DTM’s College Hoops NCAA Tourney Special | ETSU vs. FLA
2 min read
NCAA TOURNEY 1ST ROUND – EAST REGION
#4 Florida Gators vs. #13 East Tennessee State Buccaneers
When: 3:10 PM ET, Thursday, March 16, 2017
Where: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
America’s Bookie Line: Florida -10.5
TV Coverage: TruTV
By Dan Leach
Follow Dan on Twitter @DanLeach971
The first round matchup for the Gators couldn’t be much scarier for a 4-seed. ETSU can score with the best of them and with the Gators recent struggles could prove to be a heck of a tough game for them unless they are playing at their optimal best. The Gators have a ton of horses and senior PG Kasey Hill is the only one left from the Gators Final Four appearance in 2014, so his team will need to lean on him as his senior leadership to go along with a team leading 4.6 assists per game and almost 10 points per contest to show them the way.
The Bucs are led by a dynamic backcourt of senior T.J Cromer and junior Desonta Bradford and boy can they shoot the ball. They helped lead ETSU to 27 wins this year and a Southern conference regular season and tournament title. Tempo is going to be a key in this one as the Bucs love to run and gun and often score in the 80’s and 90’s. The Gators have been having trouble scoring at times and that could keep ETSU in this one late.
While I am not calling for an outright Bucs upset, I see this one being close throughout and would not be surprised at all if ETSU had the lead late, forcing the Gators to win this instead of just having to hang on. Florida will get a scare and likely move on, but the 10.5 points is just way too many in this one.
7.4 DTM Bagels and Locks on the Buccaneers (ETSU +10.5)
Dan Leach was the world’s first human to live under the sea for more than 60 days, created what is now used as the International Olympic Flag, was the basis of Denzel Washington’s character Frank Lucas in “American Gangster”, Is often consulted on matters of national “Sports Security”, was the first human to interview Dracula, started the American Revolution on a dare, once sat in on drums with Led Zeppelin, and is a noted expert in the field of Time Travel.
