NCAA Tournament - Injuries to Keep an Eye On
by Mike Rose
Sports betting action for the March Madness Bracket Here! Here’s BetUS’s list of injuries to keep an eye on this week…
Ty Lawson, North Carolina
Where else to start than where all of the buzz is? Carolina’s point guard injured a toe on his right foot before playing Duke in the final game of the regular season. He missed the entire ACC Tournament, where the Heels were pushed the brink against Virginia Tech (W 79-76), but were bounced by Florida State (L 73-70). In both games, UNC was favored, but in both contests, came nowhere near covering the spread. It’s pretty clear that the fun n’ gun offense the Tar Heels run just isn’t the same without their catalyst. Lawson ranks 2nd on the team in points (15.9), 1st in assists (6.5), 1st in steals (1.9), has the best field goal percentage on the team (53.8%), and the second best percentage from beyond the arc (46.7%). There just isn’t another player in the entire country like the junior point guard, and the news that he may miss the opening round game against the Highlands of Radford has pushed a line that once opened at 27.5 all the way down to 24.5 at some books.
Josh Jenkins, Cal-State Northridge
Though most injuries are basketball-related, Jenkins was a terrifying casualty completely unrelated to the game. Back in the middle of February, the Matadors’ guard was injured in a single-car accident. The driver in the car was killed, while Jenkins was hospitalized for a number of nights. The point guard averaged 10.2 points per game and led the Big West with 6.0 assists per contest before getting injured. Earlier this season against Stanford, Jenkins scored 24 points and had six assists, proof that he can light it up against the big boys as well as Big West competitors. The good news for Northridge is that the team went 5-2 SU and ATS in his absence, but it was clearly either total feast or total famine in those seven games. In five covers, the Mats averaged 81.4 points per game. In the two failed attempts at beating the basketball betting line, they averaged just 53.0. That’s horrifying news with one of the stingiest defenses in the land waiting on deck coming in the form of Memphis. It could be a field day for the Tigers, who will surely be angry after getting snubbed out of a #1 seed in the dance.
Dominic James, Marquette
Back on February 25th, the Golden Eagles sat at 23-4 and thought that their game with Connecticut could propel them into the conversation about taking a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Not only did they lose the game to the Huskies (93-82), they lost arguably their best player in Dominic James. The 5’11” point guard was fourth on the team in scoring at the time of his injury (11.4 points per game), but was more importantly the team’s top assist-man (5.1 per game) and best defender (2.2 steals per game). Since losing James, the Golden Eagles are just 3-3 ATS and 1-5 SU. The squad was averaging 80 points per game before the injury. They haven’t reached that critical 80-plateau since. With a Utah State team that can score in bunches on the horizon, #6 Marquette could be in for a very short stay on the dance floor.
Jerome Dyson, Connecticut
The Huskies have played seven games since they lost their junior shooting guard to a season-ending injury, and have crippled sports bettors. UConn is just 1-6 ATS in those seven games, and the one win was likely courtesy of the injury to James of Marquette. Dyson was part of a four-headed monster that looked nearly unstoppable. Now, AJ Price is the only consistent outside shooting threat remaining. Dyson averaged 13.2 points per game, but filled up the stat sheet every single night. He averaged 4.1 boards, 3.2 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. If the top seed in the West is going to make it to the Final Four, someone else is going to have to step up off the bench and pick up the slack, because C Hasheem Thabeet and Price more than likely can’t do it all alone.
