College Basketball Picks, Predictions & Best NCAA Basketball Betting Odds [Friday, Feb 24th]

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TJ Reeves:

Well, hello there and welcome back in for a Friday on the BetUS College Basketball Show. We are ready to roll our guys’ final weekend of February. You know what that means? March is about to be here and we love it. Glad to have you with us, I’m the somewhat competent host, TJ Reeves. The handicappers are back. Kyle Hunter, Corby Craig, good to have you guys as we go over a Friday slate and also look ahead to Saturday and what is a monster series of games, especially in the top 25 all across the board. We’re anxious for all of it. Good to have you with us. We’re here weekdays at 11:00 AM Eastern time Monday through Friday as we keep saying, all the way through March all the way through the final four in Houston and early April. We’re going to be right here on the BetUS College Basketball Show. Get in our live chat, we’re going to have some time for some Q and A. You’re going to get some handicapping on some games Friday and much more. Guys, some thoughts after Thursday.

Corby we haven’t had you on for a couple of days. Thoughts on a Thursday and as we head into Friday, what’s going on?

Corby Craig:

You already know where I’m going with this, Jelly’s 32 points breaks the UAB record for most 30 point games, passes Andy Kennedy, the coach. Basically solidifies himself as Conference USA player of the year I would assume and UAB’s clicking it. I don’t know if they have enough momentum to get into March. I really hope. They’re going to have to win their conference tournament for sure, but geez, nobody wants in their way. They were up 50 to 13 at one point in this game yesterday. Jelly had 21 and Rice had 11 at one point in the game, so you would be absolutely clicking and that’s my squad so you know I had to go there.

TJ Reeves:

Yeah, I know that’s your guys. You’re in Birmingham and again, they’re the conference tournament champions and in the NCAA tournament last year. Can they put the repeat on it for that tournament in Frisco, Texas? Kyle Hunter, good to be back with you. What stood out for you, maybe a couple of things on a Thursday?

Kyle Hunter:

I thought the Northwestern game against Illinois, Illinois with a big comeback in that one. Northwestern’s a good team. Probably still not getting enough credit in general, but they were too dependent on Boo Buie at the end of that game. Everybody knew where everything was going. Illinois was able to shut him down finally at the end of the game and that quieted that down. Nice play there by Matt Cox last night with UC San Diego. How about UC San Diego pulling out the wind outright against UC Irvine-

TJ Reeves:

Is that what I see? 99 points from them. Is that what I saw? Crazy.

Kyle Hunter:

Yeah. UC Irvine’s a good defense. That was wild.

TJ Reeves:

We have the opposite end of the spectrum in the Big West where all the way in the final game of the night in the islands, a game that got over at about 2:15 Eastern time am this morning, literally about eight and a half… Let me do my math. Eight and a half hours or so ago, they finished up. Hawaii and UC Riverside and Kyle Hunter, we talked about this at the end of the show that we both… And I’m trying to remember if Matty Cox agreed with us as a trio, we liked Riverside in this game to maybe surprise Hawaii. It was not looking good at 25 to 14 at halftime.

Corby, you’re the king of the under, the first half under. Kyle Hunter loves the under too. 39 points in the first half combined with a shot clock and a three point shot.

But anyway, it was 25 to 14 at the half and then a great performance by Riverside, especially down the stretch. They scored 40 in the second half. After one-four, they got four-oh. And the second half, they win the game. Low scoring 54, 52 game and the big west tournament’s going to be a lot of fun. That was the last game of last night. Also, Gonzaga and St. Mary’s both won their games easily. Now, they play each other’s Saturday. More on that coming up. There’s a little taste from Thursday, including Michigan getting a big win at Rutgers for them, a road win that is going to be an RPI, a net ranking resume builder that helps them as well in the Big 10. All that is Thursday.

You folks are like, “Hey, what’s up with Friday? We want Friday. We want some handicapping for Friday.” We’re all about it. First, let’s show you the records. As we mentioned on the show yesterday, we had some success on the program. Let’s take a look at what we did, a two in one day yesterday, if my math is correct now based on that. That’s five and two over the last couple of days, six and three, seven and four this week. I see seven and four over the last four days. You see, we’ve crept right up to the 500 mark. Kyle above it, Corby above it. Boys, you’re ready? We got a Friday slate. Let’s get into some games. Let’s get into some handicapping. Let’s get it underway with a game that is in Conference USA. Interesting for Marshall and Old Dominion tonight, down the stretch of the regular season, Marshall is laying three here in this matchup on the road at ODU, total 150 and a half.

Corby Craig, begin us with a thought or two on this one tonight, late in the year in Conference USA.

