NIT Betting Odds and Preview: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs. Utah Utes



Professional sports handicapper Ross Benjamin provides a betting preview on Tuesday’s NIT Semifinal game between Western Kentucky and Utah.

The 27-10 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and 22-11 Utah Utes will meet in one of the two NIT Semifinals matchups on Tuesday. The opening tip from Madison Square Garden in downtown Manhattan is slated for 7:00 PM ET. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN.

At the time of this writing (3/26), NIT betting odds at Bookmaker has this game as a pick.

 

How Western Kentucky Covers

West Kentucky basketball pickWestern Kentucky is a perfect 3-0 ATS during their 2018 NIT games. All those victories came against power conference teams. They’ve defeated Boston College, USC, and Oklahoma State in consecutive order. The latter 2 wins came as a road underdog.

The Hilltoppers have fared very well this season in neutral site and true away games. They’ve gone a stellar 13-7 straight up and 14-6 ATS during those contests. Western Kentucky has also defeated a NCAA Tournament “Sweet 16” team in Purdue earlier this season. Furthermore, they gave NCAA Tournament “Final Four” participant Villanova all they can handle during an 8-point loss, and easily covered as a 22.5-point underdog.

Western Kentucky will have an excellent chance of winning if they continue the hot shooting they’ve displayed through its first 3 NIT games. During that span, the Hilltoppers have shot a sizzling hot 53.8% while also averaging a robust 83.3 points scored per game.

Additionally, Western Kentucky has been impressive defensively in recent games as well. The Hilltoppers have held their previous 5 opponents to only a combined 39.4% shooting. It’s tough to beat any team that’s operating with that high degree of efficiency on both ends of the floor like Western Kentucky has done of late.

 

How Utah Covers

Utah is a very good defensive team and that’s been especially evident of late. During their last 5 games, the Utes has held its opponents 62.0 points per game, 39.7% shooting, and permitted them to convert on just 29.1% of its 3-point attempts. If Utah hopes to come out on top in this matchup, it’s imperative they continue locking down defensively against a red-hot offensive opponent.

Utah Utes NIT previewUtah is coming off an extremely strong quarterfinal performance in which they won 67-58 win at St. Mary’s. In doing so, they handed the Gaels only its second home loss of the season, and their only other blemish occurred against NCAA Tournament #4 seed Gonzaga. That win will certainly serve as a huge confidence booster for anything that lies ahead.

 

NIT Totals Betting Angle

Western Kentucky heads into this NIT Semifinals game with an exceptional win percentage of .730. Meanwhile, Utah has a pretty good win percentage of their own at .667.

Any NIT neutral site matchup where both teams possess a win percentage of .600 to .800, resulted in those contests going 52-20 (72.2%) under the total since 1997. The average total in those 72 games was 138.9, and there were a combined 133.0 points scored per contest.

The NIT betting odds at Bookmaker is showing a total of 140.0 on this contest. I’ve yet to make a wager on this contest. However, my early lean is for it to be a lower scoring affair.

Ross Benjamin is a top sports analyst and one of the sports industry's most respected handicappers. Follow him on Twitter: @RossBenjamin1 or visit his website at RBWins.com


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