NCAA Basketball Sports Betting - Indiana State vs. LSU

Monday, November 16 - 8 PM ET

BetUS NCAA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: LSU -11

It's been a long time since Indiana State experienced any glory in basketball; in fact, it was back in 1979, when Larry Bird led the undefeated Sycamores into the NCAA title game, where they were beaten by Magic Johnson and the Michigan State Spartans. Last season the team went just 11-21, including a 7-11 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference, which is much more competitive than a lot of casual fans are aware of.

Here are some of the NCAA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• ISU has won eight of its last ten games SU
• ISU has covered its last five road games
• ISU has won four of its last six road games
• ISU has lost 19 of its last 25 road games SU
• ISU has played six of its last seven road games OVER the total
• LSU has won 13 of its last 17 games SU
• LSU has played four of its last six games UNDER the total
• LSU has covered four of its last six home games
• LSU has won 22 of its last 25 home games SU
• LSU has played five of its last seven home games OVER the total

Any hopes to advance in the league, which includes possible NCAA tournament teams in Northern Iowa, Wichita State, Creighton and Illinois State, probably rest on the performance of Jake Kelly, one of the team's key acquisitions in recent seasons. Kelly was a starter at Iowa as a sophomore, as he averaged 11.6 points for the Hawkeyes before deciding to transfer. He requested and was granted his eligibility for the first semester, and scored 16 points against Nebraska-Kearney in the team's opening game.

Kelly's presence is important because it really makes ISU's backcourt formidable, with last season's starters, Marry Marshall and Rashad Reed, both seniors and double-digit starters, returning, and running the kind of deliberate Princeton-style offense coach Kevin McKenna employs, they're not badly equipped to capitalize on mistakes by opponents. They're experienced enough that they have redshirted all their incoming freshmen.

Nobody really knows what to expect from LSU. Coach Trent Johnson, who came over from Stanford, was quite a success story in his first season, as this team finished 27-8, beating Butler in the NCAA tournament before being eliminated by North Carolina. Johnson, however, loses a lot of talent, including steady center Chris Johnson, defensive stopper Garrett Temple and top scorer Marcus Thornton, who tallied 21.3 ppg last year.

It's not that the cupboard is bare, because the Tigers bring back Tasmin Mitchell, who staged a great injury comeback last year to average sixteen points a game, and Bo Spencer, a small guard who was another double-digit scorer.

However, there is little question that this game, which is a first-round matchup in the NIT Tip-Off, will offer a bigger challenge than LSU's opener, when it pulled out to a 14-0 lead and coasted to beat Louisiana-Monroe.

LSU is going to have the size advantage, even more so since freshman Garrett Green has been inserted into the lineup as a freshman. At the same time, LSU has two sophomores and a frosh in starting spots, while Indiana State plays the kind of half-court offense that is designed to mitigate a size disadvantage.

We'll look for them to slow the game down a little and keep it competitive, and so we're taking the points with Indiana State, the 11-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: INDIANA STATE +11 **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)