Corby Craig:

Yeah, it’s sad to see that we’re slowly getting into the senior Knights of every single team. It seems like this season is absolutely flown by as it does every year, but this is going to be a good game. Marshall’s a team first game of the year I backed and I hated them. They lost to a Queen’s team who we’ve seen as not that great now, but since then, this Marshall team has done basically as they’ve wanted versus a lot of really good basketball teams. 11th in the nation and tempo, first in offensive tempo and Old Dominion’s going to try to play a bit slower, so it’s all dependent on who can set the pace. I think Marshall probably has the more competent overall starting five and the ability to score from multiple angles, so I would assume that Marshall can set the pace. This number was at three, I believe, and so I would lean towards Marshall, probably an under but under a Marshall game just doesn’t sound like any fun by any means. I probably take the three if anything, but it’s just a lean from me here early on a Friday.

TJ Reeves:

All right, and I misspoke Sunbelt conference game where Marshall has done very well in the Sunbelt. Total 150 and a half.

Kyle Hunter thoughts on this one with Old Dominion at home, they’re 10 and seven in the conference as Corby referenced. It’s their senior night as well. Any thoughts here, Kyle?

Kyle Hunter:

Yeah, I see this one flashing on the odd screen that’s going down right now, so 149 and a half pretty much across the board. I think it’s interesting to see somebody really wanting to bet a Marshall under, even when Corby said maybe under, I’m like, “Oh man, that’s a tough bet to make Marshall under for sure.” You don’t want to watch that game if you bet a Marshall under. It’s a tough bet and you don’t want to watch it just because of the tempo that they play at.

Marshall’s defense has been relatively good though this year. They do have a much better defense than they had a couple years ago. Marshall has been a much improved team throughout the course of the season, but if you see their tempo, I’m just concerned if you take an under here, the pace they’ve been playing at lately, it’s been so much faster than they were at the beginning of the season. 81 possessions against Georgia Southern, 84 against James Madison. We know Old Dominion doesn’t want to play that quick and I do see 66 possessions in the first game, so that would speak to maybe an under being a good look.

I can’t bet a total on this game. I think the only way I’d look is Marshall laying the points here if I had to bet something. I think Marshall’s just a much more talented team than Old Dominion. One thing that does kind of scream aggression for Marshall is their free throw defense is first in the country, which we know free throw defense, but I think this is a tough game to bet. It is the last game of the season here for these teams. They’re getting their regular season done early with because this is one of the earliest conference tournaments, so I think these can be a bit tricky to bet aside on as well. No strong opinion here from me.

TJ Reeves:

Play the Sunbelt tournament in the Florida panhandle in Pensacola, coming up for late next weekend. Next weekend.

All right, ODU and Marshall know official play in that one in the Sunbelt conference and we see some of you weighing in the live chat about taking a side in that game. We’re taking a first half total. Good stuff on that. SK, well, shout out to you. You just said watching you guys live from Canada, eh, on a Friday. Good to have you with us. Hit that like button for SK and everybody else. Make sure that you hit subscribe. You see it on the screen right there, we’re here weekdays 11:00 AM Eastern time even if you’re catching us live or catching us a little later on Friday, using some of this later in the day, later in the evening, Monday through Friday, 11:00 AM eastern time. We are right here.

Game number two, it’s a big east game and it’s a large one for Seton Halls at large hopes, the hall at home against top 25. Xavier also in the top 30 in the net rankings on the power rankings. Xavier is the two point short favorite. The total is 141. The hall has gotten a couple big wins at home in conference. They need another one late in the year in Shaheen Holloway’s first season.

Kyle Hunter, I come right back to you for thoughts on this one tonight.

Kyle Hunter:

Xavier seems like a team to me that kind of peaked at the wrong time of the season. They’re not playing as well here of late, the loss to Butler. Marquette obviously is not a bad boss. Home against Villanova last game, that was a game that they led almost the entire game, kind of blew it right at the end. I think this is a good spot for Seton Hall. I was hoping to get more points than this plus two, not quite the price I was hoping to get, but Seton Hall would be my lean in this game. They really need a big win. This is a great opportunity for them on a large stage national TV. Not that should necessarily matter, as to whether they get in the big dance, but definitely helps if there’s plenty of people paying attention.

I think Shaheen Holloway’s team is playing such good defense that I don’t think Xavier’s going to be able to put up that huge number that they’ve put up on a lot of teams offensively this year. The question is can Seton Hall score enough and that’s been a bit tricky. Their offense is not very efficient. You look at the way they shoot it from three, just 32.4%. This is a game where I could only take Seton Hall. This total is low enough that my numbers would suggest taking an over, but I don’t really want to take an over. I would’ve won it under, but the numbers down there pretty far. Seton Hall is my look in this one. I think it’s a pretty good spot for them.

TJ Reeves:

Corby Craig, these teams did play an early January for what it’s worth and Xavier won the game by three. Again, Seton Hall has a couple of significant wins already to their credit. From earlier in the year, they did beat Yukon at home back in January, earlier in the year for one of those home wins. They need one here on a Friday night. Any thoughts on this one, the Hall and Xavier Musketeers?

