John B.
(12) Wofford Terriers vs. (5) Arkansas Razorbacks (-7.5, 136 o/u)
Over the last two NCAA Tournaments, No. 12 seeds have won more second round games than No. 5 seeds (6-2). That makes tonight’s game between the No. 12 Wofford Terriers (28-6, 16-2 Southern) and No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks (26-8, 13-5 SEC) all the more interesting.
“Well, those 12 seeds must have been pretty darned good,” said Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “That’s how I see it. But on any given night, a one-shot game, it could be that shining moment where teams play with confidence. Wofford is a very good basketball team, and if your team comes in with the mindset [or] thinking you’re just going to show up and win, you’ve got another thing coming. I think the preparation is very, very important.”
Coming out of the Southern Conference, Wofford is on an eight-game winning streak. But Anderson isn’t worried about the Terriers streak so much as his own squad’s execution.
“I’m more worried about what we do than what other people do,” said the Arkansas bench boss.
Added Razorbacks forward Bobby Portis, “Our team really hasn’t went over them yet. Coach just always tries to preach we aren’t worried about the other team, like, our team is just worried about what we do.”
That mind set has largely worked for the Razorbacks this year, especially late in the season, as the team won ten of its last 13 games.
For the Terriers’ part, the players are trying not to get caught up in the 12/5 trends.
“We’re happy that in the past, luck has been on the side of the 12 seed,” said Wofford guard Karl Cochran. “But we’re not really paying that too much attention. If we get caught up too much in the past – it’s been popular for the 12 seed to beat the 5 seed – we’ll lose. We feel like it’s already set in stone, and it’s not.”
If you’re going to take a 12 seed to win, Wofford and the moneyline (+290) is good value.
(Photo credit: Mark Barron (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)
