March Madness 2023: Texas Southern-Fairleigh Dickinson odds, preview for First Four in NCAA Tournament

The First Four matchup in the East Region is set for Wednesday, March 15 as the No. 16 Texas Southern Tigers face the No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson from University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

Game date: Wednesday, March 15
Game time: 6:30 p.m. ET
TV channel: TBA
Location: University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook: Texas Southern -2, Total 146

No. 16 Texas Southern

D. Texas Southern relevant stats

Record: 12-20, 7-11 SWAC
Coach: Steve Lutz
Qualifier: Automatic
KenPom overall: 285
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 330
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 195
Pace: 72
PPP overall: 0.922
Leading scorer: Davon Barnes
NET: 292
Quad 1 record: 0-4
Against The Spread: 11-19-2
Over Total: 14-18
Odds to win NCAA Championship: TBA

Texas Southern is back in the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season, defeating Grambling State to win its third consecutive SWAC Tournament title. The Tigers were able to pull this off despite experiencing a down year, finishing the regular season with an 11-20 record. As a result, they've become just the third 20-loss team to make the NCAA Tournament in history.

Sophomore forward Davon Barnes led the team in scoring with 13.6 points and 4.3 rebounds through the regular season. Also look out for senior forward Joirdan Karl Nicholas, who nearly averaged a double-double with 10.9 points and nine rebounds per game.

No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson

FDU relevant stats

Record: 17-15, 10-6 NEC
Coach: Tobin Anderson
Qualifier: Automatic
KenPom overall: 312
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 155
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 361
Pace: 110
PPP overall: 1.067
Leading scorer: Demetre Roberts
NET: 301
Quad 1 record: 0-1
Against The Spread: 13-18-1
Over Total: 18-13-1
Odds to win NCAA Championship: TBA

Despite losing the Northeast Conference Tournament to Merrimack, Fairleigh Dickinson earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament due to Merrimack still being in the midst of its four-year reclassification process.

After going 4-22 last season, the Knight have made a tremendous turnaround under new coach Tobin Anderson, and are led by senior guards Demetre Roberts (16.7 PPG) and Ansley Almonor (13.9 PPG) – both of whom followed Anderson from his previous school.

  
Read Full Article