Corby Craig:

Yeah, it’s interesting. I think this is the first time all year. I would disagree with my counterpart college and this is just a lean so it’s not too big of a deal, but Xavier did peak at the wrong time. January 11th, 20th in the nation, January 15th, 17th in the nation and then they’ve went up from there. The issue is the market never really adjusted. We saw Xavier team as a nine point dog versus Connecticut when they were a 17th in the nation. I don’t think that they ever got priced into how good Sean Miller is as a coach.

The main thing here for me is Seton Hall turns all ball over a ton though Xavier doesn’t force a lot of turnovers. They do have bigs and I think that if you’re giving Xavier six, seven, eight more shots than Seton Hall, Xavier has the edge. [Inaudible 00:11:13], what, seven foot? They’re grabbing rebounds at a high rate, so if they’re getting a turnover battle win, a rebounding battle win, I think that they have efficient enough players to play it. That said, this is a two point line for a reason. It’s going to be a great game. Neither of us Ky Laura, I bet on it, so I think this is a hit or miss. You’re talking about the final minutes of a really good basketball game.

TJ Reeves:

Thomas was just asking about Xavier as team total under. Any thought on the Xavier team total because Seton Hall can guard, they’re at home. Any thought on that guys, just real quick?

Kyle Hunter:

I guess one concern I’d have is this game could go to overtime. I mean I think this could be one of those really tight games, team total unders in a game that means so much and could go to overtime or be a foul fest late. That would be my lean, I just don’t love it.

TJ Reeves:

All right, good on that opinion. No official play on that one, but some good stuff tonight on a Friday night in the Big East. Let’s move on and move back into the Sunbelt conference for the second time already on the show. There’s an official play coming on Arkansas State and ULM, Louisiana, Monroe. Monroe favored by five total 130 and a half.

Corby Craig has something isolated for this one. What stood out sir?

Corby Craig:

Yeah, talk about some ugly games. 304th Arkansas State, 271 Louisiana Monroe, the issue here… At first glance, I look towards under here. You’re talking about an Arkansas State team that’s 339th in the nation and tempo. Defense is really slow. Louisiana on road two 52nd, not that much faster, but I think that the underlying number is made due to these tempos and it doesn’t really take into account that when both of these teams can go and transition, they do 8%, 9% in transition, which is not incredibly fast, but it’s near average. 10 probably is the average in the market and I really don’t trust these defenses by any means.

You’re going to see some three point shooting by Louisiana Monroe, and Arkansas State gets the free throw line in ton. I see a lot of stoppages, a lot of fouls, an ugly basketball game with some really bad defense on a number that’s adjusted to the idea that they’re 340th in the nation tempo when in all actuality, they don’t really care to play that slow. They’ve just been out talented by so many teams that they’ve kind of been forced to play slow basketball because Arkansas State is 300th in the nation for [inaudible 00:13:30], 304th. It’s easy to see them get out talented, but when they play into a class of their own, I think this speeds up quite a bit and we get an over at 130 and a half.

TJ Reeves:

Yes, we do. It’s an Arkansas state team has really struggled. Three and 17 in the Sunbelt.

Kyle, any thoughts here as these teams get ready to go play in the conference tournament like we were talking about later next week? Any thoughts here on ULM Arkansas State?

Kyle Hunter:

Well, Corby and I agree more often than we disagree and I do agree with them on this one. I like this one quite a bit. This is a game that why do either of these two teams care too much about this game? This is the last game in the regular season. You got a really low total and two teams that are not good at all defensively. You give me that kind of setup with a low total, I have to like the over.

I don’t think it should be priced the same way it should be if it was January 1st because this is a game that means very little to either team. They want to get ready for the conference tournaments and both of these defenses are bad. I mean 13th and the Sunbelt and 10th and the Sunbelt and defensive efficiency. Usually, you see two teams with that bad of a defense, it’s going to be hard to see a total 130 and a half. I think both of these teams are relatively slow, but I don’t think they’re slow enough that it should be set at 130 and a half especially in this situation. If you see what Louisiana Monroe has been giving up defensively, 76, 84, 81, then 82 their last game, so they’re giving up points. Arkansas State, decent three point shooting team, both teams get to the line some. I think this is a good over.

TJ Reeves:

All right, we’ll lock Corby Craig in, first official play of Friday is points, points, points like we like to say on the BetUS College basketball Show. He wants the over 130 and a half. A reminder, we’re coming as you see on the slate to your questions and answers. We’ll get to those in a few moments. Here is we’re on the live show, you see that again on the screen at 11:00 AM. Get some questions and answers, we will talk about some Saturday games too, even though we don’t have lines coming up. We got another official play coming up. This is like Sunbelt Friday. We got another one here with Coastal Carolina and Troy. Troy Lane 10 at home with a total of 143 and a half. Kyle Hunter is back for the official play where Troy is 10 and seven in conference play hosting the Chanticleer of Coastal Carolina.

