#VegasMadness betting blog: Sharps pick right side with Zags

It seems absurd now, but two weeks ago Gonzaga was in jeopardy of not making the cut. Suddenly, coach Mark Few is a week away from reaching his first Final Four.

The Zags, who earned their way into the NCAA Tournament field by winning the West Coast Conference tournament in Las Vegas, showed they could fare pretty well in the Big East and Pac-12, too.

Gonzaga whipped Utah 82-59 in the second round, two days after barely breaking a sweat in a 16-point victory over Seton Hall.

In a game that opened pick’em, Westgate sports book director Jay Kornegay said “sharp” bettors picked the right side. The Zags closed as 1-point favorites.

“The public was on Utah,” Kornegay said.

Favorites are 5-3 against the spread today, and two point-spread decisions had bettors on the edge of their seats in the final seconds.

Duke closed as a 6½-point favorite — the line also hit 6 and 7 — in a 71-64 victory over Yale. The Blue Devils allowed a 27-point lead to shrink to three in the final minute. But Brandon Ingram and Grayson Allen each made two free throws before the Bulldogs’ Blake Reynolds had a 3-point try blocked with six seconds to go.

Butler bettors deserved to cash tickets, though not all of them did. Virginia led 72-69 with 37 seconds left and pulled away to a 77-69 win.

After Malcolm Brogdon made two free throws for the Cavaliers, Butler’s Roosevelt Jones missed a short jumper with two seconds to go instead of taking a clear path for a layup. Technically, Virginia did not cover because it closed as an 8½-point favorite, but the line also sat on 7, 7½ and 8.

Public money on Kentucky was flushed. The Wildcats, who closed as 4-point favorites, went down in a 73-67 loss to Indiana.

Wichita State closed as a 1½-point favorite over No. 3 seed Miami. The Hurricanes blew a 21-point lead, but Angel Rodriguez made two clutch shots down the stretch to beat the Shockers 65-57.

I still believe Wichita State was a legitimate potential Final Four team that got screwed by the tournament selection committee. The 11th-seeded Shockers were trying to win their third game in five days, and they were unfairly scheduled for the earliest tipoff time today. Gregg Marshall coaches a tough-as-nails team, but that road to the Sweet 16 was too tough for most teams to handle.

No. 1 seeds Kansas and North Carolina covered without a lot of sweat.

Iowa State put the Cinderella story of Arkansas-Little Rock to sleep.

Tipoff: It’s not going to be difficult to top what happened Friday — it’s going to be impossible. We just witnessed one of the craziest days in NCAA Tournament history.

Michigan State, a No. 2 seed and a 16½-point favorite, was shocked by Middle Tennessee State. West Virginia, a 3 seed and a 7-point favorite, was blown out by Stephen F. Austin. California, a 4 seed and a 5½-point favorite, fell to Hawaii.

Pittsburgh-Wisconsin (an ugly game) and Michigan-Notre Dame went down to the last minute, Temple-Iowa went to overtime, and Cincinnati-St. Joseph’s went down to the last tenth of a second.

Are we forgetting something? Obviously, the highlight was Northern Iowa, an 11 seed, toppling Texas on Paul Jesperson’s miraculous halfcourt shot at the buzzer.

Favorites went 9-7 against the spread Thursday. Arkansas-Little Rock, Wichita State and Yale were outright winners as underdogs.

Underdogs went 9-7 against the spread Friday. There were six outright wins for ‘dogs.

The action starts early today. Wichita State, an 11 seed, is a slight favorite over third-seeded Miami at 9:10 a.m. I lean to the Shockers to win their third game in five days.

Best Bets

(2-2 overall, 2-0 Friday)

* Kentucky (-3½) over Indiana

Around 70 percent of the money is on the favorite, which is not a surprise because the Big Ten’s reputation has taken a few hits this week and the public likes to play Kentucky. But the Hoosiers will stay in this game, and laying this number is not easy. Yogi Ferrell is an outstanding senior point guard for Indiana, a team stocked with shooters and scoring 82.3 points per game. Still, I’ll go with defense, rebounding and the scoring of Jamal Murray. In a high-stakes rivalry game, John Calipari is a more reliable coach.

* Gonzaga (Pick) over Utah

Some of the sharper books moved to Zags minus-1 this morning. The Utes rely too much on 7-foot Jakob Poeltl on the offensive end. Domantas Sabonis, a 6-11 sophomore who totaled 21 points and 16 rebounds in the first round, matches up well with Poeltl in a battle between two of college basketball’s most skilled big men. This decision will come down to who can make clutch shots, and that should be Sabonis and Kyle Wiltjer as Gonzaga wins a tight one.

Other plays today: (7-3 overall, 4-1 Friday) Connecticut (+8½) over Kansas; Arkansas-Little Rock-Iowa State (Under 145)

(This betting blog will be updated throughout the day.)

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247