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College Basketball Odds, Picks & Predictions: Friday (12/8)

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If there is anything we learned from this week’s college basketball action, it’s that you do not want to face a top team coming off a loss. Purdue bounced back from a four-point road loss at Northwestern last week and pounded Iowa by 19. UConn also recovered well from its first loss of the season with an 11-point win over North Carolina, and Marquette beat Texas by 21 after losing to Wisconsin last Saturday.

There are just 10 games on today’s light college basketball slate, but nevertheless, we explore a matchup involving an ACC team and another non-conference tilt between a team from the Horizon League and the MAC. We look to remain profitable after a 2-1 Friday last week.

Read on for Friday’s College Basketball best bets.

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Friday's College Basketball Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

Holy Cross @ Boston College (-22) | O/U 140 (-110/-110) 

Boston College is in a tough situational spot tonight, as this is its third game in seven days, and it heads to the Barclays Center to compete in the NABC Brooklyn Showcase on Sunday. There is little doubt that the Eagles have already begun their prep for a tough St. John’s game looming in two days, and Rick Pitino’s unique up-tempo in style and full-court press should have more of Boston College’s attention than a 2-7 Holy Cross team.

Speaking of St. John’s, Holy Cross lost to it by 46 points, one of the Crusaders’ three consecutive losses. But the Eagles should not entirely look Holy Cross, a team that beat Georgetown 68-67 on the Hoyas’ home floor for its first win over a Big East opponent since 2005. In that game, Joe Octave scored a career-high 33 points and has scored 20 or more in three of the seven games since.

The Crusaders should be able to limit possessions with a tempo that ranks 335th in the country, and we expect them to play Boston College tough, especially since the Eagles are not adept at getting to the foul line, ranking outside the top 300 in free throws attempted per field goal attempt.

Holy Cross is the more rested team, having not played since last Saturday, and it covered the spread in its only game with the rest advantage over its opponent this season. The Crusaders are also 5-2 ATS in games with a rest advantage since the start of last season.

Pick: Holy Cross +22 (-110)

Oakland (-5) @ Eastern Michigan | O/U 140 (-110/-110)

Oakland is looking to avoid its first three-game losing streak of the season. The Grizzlies followed up their largest defeat of the season (a 21-point loss against Purdue Fort Wayne) with a one-point home loss to Toledo. Oakland does not play another home game for the rest of December and will look to start its five-game road trip off on the right foot.

We are willing to overlook the loss to Purdue Fort Wayne, as Jon Coffman’s team is an impressive 9-1, mostly on the strength of a small and scrappy defense that presses and forces turnovers at the ninth-highest rate this season. Oakland did well to “only” commit 13 turnovers in that game, but it should be much more comfortable against an Eastern Michigan defense that ranks 314th in turnover rate.

Oakland entered that Purdue Fort Wayne game ranked in the bottom 10 in Haslametrics’ near-shot attempt rating and in the second percentile in rim rate, per Synergy. However, Eastern Michigan defends the 3-point line at a much better rate than they allow inside the arc, and we do not expect the jump shot-happy Grizzlies to exploit much of the Eagles’ interior defense that allows over 55% inside the arc (ranks 307th). Meanwhile, while Eastern Michigan ranks in the top 50 in the county in 3-point shooting, we expect it to be stymied by Oakland’s menacing zone defense.

Oakland is 4-0 ATS in road games this season, but the better value is the Under, as it is 4-0 in the Grizzlies’ four games following a loss. The Under has also cashed in Eastern Michigan’s two home games this season.

Pick: Under 140 (-110)

Make sure to check out our other best bets for Friday:


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Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.

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