Mississippi State vs Washington: NCAA Tournament Predictions
Written March 18, 2009 by Jordan Haimowitz
The Washington Huskies are the Pac-10 regular season conference champions. They had a marvelous year going 25-8 overall and went 15-5 in conference play. Washington is a very well balanced team with tons of threats. First to note would be All-Conference center Jon Brockman who averages 15 points and 11 rebounds per game. The engine that keeps this team running is their 5′8 point guard Isaiah Thomas who collects 15 points, 3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Two other important contributors are guard Justin Dentmon who puts in 15 points a game and forward Quincy Poindexter who averages 11.5 points and 6 rebounds a game. The Huskies are very athletic, they will present speed problems for the Bulldogs in this game. They average 79 points per game as a team. The main match up in this game will be the battle of the two All-Conference big men. Jon Brockman of The Huskies vs Jarvis Varnado of The Bulldogs. Whichever one of these two win the battle, they will give their teams the best chance to win the war. The Huskies have plenty of senior leadership on their side, so in a close game they’ll be poised. Washington is a 5.5 point favorite over Mississippi State.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs are the SEC tournament champions. During last week’s conference tournament battle’s, we saw some big time upsets and teams stealing bids from at large hopefuls. Miss State was perhaps the biggest surprise of them all. The Bulldogs beating Tennessee really shocked me. This is a team that lost to Texas Tech, Charlotte, San Diego and Mississippi at home. After watching they’re amazing run this is clearly not the same team. Their opponent Washington has struggled this year versus teams that can match up to their big men. The Bulldogs can do that plus more. The best big man on the court in this 13 vs 4 seed opener will be Jarvis Varnado of Miss State. He averages 13 points, 9 rebounds and a NCAA leading 4.7 blocks per game. Varnado is a force, he not only is the nation’s best shot blocker, he alters almost every shot that comes his way. The Bulldogs are not a one man wrecking crew though, they have a freshman point guard named Dee Bost. He is a lightning rod who averages 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists per game. I believe very strongly that Varnado will outplay Jon Brockman. That will leave Dee Bost to give Miss State that extra boost to give them a first round upset.
Haimo’s Hot Notes: Mississippi State is playing very well and have the one major necessity in order to pull off this upset. A big beast in the paint. Their confidence is sky high for The Bulldogs. This will be an excellent game as Washington has great vocal leaders and have three or four players that can put up 15-20 any given night. The difference will be in the last 3 minutes, Varnado will make defensive plays when Jon Brockman and Washington will not. Miss State has not faired well in their last 13 games ATS on Thursdays going 4-9. Dee Boost will neutralize Isaiah Thomas. Miss State pulls of the upset here and win 72-70. Take the points to play it safe. When you can get 5.5 points. You do not turn them down.
Washington is 18-11-1 ATS this year
Mississippi State is 18-10-1 ATS this year
Betting Line: Washington -5.5
Jordan’s Pick: Take Mississippi State +5.5
Make sure to check all my South Region Articles and predictions.
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