Dayton vs Arizona Opening Odds & Spread for March Madness Second Round

• Dayton pulled off a 17-point second-half comeback to beat Nevada on Thursday
• Arizona easily handled Long Beach State to move on to the round of 32
• See the opening Dayton vs Arizona odds, spread, and game total

Down but not out, the #7 Dayton Flyers pulled off a massive 17-point second-half comeback against the #10 Nevada Wolfpack to punch their ticket to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. But the degree of difficulty goes up with the #2 Arizona Wildcats waiting in Salt Lake City.

Unsurprisingly, the Wildcats have opened as sizable favorites in the Dayton vs Arizona odds.  Tip-off time on Saturday, March 23, is still to be determined.

Dayton vs Arizona Odds

Arizona is listed at -8.5 against the spread and -385 on the moneyline. The Flyers are +300 underdogs to win straight up in the latest college basketball odds.

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Da’Ron Holmes Sparks Dayton Comeback

Flyers leading scorer Da’Ron Holmes had a team-high 18 points and eight rebounds in Dayton’s unlikely comeback win over Nevada, though coach Anthony Grant would certainly like to see him take more than eight shots from the floor next time out.

The Flyers were down 56-39 to Nevada with just 7:36 to play before a 24-4 run in the closing minutes.

Dayton fell to eventual A10-champion Duquesne in the quarters of the conference tournament on March 14 but received an at-large bid to the dance thanks to a 24-7 record that included a win over Cincinnati (82-68 away), St John’s (88-81 neutral), and LSU (70-67 neutral).

With Holmes the focal point, Dayton’s offense sits 19th in the nation in efficiency. Its defense, however, is just 85th.

Arizona Puts Dan Monson’s Long Beach Tenure to Bed

Dan Monson and #15 Long Beach State put up a good fight in the first half as 20.5-point underdogs against the Wildcats (41-35 Arizona at halftime) but Arizona’s size and skill overwhelmed the Beach in the second half.

UNC transfer Caleb Love finished with a game-high 18 points with 11 rebounds and five assists but it was Arizona’s perimeter defense that was the real difference. Long Beach went just 3-of-17 from beyond the arc while Arizona was 13-of-35 from three.

Arizona is the #5 team at KenPom, ninth on offense and tenth on defense. Thursday’s win exorcises some demons from last season when Zona was upset by #15 Princeton (59-55).

How Will the Dayton vs Arizona Point Spread Move?

The KenPom prediction for this game is Arizona by six (79-73). While Dayton’s first-round performance was concerning, they managed to advance on a day when they didn’t have their best stuff, so to speak. With the game in Salt Lake City, there shouldn’t be any discernible geographical advantage for either team, and I expect the Dayton/Arizona point spread to move towards the Flyers.