Kyle, what are your thoughts and what’s the official play here?

Kyle Hunter:

Yeah, I didn’t really realize that we were going to be so Sunbelt happy, but here we are. Also, Corby and I both taking an over here today. I like the over in this game. Last game of the year again, I think that has a lot to do with the handicap again in this game. Both of these teams play a bit faster than the average in the nation, so I don’t think tempo’s going to be an issue. Troy defense is pretty good, although they do have some trouble getting defensive rebounds. Coastal Carolina’s defense is horrible. They’re last in the Sunbelt and defense giving up 1.13 points per possession. This is a team in Coastal Carolina. If they get to the line, they shoot 78% from the line. Troy does foul a bit too much.

I think both of these teams can get to the line a decent amount. Both teams do get out and transition some as well. I think this again doesn’t mean very much to either team and you’ve got a possibility of an up and down type game here and a pretty low total given the pace that this will be played at. Like I said, coastal Carolina has been making everything pretty high scoring here of late. Their defense is just that bad. They gave up 83 points to Louisiana Monroe that we were just talking about. They gave up 76 last game to Georgia Southern, 78 to Texas State who stalls and plays very slowly. They’re going to give up points here, the question is how many will they score? I think they’ll score enough in a game like this. That doesn’t mean anything to either team, so I’m going to take the over, I think this one’s a few points too low.

TJ Reeves:

All right. Zay Williams and Troy are at home. They have won five of their last six games.

Corby Craig, any thoughts on this when if no official play with Troy and Coastal Carolina on a Friday night?

Corby Craig:

Yeah, mid-year Coastal Carolina was a team that I really liked. I bet him a few times as underdogs. I think that their defense struggles but they have a decent offense. Mustafa [inaudible 00:17:57] is an issue because he is very efficient. I really like his turnaround hook. He’s tough to stop.

But the main thing for me here and the reason I like this over as well with Carlos, Antonio Days an efficient score that has not been at all this year. He is shooting 29% from deep. He’s played awful. Jamar Brown, exact same thing. He’s the best free throw shooter in the nation. 64 for 66. Not a ton of sample because he got hurt but he’s shooting 20% from deep. If you played basketball, you know that usually, if you can hit free throws, you’re a pretty decent shooter and you can hit better than 20% for the three point line. Jamar Brown’s the exact same way, he just hasn’t found his rhythm, I think.

Unfortunately, it’s the end of the year but this would be a good by low on this team to start scoring some points. They have the pieces, they just haven’t clicked by any means. Coastal overs are always going to always going to be highlighted for me just due to the fact that they have players that can score and they haven’t scored, so the market’s probably too low on this of offense overall, but defensively, this coastal team, 331st in the nation. They are miserable, so Troy should be able to do as they please and this one go decently over.

TJ Reeves:

Kyle Hunter wants that and again, this over is more significant than the last one that Corby just took that is also in the Sunbelt conference. He wants the points, does Kyle Hunter and he wants the over total to go over as we lock him in over the 143 and a half for this matchup. I’m going to somewhat jokingly say we’ve already covered three Sunbelt games in the first four, we don’t want anything on southern miss and Texas State or Georgia State and James Madison. You guys, you’re good. You want to just move on?

Corby Craig:

Off the sun belt.

TJ Reeves:

Are we good with that?

Corby Craig:

The fun belt.

TJ Reeves:

The fun belt, and it may very well be the fun belt here. And an automatic bid will be up for grabs. And by the way, this conference is won NCAA tournament games on several occasions in recent years. Keep an eye on these teams that we’ve been talking about a bunch on Friday when the brackets come out.

All right, let’s move out west, shall we? [inaudible 00:19:55] don’t have any west coast bias here in this situation. Let’s talk Nevada and Fresno State. It’s a game that Nevada is trying to protect their resume with, Fresno State probably on the outside looking in at large. Nevada Lane three on the road in Northern California. The total is 129 in this one.

Corby Craig, I am right back to you because it’s a Nevada team that is 11 and four in the mountain west. They have a good at large case. We have talked time and again though, they’re playing a team with a losing record here. This is a resume protector for Nevada. Can’t really help them to win the game but boy, it can hurt them if they lose it here late in the year. Thoughts, Corby?

