcast
Date: Friday, March 22
Game Time: 12:40 ET
Venue: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC
Network: truTV
All You Really Need To Know About Ole Miss (20-12)
(SEC), NCAA NET Rank: 36. South 8-seed
The Rebels are sputtering and coughing in a bad way coming into the tournament, losing four of their last five – getting bounced out of the SEC Tournament by Alabama – and dropping ten of their last 16 games.
So what’s the problem? The offense has fizzled in key moments, and coming up with enough rebounds is an issue, too. The D isn’t stopping anyone from hitting from outside, and there aren’t enough blocked shots. However, it’s one of the nation’s best free throw shooting teams, and it moves the ball around just well enough to be good from the outside.
All You Really Need To Know About Oklahoma (19-13)
(Big 12), NCAA NET Rank: 37. South 9-seed
The Sooners might have finished tied for seventh in the Big 12, and they went 4-8 to close out the year, but the win over Kansas and a few victories over TCU were enough for the resumé. To do anything in the tournament, though, the offense has to show up.
OU is outstanding on the boards, and they’re great at guarding from three, but the offense doesn’t move the ball around, there’s next to nothing from three, and the D doesn’t force enough turnovers. Score 70 points on the Sooners, and you’ll probably have enough.
What’s Going To Happen
Can Oklahoma keep the score low and get enough rebounds to pull this off? It has the defense, but it can’t exploit the big Ole Miss weakness of not being able to guard from three. The Rebels will come up with enough defense of its own when this bogs down, but it’ll crank up the offense for spurts, too.
Fearless Prediction & Line
OIe Miss 74, Oklahoma 69
Line: Ole Miss, -2, o/u: 143.5
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ATS Confidence: 3
5: Watching games by Vegas pool working on fruity drink No. 3
1: Watching game online while doing TPS reports in your cubicle
