The betting public was all over UConn as small favorites ahead of their highly anticipated matchup with Creighton on Tuesday, but the bookies ruled the day.
BetMGM reported 66 percent of the money was on UConn against the spread as 2.5-point favorites, as the public flooded bets on the favored Huskies.
Meanwhile, 80 percent of the moneyline bets were also on Connecticut to win outright, the sportsbook reported just before game time.
DraftKings reported similar action on Connecticut, reporting 77 percent of the money on the Huskies to cover and 82 percent of the betting tickets.
Post-Action Betting’s Tanner McGrath pointed out this wild trend during his preview for the game.
“Top-10 teams that beat a fellow top-10 team by 15-plus points in their previous game and then play on the road against another ranked team are 4-7 straight-up (SU) in those games, with the four wins coming by a 3.8-point average margin.”
We can now make that 4-8 straight up, as the sharpshooting Bluejays came out firing early and often in their dominant 85-66 victory.
Dan Hurley’s group had been dominating the college basketball season, putting together a 14-game win streak that included a resounding victory over No. 4 Marquette on Saturday.
But Tuesday’s loss snapped that win streak as the two teams prepare for March Madness in about one month.
UConn’s national title odds didn’t move a bit, though, as the Huskies entered Tuesday with +500 odds to cut down the nets for a second straight year and that’s where their odds still stand.
Creighton did move substantially thanks to their hot shooting night, moving from 30/1 down to 18/1 to be the final team cutting down the nets in April.
At one point, the Bluejays were 11-of-19 from 3-point range before finally cooling down in the second half and ending with a still phenomenal 14-of-28 mark from 3-point range.
The Huskies now move forward to face the Villanova Wildcats on Saturday before ending their regular season against Seton Hall, Marquette and finally Providence on Mar. 9.
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From there, the Huskies will move into the Big East Tournament from March 13-16 prior to Selection Sunday.
If all goes well, the tournament favorites will be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which begins March 19th with the First Four games.
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Erich Richter