Corby Craig:

Yeah, I agree. This number was two and a half early this morning and I almost laid the two and a half with Nevada. The interesting thing here for me is this over at 129, which just sounds like a deathbed hopping on a Fresno over. They’re like Air Force, they played very slow. But Nevada is a team that their tempo schemes are going to deceive you a bit. They’re 264th in tempo but in these games, they’ve played the Fresnos and the Air forces which are comparable tempo schemes. Fresno 77, 66. Air Force 72, 52. Air Force, 75, 69. You’re talking three games that all are right there on going over this number and they did their part in all three. I think they don’t struggle too much in the idea that a team’s trying to slow them down. They have the talent to burst through that and I think this Nevada team we’ve seen. They’re 21 and seven so we’ve seen time and time again that they are athletic enough to do something.

My worry with taking aside at all is they really struggle on the offensive class. 333rd in offensive rebounding percentage, which is interesting due to the fact that they shoot a lot of free throw, so I’m assuming they’re getting cluster points so they’re getting in a painting, just getting fouled hard. But to not get any rebounds worries me in just a number scheme to try to bet aside. I would lean towards the over hope that you’re getting fouls. You have to send to the line a lot. 129 seems like a decently low number, I made this 133 so don’t love it by any means but just a slightly into the over.

TJ Reeves:

Hey Nevada team, Kyle Hunter that has won five of its last six games, they did win against San Jose State at home earlier in the week. They’ve got three games remaining in the conference here at Fresno at Wyoming and UNLV, all three in the same category. Those aren’t really going to help them at large, but you’ve got to protect your status right now if you’re Steve Alford’s team. Any thought on this Friday night game at Fresno?

Kyle Hunter:

I think the Mountain West is very much up for grabs as far as who will be in the big dance still. These are going to be some fun games here at the end of the season. I do agree. If I had to bet this game, I would bet the over. I’m going to make fun of myself here for a minute. We talk about wins, we talk about losses. I did bet Fresno State and San Diego State over, I believe that game finished like 27 to 26. I might be exaggerating just a little bit but no, I think I used up my over for the year with Fresno State on that one. It was just painful to watch.

Having said that, my numbers make this a bit higher. Nevada shoots 81% from the free throw line in the conference and I think they’ll get to the free throw line a decent amount against Fresno State here. Fresno State’s defense isn’t what it was last year with Orlando Robinson either. Neither team really has a great shot blocker on the inside. If you look at their percentages near the rim. Both teams have been pretty good at finishing near the rim. Both defenses bad at protecting near the rim, so I think there could be some easier layups in this game. If you get some of that, you get some of the free throws, the over makes some sense to me.

Nevada would be my lean on the side. I wouldn’t want to bet Fresno State, they’re really inconsistent. They’re certainly capable and they’ve pulled some upsets already. We remember they won at UNLV. This is a team that could win this game, but they also have had some really bad performances. They lost by 17 at home to Utah State. I wouldn’t want to trust them here, so Lean Nevada, kind of like the over two.

TJ Reeves:

Yeah, you mentioned that San Diego State game was 45, 43. San Diego State content to win ugly. They lead the Mountain West. Boise State is a game behind them and Nevada is two back in the lost column. Nevada needs this one tonight at Fresno. No official play, but we gave you plenty on that game as well.

Guys, are you strapped in? Are you ready here? We’re ready to go with some questions and answers, not just for the rest of Friday, but get the questions going also for Saturday. First of all, hit that like button. If you have not subscribed yet, please do so. Get in here. We see you in the live chat, we see the live audience growing. We love that, help us out. Share the show out, keep hitting subscribe. I want us to get to 4,500 subscribers by the time we get to March Madness. We can do that with your help. Keep helping us out here as we percolate along on a Friday. Let’s begin with the Q and A.

Douglas starts us off. Again, we go to all different directions including Jacksonville State and North Alabama. Douglas wants to know about the total in that game. Guys, of all the games on Friday and Saturday, I don’t have that one in front of me. Give me some help on Jacksonville State and North Alabama.

Corby Craig:

Yeah, I have the most boring answer for you. This number’s 141. I made it 141.1. Literally, the closest you could possibly be.

TJ Reeves:

I thought you were going to say you were going to give us boring advice, which is stay away from this game and that tunnel.

Corby Craig:

No, North Alabama is peak basketball. TJ, come on.

TJ Reeves:

Kyle Hunter, do we have anything here or stay away?

Kyle Hunter:

Again, this is the last game of the year for these two teams. Does the game matter too much? The first game was 66 to 62, I think if I had to bet it, I’d bet the under but I’m kind of scared to bet and under because it is the last game of the season. I don’t know that it matters to either team. In a normal situation, I bet the under. In this situation, I have to pass. No exciting answer from me here either.

TJ Reeves:

All right, good enough. Atrain33 watching us. Thank you. He’s curious about Iona, one of the best teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. He’s curious about the line movement on that game. I’m looking for the Iona opponent as they’re wrapping up their regular season. That’s Iona at St. Mary’s and the line is moved.

Guys, any thoughts? Iona, I’m still showing a nine or 9.5 point favorite. What do we think here? Anything, Kyle?

