UConn men’s basketball is going dancing for a program-record sixth-straight season. The Huskies will attempt to take home their third national title in the last four years as a 2-seed in the East Region, earning an at-large bid after losing the Big East Tournament Championship to St. John’s. Dan Hurley and UConn will take on 15-seed Furman, the Southern Conference Tournament champions, in the First Round in Philadelphia on Friday. Tip time has yet to be determined.
The Paladins rank 191st overall
in KenPom, and are 200th in offensive efficiency and 181st in defensive efficiency. Furman, led by head coach Bob Richey, have size throughout the roster and are the fifth-tallest team in Division I per KenPom. Big man Cooper Bowser — a 6-foot-11 center — had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the SoCon Tournament title game, while 6-foot-5 freshman guard Alex Wilkins was the Paladins’ only postseason award honoree, earning second team All-SoCon honors.
Furman won the SoCon as a 6-seed in the conference tournament, taking down Samford, UNC Greensboro and East Tennessee State to earn the automatic bid. The Paladins were 22-12 on the season and 10-8 in the SoCon, and had wins over Harvard and fellow tournament team Queens.
FanDuel likes UConn’s chances of taking down the 15-seed Paladins in the First Round, with the initial line set at UConn -19.5. The Huskies are -4500 to win outright, and the over/under is set at 137.5.
Should the Huskies get past Furman, UConn would play the winner of 7-seed UCLA and 10-seed UCF in the Second Round on Sunday. Mick Cronin’s Bruins rank 27th overall in KenPom, while UCF ranks 54th.
Duke, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, is the 1-seed in the East Region. Michigan State, who UConn beat in an exhibition game prior to the start of the season, is the 3-seed. Kansas is 4-seed, followed by Rick Pitino and Red Storm as the 5-seed. For more NCAA tournament game lines and futures, be sure to check out FanDuel.
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