College Basketball Betting Odds, Picks & Predictions: Tuesday (2/21)
Over the weekend, the Georgetown Hoyas snapped a 22-game road losing streak with a win at Hinkle Fieldhouse against the Butler Bulldogs. Elsewhere, the North Carolina Tar Heels matched a record-high 11 losses by a team ranked as the No. 1 team in the AP poll to start the year. Unfortunately, the Tar Heels’ NCAA tournament hopes are dwindling by the day, as they still do not have a Quad 1 victory.
Here are our best bets for Tuesday’s college basketball action.
- YTD (as of 1/21): 32-25
Here are some of our other top picks for Tuesday:
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Best College Basketball Bets for Tuesday
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings)
Miami vs. Virginia Tech Spread
Virginia Tech is one of the best teams in the country at moving without the ball under Mike Young’s system. After a seven-game losing streak, it has been all about the offense for Virginia Tech, as it has averaged 79.8 points per game in the eight games since (5-3 in that span). Even in home losses earlier in the season, the Hokies held NC State and Clemson, two teams that rank in the league’s top half in scoring, to a combined ten points under its season scoring averages.
Virginia Tech has the personnel to match Miami’s “small ball†style, a system under Jim Larranaga that has allowed the Hurricanes to score an ACC-leading 79.7 points per game. The Hokies are a league-worst 1-8 ATS on the road but are much better at Cassell Coliseum, covering nine of their 15 home games. Thus, we expect a spirited effort from Young’s bunch, which is looking for its second winning streak since ACC play began.
Bet: Virginia Tech -2 (-110 at DraftKings)
Georgia vs. Arkansas O/U
Georgia not only ranks tenth in the SEC in adjusted offensive efficiency, per Kenpom, but it ranks tenth in scoring at 69.5 points per game. One of the biggest reasons for its offensive failures is a lack of ball movement, as it has the second-worst assist differential (-2.8) in the league. A lack of ball movement and finding open shooters will be the Bulldogs’ downfall against a Razorbacks defense that has allowed just 63 points per game over the last nine games.
Arkansas’s defensive success is largely due to its ability to run teams off the 3-point line, as it ranks in the top 15 in the fewest 3-point attempts allowed per field goal attempt. Georgia has scored just 60.8 points per game in its last five losses, which does not bode well for the Bulldogs’ chances of offensive success in a game the Razorbacks project to win.
Arkansas is coming off a massive 19-point win at Bud Walton Arena against Florida, and that bodes well for the Under, as it has cashed in 12 of the Razorbacks’ 17 games following a win. In addition, Arkansas tends to clamp down on inferior opponents, as the Under is 13-6-1 in games in which it is favored.
Bet: Georgia-Arkansas Under 143.5 (-110 at DraftKings)
Utah State vs. Wyoming Spread
Things have gone from bad to worse for Jeff Linder’s Wyoming Cowboys, who reside in last place in the Mountain West (3-11) just one year after making a First Four appearance. Linder dismissed former USC transfers Ethan Anderson and Max Agbonkpolo and UCLA transfer Jake Kyman from the team. While none of those players averaged more than 25 minutes per game, the moves hurt the Cowboys’ depth and weakened a bench that was a strength (the Cowboys had been 13th in bench minutes).
The Cowboys’ leading scorer, point guard Hunter Maldonado (14.7 points), has played 38+ minutes in four of the previous five games (four losses in that span) and is receiving little help. The rest of the team is 14-for-69 (20.3%) from 3-point range in three of the losses and shot a combined 10-for-27 from 2-point range in the one loss they did shoot well from the perimeter.
The Aggies look for revenge after two narrow two-point losses last year. We expect their fifth-ranked 3-point shooting (39.6%) to expose a Wyoming defense that ranks 323rd at defending the perimeter (36.9% allowed).
Wyoming is the second-least profitable Mountain West team with a 9-15-1 ATS record, and we are backing a Utah State team that has covered four of six games as road favorites.
Bet: Utah State -4.5 (-110 at DraftKings)
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Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.