Kyle Hunter:

Yeah. Mount St. Mary’s has gotten healthier, so I think that’s why people are coming into bet Mount St. Mary’s. They have played a bit better of late. Still, Iona’s upside is so much higher than Mount St. Mary’s. If you think Iona’s going to be fully engaged throughout the course of the game, then I think they probably cover that number. My lean would be Iona, maybe even an over thinking that Iona makes this game high scoring enough that Mount St. Mary’s has to speed up, so that would be my leans here.

TJ Reeves:

Corby Craig, A thought on Iona and the line movement. They are 13 and three in the conference. Go ahead.

Corby Craig:

Yeah, so Mount St. Mary’s has a player that played at UAB two years ago and Jalen Benjamin, he’s their best player. I started laughing when I thought about it because I’ve never taken it this way, but I think Jalen Benjamin is a Walmart great value brand Jelly. Shoots too much, passes enough, but he’s shooting dirty-

TJ Reeves:

Hold on, you don’t mean actual Jelly. You mean Jelly Walker [inaudible 00:27:28]. We clarify our jellies on a product.

Corby Craig:

Both UAB references. He takes almost 31% of their shots. I don’t think that in most cases, that helps your team create a flow, especially versus the team as talented as Iona. They can stop him and then, can he facilitate enough to create some kind of offense. Other than towards Iona’s, St. Mary’s team total under but I think that number’s probably too low. It’s going to be like 63 and a half, so probably lean towards Iona but nothing strong there.

TJ Reeves:

Again, this is at the end of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season. Sienna and Ryder actually play each other tonight at Ryder in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. They’re both 11 and five in the conference. That’s probably a little better game than Iona and Mount St. Mary’s for that matchup tonight. Let’s continue with the live questions. Ninja13 watching says Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth in the A10 on a Friday night VCU rolling down the stretch of the season.

Guys, thoughts on this one? Corby, anything with VCU, a nine point favorite against Richmond. Remember, the Richmond coach had the heart procedure, Chris Mooney. We got an interim coach here for a second game. They’re on the road at VCU rivalry game here. Corby, a thought real quick.

Corby Craig:

Yeah, I made VCU basically a six and a half point favorite. A nine was probably too many but not pulling very fast. You’re asking about the over, I made this 132 so I would lean slightly under, but VCUs going to push tempo. The issue is how quality of tempo is it? There’re 130th in the nation and tempo, but they’re also turn tempo over 311th in the nation and they force the fourth most turnovers in the nation. You’re talking a game that’s going to get ugly fast. Richmond does have the talent to slow that down to a fault, but can they rebound? I think there’s just a lot of issues, a lot of sloppy possessions, a lot of one and dones and lean towards the under here.

TJ Reeves:

All right, great stuff coming for Saturday. Let’s get into that. Roll the sleeves up for a few more moments before we are done in the live chat.

Danielson is watching says Saturday question, Texas and Baylor. Any thoughts? This is one of a series of rematch games in conference play where they’re rematching at the end of the year. Texas won the first matchup recently. Any thoughts guys including what the line might be here in Waco?

Kyle Hunter:

Baylor’s going to be favored just by one and a half or two points probably and Ken Palm has 154 for the total. I think that’s probably too high. If it came out that high, I bet the under.

Corby Craig:

I would as well.

Kyle Hunter:

I don’t think anybody is going to want the total to be that high in a game where in the first game, they had 69 possessions, got to 147. Baylor’s defense is probably better than what they’ve shown, especially with Cha Mutawa back. Baylor has not looked great the last couple games after both of us said we liked them as a future, but I still think Baylor’s a good team.

TJ Reeves:

Corby, any quick thought on Baylor-Texas?

Corby Craig:

Yeah, I still think they’re a good team. Lost to two pretty good basketball teams. The issue here is that they match up so well with Texas. Texas doesn’t really have a defined big just like size-wise, neither does Baylor. That is going to be guard heavy. [inaudible 00:30:43] is basically creating most of their offense. I think that they match up really well. If this number comes out 154, which honestly wouldn’t surprise me, I could see a 151, 152 range but just due to how fast Texas has played all year, I still don’t think that this Texas team is this fast. Listen, we’re getting down to the final days, so my predictions or hypotheses that they’re not this fast need to come to fruition pretty quick or I would be considered wrong, but I’m still not buying it. Yeah, I will be on it under here if it’s anywhere.

TJ Reeves:

I’m going to be profound on a Friday. At this point in late February, you are who you are. How you pull [inaudible 00:31:19]. Basically, you are who you are, so we’ll see what happens with Baylor and Texas.

Joe Blow is watching us. Joe Blow says Purdue, Indiana. Thoughts Corby on this. This is revenge for Purdue. Indiana beat them a couple of weekends ago at assembly hall and a close one. Indiana awful loss on the emotional night for Michigan State earlier in the week. Thought on Purdue, Indiana and what that line might be. Corby, any thoughts?

