The first three days of the NCAA Tournament were virtually devoid of drama, with no buzzer-beaters.
That changed Sunday, when Derik Queen banked in a fadeaway jumper as time expired to send Maryland to the Sweet 16 with a 72-71 win over Colorado State.
Jalen Lake drained a 3-pointer over Queen with six seconds left to put the No. 12 seed Rams up 71-70 and in position to pull off the biggest upset of March Madness as 8-point underdogs. But Queen emerged as the hero for the No. 4 seed Terrapins, much to the delight of bettors with money-line parlays on favorites and much to the chagrin of sportsbooks.
“It would’ve been great to have Colorado State win the game outright,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “We just really haven’t had a big money-line ’dog win. Having someone beat a top-four seed would’ve been good.
“The whole tournament has been chalky, not against the number, but the top seeds moving on.”
There was another buzzer-beater Sunday that didn’t decide the game or the point spread. But Liam McNeeley’s 3-pointer for UConn as time expired in the Huskies’ 77-75 loss to Florida gave over bettors a miracle cover and dealt under bettors a bad beat for the ages.
“That under is one of the worst beats I think I’ve ever seen,” Westgate vice president of race and sports John Murray said.
The total ranged from 150 to 151½, and the marquee matchup was on a big under pace at halftime, when the game was tied at 31-all. Under bettors were probably counting their winnings at the half, while over bettors needed a whopping 90 points in the second half to cash their tickets.
The under was still looking good down the stretch before the teams exploded for 18 points in the final minute, including 12 points — seven on free throws — in the final 11 seconds.
Thomas Haugh made two free throws to give Florida a 77-72 lead with five seconds left before McNeeley beat the buzzer with his otherwise meaningless 3-pointer, sending the crowd at the South Point sportsbook into a frenzy.
“The room was very happy when it went over,” South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said.
UConn still streaking
The two-time defending national champion Huskies saw their 13-game NCAA Tournament winning streak end in the loss. But they extended their tournament cover streak to 14 games, cashing as 9-point underdogs.
“We really needed Florida or Maryland or Michigan State to lose, and we just couldn’t get any of them,” Murray said. “We couldn’t get a game to go our way (Sunday). But we’re not in much of a position to complain. We had very good results Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The pendulum swings back and forth.”
Michigan State (-6½) covered in a 71-63 victory over New Mexico.
Favorite things
Favorites won 11 of 16 games in the second round while going 7-9 against the spread and won 36 of 48 games in the first two rounds while going 26-22 ATS.
Overs went 9-6-1 in the second round after unders went 21-11 in the first round.
The top four seeds went 16-0 straight-up in the first round. But several were eliminated in the second round, including No. 2 St. John’s (-7, lost 75-66 to Arkansas); No. 3 Wisconsin (-1, lost 91-89 to BYU); No. 3 Iowa State (-5½, lost 91-78 to Ole Miss) and No. 4 Texas A&M (-3, lost 91-79 to Michigan).
All four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Sweet 16, with Duke (-13, beat Baylor 89-66) and Auburn (-9, beat Creighton 82-70) covering and Florida and Houston (-5½, beat Gonzaga 81-76) failing to cover.
Duke is the +220 favorite at Caesars Sportsbook to win it all, followed by Florida at +380 and Houston and Auburn at 5-1.
Sweet 16
The Sweet 16 matchups and lines on Thursday are BYU-Alabama (-5), Arkansas-Texas Tech (-5½), Maryland-Florida (-6) and Arizona-Duke (-9½). Friday’s games are Michigan-Auburn (-8), Ole Miss-Michigan State (-3½), Purdue-Houston (-7½) and Kentucky-Tennessee (-4½).
The Westgate will offer -108 on sides starting Thursday in a reduced juice promotion.
“There are some really intriguing matchups,” Esposito said. “BYU is just a senior-laden team and can give any team in the country a tough time. I think we’ll see some BYU play there.
“Maryland comes off that win now and has to play Florida. Houston just looks so good to me. And Kentucky and Tennessee are playing for the third time this year.”
Kentucky swept the regular-season series with Tennessee.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at [email protected]. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
