March Madness is in full swing.
Top-seeded Virginia quickly silenced any whispers of an upset Thursday afternoon against Hampton, jumping out to a big lead and carrying it to an 81-45 victory to seal a trip to the second round. UVA’s second round opponent – Butler – had to put up a bigger fight in the first round against Texas Tech, but ultimately pulled away to win comfortably, 71-61.
Butler’s Kellen Dunham led the Bulldogs with 23 points against the Red Raiders, while Virginia’s Anthony Gill led the Cavaliers with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks.
The winner of this matchup will face the winner of Purdue vs. Iowa State.
Date: Saturday, March 19
Time: TBD
TV Channel: TBD
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Announcers: TBD
Opening Betting Line: TBD
Prediction: Butler looked good in the first round against Texas Tech, but Virginia’s makeup is a completely different story. The Cavaliers play tight basketball, making it hard to put together big runs against them. And anytime Malcolm Brogdon is on the floor, UVA has a chance to win. But the Bulldogs will definitely challenge. They’ve proven the ability to score at numerous positions and will look to get UVA on its heels out of the game.
But when its all said and done, Virginia, while not exactly exciting, is the better basketball team here and should be able to pull out a tough victory.