NCAA Tournament: Indiana vs. Kent State Odds and Prediction

About one out of every five 13 seeds pull off the opening round upset over a four seed—and the Kennesaw State Golden Flashes are hoping to defeat the Indiana Hoosiers in the Midwest’s 13 vs. 4 matchup.      

Coach Mike Woodson’s squad features a First-Team All American in Trayce Jackson-Davis and a projected first-round NBA Draft pick in Jalen Hood-Schifino. TJD is truly a do-it-all player for the Hoosiers, averaging an incredible stat line of 20.8 PPG, 10.9 RPG, and 4.1 APG, to go along with 2.7 blocks per contest.

With knowing what you’re going to get from Jackson-Davis, the x-factor for Indiana becomes six-foot-six freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, who needs to be consistently productive for them to make a run. Indiana doesn’t do anything statistically that will blow you away, but they’ll have the best player on the floor most nights. The Hoosiers have +5500 odds to cut down the nets. 

Kent State’s resume is intriguing because they have narrow losses to quality opponents like Houston, Gonzaga, and Charleston. The MAC Tournament champs are defensive-minded and neither they nor Indiana plays at a particularly fast pace. The Golden Flashes are led by dynamic senior guard Sincere Carry, who pours in over 17 PPG.

If the Golden Flashes are able to surpass the 80-point mark, they’ll be in a good spot to pull off the upset. However, they have a tendency to go cold at times, which could spell trouble against the Hoosiers. 

In the end, we expect Indiana to advance past Kent State simply due to their severe talent advantage. Look for the Hoosiers to cover the -4.5 point spread in this Round of 64 matchup.   

Score Prediction: 78-70, Indiana