Eastern Michigan men’s basketball games investigated for suspicious betting activity: Report

On By Littum

YPSILANTI, MI - DECEMBER 18: The Eastern Michigan Eagles logo on a pair of shorts during a college basketball game against the Detroit Mercy Titans at the George Gervin GameAbove Center on December 18, 2022 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Betting integrity firms are investigating unusual bets from a game between Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

A men’s basketball game between Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan on Tuesday was flagged by several sportsbooks for suspicious betting activity. Betting integrity firms investigate the unusual bets, ESPN reported.

The activity in question involves a suspiciously high bet on the first-half spread for Tuesday’s EMU-CMU game. Several betting integrity monitors across several states noted that bets and spreads increased significantly and atypically before the game.

The spread in the first half of the year went from CMU -3.5 to -6.5 in the hour before tipoff. Central Michigan hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the first half to take a 39-33 lead. EMU eventually lost the game, 82-63.

Sports betting monitor Integrity Compliance 360 ​​sent an alert to clients, including sportsbooks, state gambling regulators, leagues and NCAA conferences, noting the bet — the “largest bet to date” placed by that bettor — on CMU covering the first half spread , according to ESPN. The Monitor’s investigation also discovered two high stakes from accounts in different jurisdictions on CMU’s spread in the first half of the year.

IC360’s alert also noted that Tuesday’s game was the second marked by sportsbooks this season involving Eastern Michigan. The other EMU game flagged for suspicious betting activity was the Eagles’ Dec. 21 matchup against Wright State.

Like the CMU bet, the Wright State bet was placed against EMU. The first half spread for Wright State was -2.5 and the Raiders had a 38-27 halftime lead. EMU eventually won the game, 86–82.

“We became aware of the matter on Wednesday,” Greg Steiner, EMU’s senior associate athletics director for external affairs at EMU, said in a statement to ESPN and the Detroit News Friday evening. “At this time, we do not know anything further about what may have triggered the suspicious activity. We are working with the Mid-American Conference and will provide additional details as we learn more.”

Unusual betting on first-half lines has been monitored at college basketball games dating back to last season. Another school that has had multiple games flagged for suspicious activity is Temple, ESPN reported. Lines in the first half are typically about half of the total number of a game’s full line.

Any movement higher than that usually attracts attention. If the first half line closes higher, it often indicates that something is wrong. The full line for the EMU-CMU games was -8 and the first half line closed at -6.5.

The Eastern Michigan men’s basketball team has not played since that Jan. 14 game against Central Michigan. EMU’s next game is scheduled for Saturday against Bowling Green.