Corby Craig:

I feel targeted that they said Corby. Last year, people said that I looked like Zach Edey, which I take as a compliment now, but last year, that was kind of a disrespectful.

Listen, Indiana’s not a team that fits well versus Zach Edey, they have trace, they have have a couple sized people but it’s really hard to match up for CD. And then the guard play, Purdue is their biggest fault. Can Indiana stop their guards? Probably. I think everybody can basically at this point. This number probably is like a 7.5, seven maybe. Yeah, I would say seven and I would probably lean towards Indiana with that many points just due to the fact Purdue plays so slow but I mean Edey can do whatever he wants to this point.

TJ Reeves:

Wait a minute, we keep talking on his show. In your absence yesterday, Matty Cox was quoting it again. The home favored Big 10 teams keep rolling along and now, Purdue the home team in this instance instance, so I understand what you’re saying, Corby, but are we going against that trend right now, Kyle? Because we saw, yes, Michigan did win at Rutgers. That’s a large win for them, but Illinois came back at home and won last night. Purdue at home here. Quick thought, Kyle on Purdue, Indiana.

Kyle Hunter:

Yeah, Illinois still didn’t cover the spread and Ohio State was favored at home and I was pretty proud of myself for actually betting against Ohio State last night and cashing it. I didn’t watch the game. I didn’t want to make myself watch the game.

TJ Reeves:

It has come to this for Kyle and his Ohio State fandom. We’re betting against the Buckeyes at home.

Kyle Hunter:

What can you do?

But I still think the home teams are going to do well, but there were some road teams that covered last night. As far as this game in particular, I can’t bet Indiana in a spot like this. I think it’s a bad matchup for Indiana. I also think Indiana might be a bit overvalued as a team. Purdue is a team that can be exposed. Teams that compress them, give their guards a lot of issues. I don’t think Indiana’s side team though.

TJ Reeves:

Fair enough on that. TJ questioned Virginia off the horrible loss to Boston College. Now plays at North Carolina. They won a game. They needed to win, it doesn’t help them really for the at large resume, but North Carolina won against Notre Dame. This is huge for North Carolina, six eastern time. We think Virginia’s still going to be like a three or four point favorite, guys. Any thoughts? Six Eastern Time, Virginia, North Carolina. I saw a shake of the head there, Kyle. You think it might be like a pick them or what do you think?

Kyle Hunter:

KenPom and Barts Hick both have North Carolina favored in this game. I think KenPom has North Carolina minus three. I think that’s too much. Maybe North Carolina minus one. Maybe pick them, something like that.

I don’t know who I want to bet in this game. I don’t trust Virginia very much right now. I think Virginia kind of peaked at the wrong time too. They looked really good at the beginning of the season, they haven’t really played that well of late. Remember, they were very fortunate to beat Duke in the game that they beat them as well. They beat Louisville just by three points and then they looked bad against Boston College. North Carolina’s not given me anything to be excited to bet them here in this game. This is all to say that this is an easy pass for me. Hopefully, Corby like something better than I do here.

TJ Reeves:

Anything, Corby on Carolina, Virginia? They’ve got to have it. They blew the Miami game, they have blown a couple of games late in the year here. Blew the NC State game. They were winning in the second half at Raleigh on Sunday, didn’t win the game. Again, the selection committee is going to look at the end of your season and say, did you help yourself here, here, and here. If North Carolina’s answers just picking on them are L, L, L and L including Duke next weekend, you’ve made the decision easy for them.

Corby, any thought real quick?

Corby Craig:

Yeah, listen, I could’ve got on the show and acted like this didn’t happen and could sweep it under the rug, but I bet Virginia in that Boston College game that they lost. They lost by 15 and I had them to win by more than eight so it was ugly. Maybe I’m wrong on this Virginia team, but I think that they match up decently well versus any team that doesn’t have three point shooters in North Carolina has an abundance of brick shooters. I don’t think that North Carolina can hit shots and get Virginia very startled and their defensive schemes they’ve run for, it seems like my entire life at this point.

North Carolina has two bigs. That’s basically it. And Virginia has the athletic ability and the guards to help down on those and double team Beko when he gets the ball unless he’s quick, which is possible. Post for Boston College, absolutely murdered Virginia early in that game. If Beko it’s on his game, then North Carolina probably wins this game outright. But I’m still buying too high in Virginia. At this point, I think that they’re a decent team. I would take Virginia at three, but I also took them versus Boston College, so take that with a grain of salt.

TJ Reeves:

Again, it’s a North Carolina team that does not have a quad one win in the net. None. They need one. We’ll see if they can get it for Saturday night.

All right, one more. Huge game. St. Mary’s Gonzaga. Mr. I have a Gonzaga National Title Futures at a great price. I know you’re watching this one carefully. What do we think that line’s going to be? Gonzaga scored a ton of points on Thursday night with San Diego. What do we think that line is maybe going to be for them at home, real quick?

