Top 2019 March Madness Friday Predictions for the First Round

The first day of the opening round of March Madness has come and gone, and the biggest story was the first triple-double by a player in an NCAA tournament game since Draymond Green did it in 2012 for Michigan State. Ja Morant put up 17 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds for Murray State in a throttling of Marquette. Murray State had entered as a 12-seed, likely because they play in the Ohio Valley Conference instead of because of their actual quality as a team. The 83-64 win put the tournament on notice that Murray State could be this year’s Loyola-Chicago and roll quite away into the bracket. Here we have three 2019 March Madness betting picks for you to consider for Friday’s action in the First Round.

Top 2019 March Madness Friday Predictions for the First Round

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— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) 22 de marzo de 2019

Iowa vs Cincinnati (-3.5) (12:15pm ET, CBS)

• Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH

The Cincinnati Bearcats get a de facto “home” game as they have a bus ride up to Columbus while Iowa has to fly in from the Midwest. Iowa (22-11, 10-10 Big Ten) had their biggest non-conference wins over Oregon, who won the Pac-12 tournament, and Iowa State, who won the Big 12 tournament. Tyler Cook leads the Hawkeyes in scoring and rebounds at 14.9 points and 7.9 boards. Luke Garza (12.9), Jordan Bohannon (11.3), and Joe Wieskamp (10.8) also average double figures for Iowa, and Wieskamp is the three-point sharpshooter in the bunch, shooting 42.2% from downtown. Cincinnati (28-6, 14-4 AAC) comes into the Big Dance on a high, having rolled to the AAC tournament championship after defeating SMU, Wichita State and then top tournament seed Houston in the final. Jarron Cumberland leads the Bearcats with 18.8 points per game, and Keith Williams (10.1) is the other Cincinnati player averaging in double figures. Tre Scott leads the team with 6.9 boards per game. Iowa is tough to play at home, but can they come to Ohio and land an upset? 2019 March Madness Betting Prediction: Cincinnati 77, Iowa 71

Kansas State (-4.5) vs UC-Irvine (2:00pm ET, TBS)

• SAP Center, San Jose

The Anteaters of UC-Irvine won the Big West tournament, routing Cal State-Fullerton in the championship game. Max Hazzard and Collin Welp each scored 23 points for UC-Irvine, and Robert Cartwright put up 10 points, five boards and three steals. Evan Leonard also had double figures, scoring 10 points. In their last 11 games after a straight up win, the Anteaters have covered the spread nine times, and they have covered in six of their last eight games coming after a win against the spread. However, they have only covered in five of their last 16 games played on a neutral floor. Kansas State rolled all the way to the Big 12 tournament semifinal, but despite holding the top seed they could not beat Iowa State, who would beat the Wildcats and then Kansas to win the tournament for the second straight year. In the loss, Kansas State (who did win the Big 12 regular season title) got 15 points and seven boards from Cartier Diarra, and Barry Brown Jr. added 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. Xavier Sneed (11), Kamau Stokes (10) and Makol Mauwien (10) all hit double figures in the loss as well. Kansas State has covered in four of their last five games after failing to cover in the previous game and has covered in five of their last six games on a neutral site. 2019 March Madness Betting Prediction: Kansas State 75, UC-Irvine 69

Iowa State (-5.5) vs Ohio State (9:50pm ET, TBS)

• Bank of Oklahoma Center, Tulsa, OK

Ohio State (19-14, 8-12 Big Ten) definitely benefited from their non-conference win over Cincinnati and their status as a college sports blue blood when they made it into the Big Dance. They lost to Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals. Kaleb Wesson led the Buckeyes in points (14.4) and rebounds (6.8) this year, and C.J. Jackson (12.2) also scored in double figures and led the team with 3.5 assists per game. The Buckeyes score just 69.6 points per game, relying on a grinding style to get their wins. The Buckeyes have failed to cover in any of their last eight NCAA tournament games and in 23 of their last 32 games played at a neutral site. The Buckeyes now face Iowa State (23-11, 9-9 Big 12), as the Cyclones ride in on the momentum of a Big 12 tournament win. Marial Shayok led the Cyclones in scoring this season with 18.6 points per contest, and Lindell Wigginton (13.4), Talen-Horton Tucker (12.1) and Michael Jacobson (11.5) also averaged double figures, and Jacobson led the team with six boards per game. Given the Cyclones’ momentum right now, it’s hard to see them not moving to the second round. 2019 March Madness Betting Prediction: Iowa State 78, Ohio State 67