Top College Basketball Picks for Thursday, January 6 (2022)

Tonight’s slate includes plenty of Big Ten basketball along with plenty of teams who are making their return to the hardwood after a long layoff due to COVID.

Many games are still being postponed and canceled, but the number of games is higher than it’s been on a Thursday in recent weeks. That’s something to get excited about!

Here are my top three plays in college basketball tonight!

All odds via BettingPros consensus

Compare odds from all major sportsbooks for College Basketball >>

San Francisco vs. Loyola Chicago: Loyola Chicago -135

(2:00 PM ET tip)

The Loyola Chicago Ramblers will take on an excellent San Francisco Dons team in a neutral court where JUCO teams play. It doesn’t get more interesting than this between two teams with just three combined losses on the year.

Loyola Chicago is the better offense, but they’ll take on an extremely tough San Franciso defense. Loyola is shooting a 59.8 percent effective field goal percentage while also hitting 41.8 percent from deep. The Ramblers have been consistent offensively, also hitting 57.4 percent inside.

Loyola assists on many baskets and has terrific ball movement to find the open man. The same can’t be said about San Francisco. The Dons defend the three at a high rate, but offensively, they’re in the bottom half of the league in assists per field goal made.

Both teams will launch a bunch of three, and neither should dominate on the offensive glass. But San Francisco turns the ball over 22.1 percent of the time and doesn’t get to the line as much as Loyola has. So give me Loyola on the moneyline.

Coastal Carolina vs. Troy: Coastal Carolina +1.5

(7:00 PM ET tip)

The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers haven’t won a road game this season. But I like that to change tonight against Troy. Everything Troy can do, Coastal Carolina can do better.

Coastal Carolina shoots an effective field goal percentage of 49.9 percent, while Troy shoots 46.9 percent. Coastal Carolina turns the ball over just 19.6 percent of the time, while Troy turns the ball over 21.6 percent of the time.

I’ll keep going…

Coastal Carolina drags down 34.9 percent offensive rebounds, while Troy only gets 31.1 percent offensive rebounds. Coastal Carolina shoots 34.5 percent from deep while Troy hits just 31.9 percent from deep. I’ll stop after this one. Coastal Carolina also hits 48.9 percent inside, while Troy hits 46.4 percent from inside.

The Chanticleers have a higher free throw percentage and held opponents to a 45.9 percent effective field goal percentage. So I’ll ride with Coastal Carolina on the road.

Iowa vs. Wisconsin: Iowa +2.5

(9:00 PM ET tip)

The Iowa Hawkeyes will travel to Wisconsin for a tough road matchup against the Badgers. This season, Iowa has been hot and cold and is currently hot, coming off an 80-75 win over Maryland.

Sure, Iowa should’ve won that game by more, but with wins over Utah State and Maryland during this four-game win streak, the Hawkeyes are doing just fine.

Iowa is one of the best offenses in the nation and is just turning the ball over 12.1 percent of the time with an effective field goal percentage of 54.7 percent. Meanwhile, Wisconsin only turns the ball over 12.2 percent of the time, but the problem is, Wisconsin only has an effective field goal percentage of 46.5 percent.

It seems like Wisconsin always finds a way to score, despite shooting just 29.9 percent from three and 47.4 percent from inside the arc. But I don’t expect Wisconsin to stick around against Iowa, even at home, offensively. So give me Iowa here.

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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.