Hoosiers Open as Small Underdog To Saint Mary's in NCAA Tournament First Round

Indiana has an NCAA Tournament victory under its belt already, but they've also had a 2,400-mile delayed plane flight, too, not exactly the best way to prepare for No. 5 seed Saint Mary's in Thursday night's first-round NCAA Tournament game. Here's the opening point spread and how both teams have done against the number this season.

PORTLAND, Ore. — The NCAA Tournament cranks into high gear on Thursday and Indiana, fresh off its First Four win over Wyoming on Tuesday, gets right back to work with a tough game against Saint Mary's here at the Moda Center, home of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers.

Indiana is the No. 12 seed in the East Regional, but it's Saint Mary's, which is based in Moraga, Calif., a little east of Oakland, that is expected to win. Indiana is a 2.5-point underdog in the game, according to the FanDuel.com gambling website, and the over/under is set at 126.5.

Indiana is 21-13 on the season. The Hoosiers finished ninth in the Big Ten during the regular season, and won two games in the Big Ten Tournament before losing to Iowa 80-77 in the semifinals. 

Saint Mary's is 25-7 on the season, and finished 12-3 in the West Coast Conference, good for second place in the league behind No. 1-ranked Gonzaga. 

Indiana is 20-14 against the point spread this season, and were very good at home in Bloomington. The Hoosiers were 14-4 at home straight up and 12-6 vs. the spread at Assembly Hall. On the road, Indiana was just 4-8 straight up and 4-8 against the spread.

But they are 4-1 straight up and have covered in all five of their neutral court games this season, beating NCAA-bound Notre Dame in December in Indianapolis, and Michigan and Illinois in the Big Ten tourney. They lost to Iowa, but covered as a 6-point underdog, and won and covered Tuesday night in their first NCAA Tournament game in Dayton against Wyoming.

The Hoosiers have covered in five straight games, and seven of their last eight.

Here are Indiana's results thus far this season, both straight up and against the spread:

• Nov. 9 — Beat Eastern Michigan 68-62 as a 24-point favorite (lost)
• Nov. 12 — Beat Northern Illinois 85-49 as a 25.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 17 — Beat St. John's 76-74 as a 6-point favorite (lost)
• Nov. 21 — Beat Louisiana 76-44 as an 11.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 23 — Beat Jackson State 70-35 as a 22.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 27 — Beat Marshall 90-79 as a 10.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 30 — Lost at Syracuse 112-110 as a 2.5-point favorite (lost)
• Dec. 4 — Beat Nebraska 68-55 as an 11-point favorite (won)
• Dec. 8 — Lost at No. 22 Wisconsin 64-59 as a 4.5-point underdog (lost)
• Dec. 12 — Beat Merrimack 81-49 as a 20-point favorite (won)
• Dec. 18 — Beat Notre Dame 64-56 in Indianapolis as a 4.5-point favorite (won)
• Dec. 22 — Beat Northern Kentucky 79-61 as a 17-point favorite (won)
• Jan. 2 — Lost at Penn State 61-58 as a 2.5-point favorite (lost)
• Jan. 6 — Beat No. 13 Ohio State 67-51 as a 2-point favorite (won)
• Jan. 9 — Beat Minnesota 73-60 as an 11-point favorite (won)
• Jan. 13 — Lost at Iowa 83-74 as a 4.5-point underdog (lost)
• Jan. 17 — Won at Nebraska 78-71 as a 9-point favorite (lost)
• Jan. 20 — Beat No. 4 Purdue 68-65 as a 4-point underdog (won)
• Jan. 23 — Lost to Michigan 80-62 as a 4-point favorite (lost)
• Jan. 26 — Beat Penn State 74-57 as an 8.5-point favorite (won)
• Jan. 29 — Won at Maryland 68-55 as a 1.5-point favorite (won)
• Feb. 5 — Lost to No. 18 Illinois 74-57 as a 1.5-point favorite (lost)
• Feb. 8 — Lost at Northwestern 59-51 as a 2-point favorite (lost)
• Feb. 12 — Lost at No. 17 Michigan State 76-61 as a 4-point underdog (lost)
• Feb. 15 — Lost to No. 15 Wisconsin 74-69 as a 3.5-point favorite (lost)
• Feb. 21 — Lost at No. 22 Ohio State 80-69 in OT as a 7-point underdog (lost)
• Feb. 24 — Beat Maryland 74-64 as a 6.5-point favorite (won)
• Feb. 27 — Won at Minnesota 74-69 as a 3-point favorite (won)
• March 2 — Lost to Rutgers 66-63 as a 5.5-point favorite (lost)
• March 5 — Lost at Purdue 69-67 as a 10-point underdog (won)
• March 10 — Beat Michigan 74-69 in Indianapolis as as 3-point underdog (won)
• March 11 — Beat No. 16 Illinois 65-63 in Indianapolis as a 5-point underdog (won)
• March 12 — Lost to No. 24 Iowa 80-77 in Indianapolis as a 6-point underdog (won) 
• March 15 — Beat Wyoming 66-58 in Dayton, Ohio in the NCAA Tournament as a 4-point favorite. (won)

