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College Basketball Odds, Picks & Predictions: Monday (1/20)

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It was another exciting week in college basketball, and some major headlines were made out of the Big East. Creighton ended UConn’s 28-game home winning streak, while DePaul ended its 39-game Big East losing streak with a win at Georgetown.

It was also a big weekend for road teams, as Alabama, Auburn and Purdue won on the road in top-25 matchups.

Keep reading for a detailed breakdown of our college basketball best bets and top picks for Monday, January 20th.

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    Monday's Best College Basketball Bets

    (Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

    Columbia (+7.5) @ Princeton (-7.5) | O/U 153.5 (-112/-108) 

    Columbia enters this game on a three-game losing streak, with the last two losses coming to Ivy League rivals Cornell and Yale at home. But I am banking on the Lions playing well in this MLK Day afternoon tilt, as it is one of the best shooting teams in the country.

    Columbia is one of a few teams in the country ranking in the top 33 in both two-point and three-point shooting. That is a big reason the Lions rank 12th in effective field goal percentage.

    The Lions also own a big edge at the free throw line (75.1% to Princeton’s 67.3%). Even though the Tigers are on a six-game winning streak, just five of those wins have come against Division I (D-I) opponents, and none were by more than four points.

    Pick: Columbia +7.5 (-112)

    Georgetown (+7.5) @ Villanova (-7.5) | O/U 135.5 (-108/-112) 

    The Hoyas made headlines of the wrong kind in being the victim of DePaul’s first Big East regular season win in two years. And now they are being undervalued against a Villanova team likely headed to a third straight National Invitation Tournament (NIT) as head coach Kyle Neptune remains firmly on the hot seat.
    Georgetown has lost four games in a row, but the first three games of the losing streak were against arguably the three best teams in the conference (Marquette, UConn, St. John’s). The Hoyas play the kind of defense that travels and shows up well in road games, as they rank in the top 27 in adjusted defensive efficiency and effective field goal percentage. They also allow the fifth-lowest two-point percentage (42%) in the country.
    The last metric will be crucial to slow down Villanova’s Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer at 24.7 points per game. The Wildcats are just 13-20 against the spread (ATS) with 2-3 days off since the start of last season, while Georgetown has covered 64.3% of its road games in that span.
    Pick: Georgetown +7.5 (-110)

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

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