March Madness Predictions: Cleveland State vs Arizona

Written March 21, 2009 by Jay Horne

arizona-cleveland-state-march-madness-odds-032109 One of the more interesting games for the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament will take center court early Sunday afternoon when the unexpected 12 and 13 seeds meet in Miami, Florida. The 13 seeded Cleveland State Vikings pulled off the biggest upset so far in the Tournament when they took down 4th seeded Wake Forest in a big way 84-69. The Vikings will battle with another unexpected suspect in the Arizona Wildcats. The Wildcats faces all sorts of criticism for being selected to the big dance after losing 5 of their last 6 games of the season. However, Arizona proved their bid was no fluke after beating 5th seeded Utah by 13 points. This improbable match-up now will result in one of these underdogs winning their way to the sweet sixteen, but the question is who will it be? Arizona is just a 3 point favorite over Cleveland State Sunday.

The Arizona Wildcats had won 7 games in a row before losing those last 5 of 6 games. If not for that impressive streak earlier in the season, they would most likely not have been in the NCAA Tournament. However, the Wildcats did not disappoint in their opening performance and they will try to prove once again that their NCAA bid is legitimate. Junior guard Nic Wise had a big night draining 29 points in the winning effort over Utah. Junior forward Chase Budinger also posted 20 points as well in their latest victory. The Wildcats focus now moves to a Cleveland State team who unexpectedly recorded their 2nd highest point total of the season of 84 points against Wake Forest. Arizona recorded 13 steals in their victory over Utah which really turned the control of the game to the Wildcats. Arizona looks for solid defense along with standout Nic Wise, Chase Budinger, and Jordan Hill to lead them to another victory that will move them to the sweet sixteen.

Cleveland State made only their 2nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament in history. The Vikings made the most of the trip stunning the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the biggest upset of the tournament. Cleveland State’s only other appearance came back in 1986 when they also pulled off a big first round upset against Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers. The Vikings may have busted everyone’s NCAA brackets with their big win and they will attempt to back up their strong showing this Sunday. In their winning effort over Wake Forest, Norris Cole and J’Nathan Bullock combined for 43 points. Bullock has led the Vikings all season averaging 15 points per game. However, Cleveland State will need Bullock, Cole, and others to all have another big performance like they did against Wake Forest. Only 4 teams in NCAA history have made the sweet sixteen as a number 13 seed and the Cleveland State Vikings will try to be the 5th this Sunday

Cleveland State and Arizona are pretty even in terms of rebounding. Both ball clubs are averaging right at 34 boards per game. However, Jordan Hill for Arizona could be the difference in terms of the glass with 11.1 rebounds every outing. Arizona has also shot the shot the ball a bit better than the Vikings. The Wildcats have knocked down 47% from the floor while the Vikings average knocking down 43% as a team. Cleveland State should be the better defensive team on the floor to equal things in what should be an exciting second round match-up.

Pick - Take Arizona-3

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