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.
