Oakland vs. NC State pick and prediction 3/23: Which Cinderella moves on?

Oakland vs. NC State Odds

Saturday, March 23, 7:10 p.m. ET, TBS

Odds via bet365. Get up-to-the-minute NCAAB odds here.

Oakland Golden Grizzlies

Just under 50% from 3 and 10 total treys from Jack Gohlke seems unsustainable. The Golden Grizzlies shot the 3, and shot it well against Kentucky, drilling 15-of-31 from downtown (48.4%).

I believed the Golden Grizzlies would try to slow Kentucky down, rather than get into a track meet with it. But with Gohlke attracting so much attention and Trey Townsend posting a double-double, Oakland seemed fearless on the big stage.

All season long, Kentucky has had a problem on the defensive end. Sadly for Oakland, that won't be the case in this matchup. The Golden Grizzlies will face a team who will play hard defense on every single possession, so those quality looks will be much harder to find.

Throw in that they'll likely cool down, and I expect this to be a tough night for the Golden Grizzlies.

I'm expecting a much lower-scoring game and some difficulty on the offensive end for Oakland.

NC State Wolfpack

The stars are really aligning for NC State, as it has six straight wins, including an ACC Tournament title and an 11-6 upset over Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament.

The Pack now find themselves as decently-sized favorites over Oakland.

NC State will get it done with physicality against Oakland, which is what Kentucky failed to do.

DJ Burns Jr. has been unstoppable during this late stretch for the Wolfpack, but it was actually the role players that were the difference against the Red Raiders.

With DJ Horne and Casey Morsell shooting a combined 7-of-21 from the field, Mohamed Diarra stepped up with a double-double and Ben Middlebrooks posted a career-high 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting off the bench.

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Oakland vs. NC State

Betting Pick & Prediction

Look for big man DJ Burns Jr. to have a field day here. The 270-pound big man is a force against anyone in the nation, but against an undersized Oakland team, Burns will take total control.

If Oakland wants to find success here, it'll need to make a lot more contested shots than it did against Kentucky, which doesn't seem sustainable.

We hate to see Cinderella die, but the Wolfpack are a fun underdog in their own right.

Pick: NC State ATS