Top College Basketball Picks for Monday, December 20 (2021)
It’s Monday, and we’ve got another tiny slate of college basketball today. Most people will be checking out the NFL games tonight, and some might be betting on the college football bowl game at 2:30 pm ET today.
All that is fair. But if you’re a die-hard college basketball fan like myself, you’ll be watching college basketball on the side as well. If you’re looking for some college basketball action tonight, I’ve got you covered.
All odds via BettingPros consensus
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Maryland Eastern Shore vs. Charlotte: Over 131 (-114)
(7:00 PM ET tip)
The Charlotte 49ers are shooting an effective field goal percentage of 54.2 percent while hitting 35.2 percent from downtown and 55.1 percent from inside the arc. The 49ers have also shot 78.6 percent from the foul line and limited turnovers to 17.6 percent on the season. Meanwhile, the defense for Charlotte has been much worse than the offense.
The defense allows teams to have an effective field goal percentage of 54.8 percent while allowing opponents to score 35.6 percent from behind the arc and 55.6 percent from inside the arc. The Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks are hitting 34.9 percent from long range and turn the ball over 17.4 percent of the time.
We might not see a whole bunch of second-chance buckets, but we will see shot attempts with limited turnovers. Maryland Eastern Shore could also find success going small against a taller Charlotte squad.
UL Monroe vs. Lamar: Over 137.5 (-110)
(8:00 PM ET tip)
Both of these defenses stink. Lamar allows a 53.8 percent effective field goal percentage while giving up 37.8 percent of threes and 51.8 percent from inside. UL Monroe is capable of scoring inside at a high rate. The Warhawks are shooting an effective field goal percentage of 52.9 percent while scoring 55.4 percent inside the arc.
Meanwhile, the Lamar Cardinals could have a field day from downtown. Despite shooting 31.6 percent from long range, the Warhawks give up 38.8 percent from distance on the season. Lamar can also win some second-chance opportunities on the offensive glass and has been bringing down 30.2 percent on the season.
Louisiana Monroe loves to play fast, and Lamar might fall into the trap of doing just that to stick around in the game.
Oral Roberts vs. South Dakota: Oral Roberts -150
(8:00 PM ET tip)
If you don’t care too much about the juice, Oral Roberts winning tonight is appealing. The Golden Eagles are shooting a 51.7 percent effective field goal percentage while turning the ball over just 16.1 percent of the time. South Dakota has struggled to defend the three this season, allowing 38.8 percent from long range.
Meanwhile, Oral Roberts shoots 37.5 percent from long range, and the Golden Eagles shoot three-pointers at an extremely high rate. That’s good news for the road team.
On the other hand, South Dakota scores their points from the foul line. The Coyotes are one of the top teams in the nation at getting to the line. However, Oral Roberts is in the top 20 in defensive free throws attempted to field goals attempted ratio. If South Dakota can’t get to the line, it will be hard for them to stick around.
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Jason Radowitz is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Jason, check out his archive and follow him @Jason_Radowitz.