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Home / Basketball / March Madness Betting Round 1 – Rhode Island Rams vs Creighton Bluejays March 17th, 2017

March Madness Betting Round 1 – Rhode Island Rams vs Creighton Bluejays March 17th, 2017

  • Updated: March 17, 2017
    • March Madness Betting Round 1 – Rhode Island Rams vs Creighton Bluejays March 17th, 2017

    The Creighton Bluejays are hoping for new life during March Madness; they are missing their best player, and have not had a lot of success with him out of the lineup. There’s nothing they can do about that now, except try to improvise and move forward. On Friday night, as they enter play in the Big Dance, they will have a formidable foe in front of them, the Rhode Island Rams, who are carrying a lot of momentum into this matchup which begins at 4:30 PM ET at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. TBS will televise the game live, and BetAnySports customers will have the opportunity to place wagers on it while it is happening through the wonders of camp Live Betting Ultra.

    March Madness Odds – Rhode Island vs Creighton

    In the March Madness betting odds posted on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, this game is a pick’em:

    Rhode Island Rams – pick
    Creighton Bluejays

    Over 141.5 points -110
    Under 141.5 points -110

    March Madness Betting Round 1 – Rhode Island Rams vs Creighton Bluejays March 17th, 2017

    March Madness Preview Rhode Island vs Creighton – CJ’s Take

    Creighton started fast this season, winning its first 13 games. And these were not against stiffs either; they defeated Seton Hall and Wisconsin, both of whom are in this NCAA Tournament field. Later, during conference play, they chalked up wins over the likes of Butler and Xavier. But early in the conference schedule, Maurice Watson, their standout point guard who was leading the nation in “assist rate,” tore up his knee and was declared out for the season. Watson was averaging 12.5 points and 8.5 assists and really brought this offense together. Since he’s been gone, this team has gone 7-8 straight-up, and lost its spot in the national rankings. They did make a nice showing of it, beating Providence and Xavier in the Big East tournament, but then they lost in the finals by 14 points to defending national champion Villanova.

    To compound matters for Creighton, there was a cloud hanging over Watson, as he was charged with rape by a Creighton student. A judge has allowed him to rehabilitate his knee in his native Philadelphia, and be under the supervision of his family while he awaits trial. But in the interim, he is banned from campus. Creighton does not have a single solution at the point guard position, instead relying on a combination of players. But they do have a constant – shooting guard Marcus Foster has averaged 18.5 points this season, and he is very strong inside the arc, nailing 53.7% of his two-point attempts. And we are sure they will rely an awful lot on big man Justin Patton, a seven-footer who shot 70% on the season.

    BetAnySports patrons may not be all that familiar with Rhode Island, but this is a team that has an awful lot of talent. They are on an eight-game winning streak at the moment, and beat Virginia Commonwealth to win the Atlantic 10 championship. They have previous win over Cincinnati, and none of this is a lot of surprise to observers who had been pegged as a top Top 25-caliber team at the start of the season.

    EC Matthews was the Most Outstanding Player of the conference tournament, and he leads the way with 14.8 points, with Hassan Martin doing a lot of the inside work, as one of the top shot-blockers in the country. He will be a key in dealing with the aforementioned Patton. Rhode Island is second in the nation in blocked shot percentage, and they are also good on the perimeter, holding teams to 29% from beyond the arc. So this is a very tough assignment for a Creighton squad that is without its floor leader.

    BetAnySports gives you more, including a great free play bonus for signing up, in addition to reduced juice, offering better value on your March Madness betting odds…… Remember that with Live Betting Ultra, you can stay in the action even after the game tips off, and with several payment options, including the virtual currency of Bitcoin, you’ll never be left out in the cold!