Gonzaga 1st top seed to play in NCAA Tournament

Mount St. Mary’s (19-15) will play at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday against New Orleans, another 16th seed, in a First Four round game in Dayton, Ohio.

Mount St. Mary’s moved on to challenge Villanova, the No. 1 seed of the East Region, in the first round Thursday night.

Most of the NCAA tournament betting market opened New Orleans as a 2-point favorite, with a total of right around 131.

Mount St. Mary’s returns to the field for the fourth time in nine years, and the first since 2014.

“However, the biggest story of the night was the smallest player in Division I. Junior Robinson, a 5’5” point guard, carried Mount St. Mary’s with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Like Mount St. Mary’s, they don’t score a ton of points (73.1) and they certainly exceeded expectations this season.

Unless you’re one of those people who hates fun, takes themselves way too seriously, and doesn’t consider the First Four part of the real NCAA Tournament, March Madness officially kicked off tonight. New Orleans forward Travin Thibodeaux and Gill had to be separated by a coach during a timeout with 6:36 left in the game. Expect a tight, competitive game, with the Privateers leveraging its athletic advantage to wear down the Mountaineers’ Havoc defense.

However, the even matchup should make for an appropriate start to the NCAA Tournament. UMBC will host Fairfield in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com tournament at the RAC Arena March 15.

The Mount has developed into one of the most consistent winners among the mid-major programs in Maryland since Christian arrived in 2012. Both the Mountaineers and Privateers are chasing the second NCAA Tournament win in school history when they meet Tuesday.

“It’s a dream come true”, Mount freshman guard Miles Wilson said.

Fairfield, coached by Sydney Johnson, will enter the postseason with a 16-14 record. (11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds).

Check out all the NCAA basketball betting odds live from Vegas here! “Whatever our seed is, whatever we did in the regular season doesn’t matter”.

Villanova won last year’s national championship game against North Carolina on Kris Jenkins’ last-second 3-pointer. The Patriots, coached by Dave Paulsen, finished at 9-9 in the Atlantic 10.

“We came close and then we let them build another lead”, said first-team All-ACC post player John Collins, who had 26 points and nine rebounds.