A men’s college basketball game between Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan was flagged by multiple sportsbooks on Tuesday for suspicious gambling activity. Betting integrity companies are investigating the unusual bets, ESPN reported.
The activity in question concerns a suspiciously high bet on the point spread in the first half of Tuesday’s EMU-CMU match. Several gambling integrity monitors in multiple states noticed significant and atypical increases in pre-match stakes and spreads.
The first-half spread went from CMU -3.5 to -6.5 in the hour before tipoff. Central Michigan hit a three-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 customers including sportsbooks, state gaming regulators, leagues and NCAA conferences, noting the bet – the “largest bet to date” this bettor has placed – on CMU, which is the spread covers in the first half, according to ESPN. The monitor’s investigation also revealed two high bets from accounts in different jurisdictions on the CMU’s first half-point spread.
IC360’s alert also noted that Tuesday’s game was the second game flagged by sportsbooks this season involving Eastern Michigan. The other EMU game flagged for suspicious gambling activity was the Eagles’ game against Wright State on Dec. 21.
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 held a 38-27 lead at halftime. EMU ultimately won the game, 86-82.
“We became aware of the matter on Wednesday,” Greg Steiner, EMU’s senior associate athletics director for external affairs, said in a statement to ESPN and Detroit News on Friday evening. “At this time we know nothing further about what may have caused the suspicious activity. We are working with the Mid-American Conference and will provide further details as we receive more information.”
Unusual betting on first-half lines has been seen in college basketball games since last season. Another school with multiple games flagged for suspicious activity is Temple, ESPN reported. The lines in the first half are typically about half the total of a game’s full line.
Any move 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 matches was -8 and the first half line closed at -6.5.
The Eastern Michigan men’s basketball team hasn’t played since its Jan. 14 game against Central Michigan. EMU’s next game is scheduled for Saturday against Bowling Green.