A men’s college basketball game between Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan on Tuesday was flagged by several sportsbooks for suspicious betting activity. Betting integrity companies are investigating unusual bets, ESPN reported.
The activity in question is a suspiciously high bet on the first-half point margin for Tuesday’s EMU-CMU game. Several betting integrity monitors in several states noticed the bet and spread increasing significantly and atypically before the game.
CMU’s first-half point difference went from 3.5 to 6.5 in the hour before kickoff. Central Michigan hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the first half to take a 39-33 lead. EMU ultimately lost the game, 82-63.
Sports betting monitor Integrity Compliance 360 sent an alert to clients including sportsbooks, state gaming regulators, NCAA leagues and conferences, noting that the bet (the “largest bet to date” placed by it bettor) at CMU covers the spread in the first half, according to ESPN. The monitor’s investigation also uncovered two high bets from accounts in different jurisdictions on CMU’s first-half point spread.
IC360’s alert also noted that Tuesday’s game was the second called by sportsbooks this season involving Eastern Michigan. The other EMU game that was flagged for suspicious betting activity was the Eagles’ matchup against Wright State on Dec. 21.
Like the CMU bet, the Wright State bet was placed against EMU. The first half lead for Wright State was 2.5 and the Raiders held a 38-27 halftime lead. EMU ultimately won the game, 86–82.
“We became aware of the matter on Wednesday,” Greg Steiner, EMU senior associate director of athletics for external affairs at EMU, said in a statement to ESPN. and the news from detroit on Friday night. “At this time, we do not know anything else about what may have precipitated the suspicious activity. We are working with the Mid-American Conference and will provide more details as we obtain additional information.”
Unusual bets on first-half lines have been monitored in college basketball games since last season. Another school that has had several games flagged for suspicious activity is Temple, ESPN reports. First half lines are usually about half of a game’s entire line total.
Any movement greater than that usually attracts attention. If the first half of the line closes higher, that often indicates something is wrong. The entire line for the EMU-CMU games was -8 and the first half line closed at -6.5.
The Eastern Michigan men’s basketball team hasn’t played since that Jan. 14 game against Central Michigan. EMU’s next game is scheduled for Saturday against Bowling Green.