Saint Mary's gets most of its recognition for being the second-best team in its league to high-profile Gonzaga every year. This is their 12th NCAA Tournament, and they have made the field eight times since 2005.

They have a few common foes with Indiana, playing both Notre Dame and Wisconsin in a holiday tournament. Much like the Hoosiers, they beat the Irish but lost to Wisconsin.

They are 25-7 overall and 18-13 against the spread this season. In neutral court games, they are 3-3 overall, but 2-4 against the spread.

Here are Saint Mary's results thus far this season, both straight up and against the spread:

• Nov. 9 — Beat Prairie View A&M 87-68 as a 18-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 12 — Beat Texas Southern 67-58 as a 15.5-point favorite (lost)
• Nov. 15 — Beat Southern Utah 70-51 as an 11-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 17 — Beat Bellarmine 73-64 as an 15.5-point favorite (lost)
• Nov. 22 — Beat Notre Dame 62-59 in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in Las Vegas as a 1.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 23 — Beat Oregon 62-50 in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in Las Vegas as a 2.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 24 — Lost to Wisconsin 61-55 in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in Las Vegas  112-110 as a 2.5-point underdog (lost)
• Nov. 29 — Beat UC-Riverside 67-50 as an 9.5-point favorite (won)
• Dec. 2 — Beat Utah State 60-58 as an 1.5-point underdog (won)
• Dec. 4 — Lost at Colorado State 74-58 as a 4.5-point underdog (lost)
• Dec. 11 — Beat UC-Santa Barbara 80-59 as an 8.5-point favorite (won)
• Dec. 14— Beat Stanislaus State 76-39. No line 
• Dec. 17 — Lost to San Diego State in Phoenix 63-53 as a 3-point favorite (lost)
• Dec. 22 — Beat Missouri State 75-58 as a 6.5-point favorite (won)
• Dec. 28 — Beat Yale 87-60 as an 13.5-point favorite (won)
• Jan. 1 — San Francisco, ppd. COVID
• Jan. 6 — Santa Clara, ppd. COVID
• Jan. 8 — Lost at BYU 52-43 as a 4-point underdog (lost)
• Jan. 13 — Won at Pepperdine 77-62 as a 12.5-point favorite (won)
• Jan. 15 — Pacific, cancelled COVID
• Jan. 20 — Beat Santa Clara 73-65 as an 8.5-point favorite (lost)
• Jan. 22— Won at Loyola Marymount 83-51 as a 7.5-point favorite (won)
• Jan. 27— Won at San Francisco 72-70 as a 2-point underdog (won)
• Jan. 29 — Beat Pepperdine 81-57 as a 19.5-point favorite (won)
• Feb. 3 — Won at Portland 75-54 as a 16.5-point favorite (won)
• Feb. 5 — Beat Loyola Marymount 71-60 as a 16.5-point favorite (lost)
• Feb. 8 — Lost at Santa Clara 77-72 as a 2-point favorite (lost)
• Feb. 10 — Beat San Diego 86-57 as a 13.5-point favorite (won)
• Feb. 12 — Lost at No. 2 Gonzaga 74-58 as a 15.5-point underdog (lost)
• Feb. 17 — Beat San Francisco 69-64 as a 3-point underdog (won)
• Feb. 19— Beat BYU 69-64 as a 6.5-point favorite (lost)
• Feb. 24 — Won at San Diego 60-46 as a 12-point favorite (won)
• Feb. 26 — Beat No. 1 Gonzaga 67-57 as a 10.5-point underdog (won)
• March 7 — Beat Santa Clara 75-72 in Las Vegas in the West Coast Conference semifinals as a 4.5-point favorite (lost)
• March 8 — Lost at No. 1 Gonzaga 82-69 in Las Vegas in the West Coast Conference semifinals as a 11.5-point underdog (lost)