The NCAA Tournament is officially underway. The March Madness bracket got going with a pair of First Four matchups last night, and we have two more play-in games on tap for Wednesday. Lehigh first takes on Prairie View A&M in a showdown of No. 16 seeds. Then it’s Miami (OH) vs. SMU in the nightcap featuring No. 11 seeds. Let’s get some action on both games with our NCAA Tournament First Four PrizePicks predictions. There’s some clear value on the board for us to pinpoint. Enjoy these plays as you watch the games.
NCAA Tournament First Four PrizePicks Predictions
Nasir Whitlock More Than 1.5 Three-Pointers Made
Playmaking point guard Nasir Whitlock headlines Lehigh's offense. The junior averaged a team-high 21.0 PPG this season, and he should feature heavily in this First Four matchup against Prairie View A&M. More specifically, Whitlock's threat from three-point range will be key in the game.
The NCAA Tournament is officially underway. The March Madness bracket got going with a pair of First Four matchups last night, and we have two more play-in games on tap for Wednesday. Lehigh first takes on Prairie View A&M in a showdown of No. 16 seeds. Then it’s Miami (OH) vs. SMU in the nightcap featuring No. 11 seeds. Let’s get some action on both games with our NCAA Tournament First Four PrizePicks predictions. There’s some clear value on the board for us to pinpoint. Enjoy these plays as you watch the games.
NCAA Tournament First Four PrizePicks Predictions
Nasir Whitlock More Than 1.5 Three-Pointers Made
Playmaking point guard Nasir Whitlock headlines Lehigh's offense. The junior averaged a team-high 21.0 PPG this season, and he should feature heavily in this First Four matchup against Prairie View A&M. More specifically, Whitlock's threat from three-point range will be key in the game.
Prairie View has a solid interior defense, but it's struggled on the perimeter. The Panthers rank 250th in the country in opposing three-point shooting (35.1%). That bodes well for Lehigh, which shot 36.5% from deep this season (39th in Division I).
Enter Whitlock, whose 44.8% on three-pointers leads the Mountain Hawks. He was even better in conference play from beyond the arc, shooting a whopping 48.9% on treys. Let's back Whitlock to make multiple deep shots on Wednesday. He has 2+ made three-pointers in 14 of his last 18 games coming in.
Whitlock also likes to score in the paint plenty. However, that part of his game could be bottled up by how well Prairie View defends inside. So, look for Whitlock to opt for more three-point attempts to help cash this pick.
Eian Elmer More Than 13.5 Points
The First Four matchup between Miami (OH) and SMU may be one of the more anticipated play-in games in recent memory. Besides the Miami storyline, it should be a higher-scoring contest. Both teams bring in uptempo, potent offenses that could make this a track meet. So, let's target one of those scorers from the RedHawks.
SMU's defense will likely focus on stopping Miami's top playmakers, Peter Suder and Luke Skaljac. That should open up more shot attempts for the RedHawks' secondary offensive options, including Eian Elmer. The junior is averaging 12.6 PPG this season, though he should be above that mark in this matchup.
Elmer recently scored 32 and 16 points in the past two games. He's averaging 17.4 PPG over the last eight contests and 16.1 PPG over the last 14 games. Elmer's role in the offense increased during conference play, and his sharpshooting from three-point range is especially crucial today.
Elmer is shooting a team-best 43.4% on three-pointers this year. He's one of Miami's top threats from deep and can get hot quickly. That's key against SMU, which has struggled to defend the perimeter. The Mustangs allowed conference opponents to shoot 37.2% on threes, while giving up the nation’s 14th-highest rate of three-point scoring this season. SMU tends to shut down the paint and forces teams outside, which is where Elmer can do some damage.