Corby Craig:

I thought we were about to get out of this place without talking about Gonzaga. I think probably two and a half towards the-

TJ Reeves:

Corby Craig:

At home, two and a half, three, three and a half maybe. I hope two and a half. I’m being generous towards me wanting to bet more on Gonzaga at this point. I bet Gonzaga Futures to win the WCC a couple weeks back and plus 400. If they win this game, it comes down to net and I think that they probably can scrape out the net win. They looked good in the St. Mary’s game. They lost the game. St. Mary’s did not win that game. They’ve looked good since. They just put 97 on San Diego, 98 on Pepperdine. The other defense looks rough. 108 on Louisiana, Marymount. I don’t have to keep telling y’all, everybody pays attention to Gonzaga. Seeing a 34 to one, listen, this is my squad. We’re going into March, this is my crew. Drew Timmy the mustache man, he came back for a reason and they get it done.

TJ Reeves:

Kyle, any quick thought on Gonzaga St. Mary’s?

Kyle Hunter:

Yeah, I think Gonzaga will be favored by a bit more than that. I hope they’re not favored by more than that but I think at least three here, maybe three and a half. I like Gonzaga in this spot. Hopefully, getting in possession or laying in possession or less. I’d love three. I love the chat too here. Setting an over under on Corby’s height over on the side. We always have fun with the chat. I think Gonzaga is the right side here.

TJ Reeves:

They’re asking, do we have an over under. I’ve not seen Corby standing. I’ve only seen photos of him sitting. I would put the under-

Corby Craig:

What’s the guess?

TJ Reeves:

… the over under. I’ll put at 6-3 is where I would put the-

Corby Craig:

You have to add the half.

TJ Reeves:

… officially. [inaudible 00:38:35].

Are you going over six, three and a half, Kyle for the peeps and the savages on the height?

Kyle Hunter:

Well, TJ, I’m not going to take yours. I’m going to take the one that Mark said in the chat. He said 6-2. I’m taking the over on that one.

TJ Reeves:

Taking over. Now, what would you clowns in the chat and elsewhere take for the TJ height? Have you seen me standing? Do you have any idea?

Corby Craig:

Five, four and a half.

TJ Reeves:

Not five, four and a half there Mr. Speaker. Believe it or not, I was five foot nine as a junior in high school. I am six foot four. I grew seven inches after my junior year.

I could maybe post you up Corby Craig. We’d have to find that out. Later on at a later date. [inaudible 00:39:14] on the toes with the height.

Corby Craig:

Hey, TJ, a hint towards the over under it, you could not post me up.

TJ Reeves:

All right, we’ll see. I don’t know. You got short arms? I don’t know. I got longer arms. I might be able to. We’ll see. You do a little Kevin McHale up and under on you, baby. You got to YouTube that. Watch that stuff.

All right, on that note before we completely digress, let’s get to some best bets and get out of here. Here for a Friday, here’s what the handicaps are officially on a couple of different games in the Sunbelt conference and both of them are overs for the Arkansas State ULM game and Coastal Carolina and Troy. Good luck with those plays and we gave you plenty more for Saturday especially.

Final thoughts, guys? Anything else? By the way, we have a coach firing on a Friday morning. Kermit Davis already fired by Ole Miss. You don’t even get to coach the rest of the regular season. Goodbye. They have an interim coach. Let the speculation begin on who gets the Ole Miss job. They got a lot of money in the SEC. Any final thoughts, guys as we head to the weekend?

Kyle Hunter:

I think that was kind of harsh to not let him finish out the end of the season there. Ole Miss has not actually been a great program, so I’m surprised they didn’t let him finish it out. But I hope we get a good price on Gonzaga for Saturday. Some good games here coming up on Saturday. And the next time I talk to you, guys, it’s going to be March, so I’m looking forward to it.

TJ Reeves:

Love it, Kyle. Great stuff. Corby, anything else before we’re gone?

Corby Craig:

Yeah, six-four. That’s all I got.

TJ Reeves:

Six four.

Corby Craig:

Yeah, that’s the answer. Go zags. I appreciate it.

TJ Reeves:

We’ll see what the zags do. Again, ESPN is there for their game day pre-game shows all day. They’re going to be talking about Gonzaga St. Mary’s. Let’s see if it lives up to the hype.

And again, we gave you a bunch on Friday, but Saturday’s got Purdue, Indiana, it’s got Virginia, North Carolina, it’s got Texas and Baylor a ton and March is almost here.

Kevin and everybody at BetUS. Great job. Hit the like button on your way out. Great job with the live audience again today. We keep growing. We’re here Monday through Friday, 11:00 AM on the BetUS College Basketball Show. Have a great weekend.