Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights Point Spread Picks

Rutgers and Notre Dame will tip off at the Players Era Festival in Vegas. Rutgers has one bad loss to Central Connecticut, where they shot just 36.2%. The Scarlet Knights have scored 80 or more points in four of their six games, and they look to bounce back after a loss yesterday to Tennessee. Notre Dame has lost two games, one to Kansas here yesterday. Notre Dame has also reached the 80-point mark in half of its games. I think we have a pair of teams that prefer to push the tempo and should comfortably find the 140s here. Make the play OVER the total. 

A First Four battle in Dayton, Ohio. Notre Dame is outstanding defensively, third in the ACC in points allowed, seventh in field goal shooting defense (.432), and fourth at defending beyond the arc. They shut down Pitt during the ACC tournament, including allowing 21 first-half points. Neutral court teams are 244-154 UNDER the First Half Total in NCAA tournament games. The Irish went 15-5 straight up in the ACC to earn the second seed in the conference tournament while on a 14-6 spread run. Rutgers is all about defense, 12th in the Big 10 in scoring, but second in points surrendered (65.8 ppg) and field goal shooting allowed (.414). Rutgers is 64-36 UNDER the First Half Total when the first half-line side is +1.5 to -1.5. Rutgers is a bad free-throw shooting team, second-to-last in the Big 10 (.701), while Notre Dame was second in the ACC (.757) from the charity stripe. Look for an all-out defensive duel with the wagering value on the Irish for the game after a low-scoring first half. Take Notre Dame + First Half UNDER the total.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish come into the Big East Tournament at 23-8 on the season. The Irish have been deadly to play against at home for years, but their offense is limited, and has not translated well on the road. The last five times the Irish have taken to the road, they have scored a total of 273 points, or just 54.6 points per game. That will suit the methodical Rutgers' style, as the Scarlett Knights have scored 60 or less 13 times on the season, including six times on the road in conference tilts. They have now played to a 16-5 UNDER mark in their last 21 Big East games, and are 6-0 to the UNDER when following a win. Notre Dame is now 19-7 in their last 26 at a neutral site. Go with the UNDER in this one.