It’s a bit of a slower week around college basketball because obviously campuses are on the holiday break and plus some programs have had to shut down temporarily due to COVID. But here’s one game Monday and Tuesday to parlay together on the NCAAB odds.
Games to bet on at the College Basketball 2021
Brown at Syracuse
Monday at 6 p.m. ET on the ACC Network. Brown (8-5) is a solid Ivy League program. It will be the eighth meeting in program history between the Bears and the Orange, with the last matchup coming in the 1986 NCAA Tournament. Syracuse won that in a 101-52 rout.
The Bears haven’t played since Dec. 10 when they lost 70-65 to Vermont. After trailing all game, the Bears took a 65-64 lead with 30 seconds remaining, but could not hold on. Kino Lilly Jr. earned his second Ivy League Rookie of the Week award for his performance in the team’s games at Merrimack and against Vermont. He averaged 14 points, four assists, and two steals on the week. The freshman shot 55% (11-for-20) from the field and 41.7% (5-for-12) from three.
Sophomore Kimo Ferrari has also been extremely hot as of late. He scored a career-high 12 points on a perfect 4-for-4 showing from three against Vermont. In the team’s last three games, Ferrari has shot 77.8% (7-for-9) from beyond the arc.
The Orange (5-5) haven’t played since a 79-75 loss to Georgetown on Dec. 11 as Syracuse had a couple of games postponed due to COVID. The Orange were up 10 on the Hoyas at halftime. Syracuse’s five starters average double figures and they did so again against their former Big East rivals. Buddy Boeheim had 17 points, Joe Girard 15, Jesse Edwards and Cole Swider 12 each and Jimmy Boeheim 10 for the Orange
Sons of Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim have started all 10 games. Buddy, a senior, leads the team with 17.6 points per game. A grad transfer from Cornell, Jimmy is third on the team with 14.4 points per game in his first year at Syracuse. Cole Swider leads the team with 7.6 rebounds per game and Jesse Edwards is averaging a team-high 2.6 blocks.
Alabama State at #25 Texas Tech
First game of Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET and streamed on ESPN+. This is basically just a “buy game for Alabama State (2-10) as the Hornets will cash a nice check for getting crushed. They were last in action last Wednesday and lost 68-48 at No. 16 Texas. Alabama State actually led by nine in the first half. Gerald Liddell, a former Longhorn who transferred to Alabama State this season, led the Hornets with 16 points. Juan Reyna added 10.
Alabama State also played without head coach Mo Williams who was out for the game awaiting the birth of his child. The Hornets finished the day shooting 36.7 (18-of-49) percent from the floor and 33.3 (5-of-15) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 63.6 (7-of-11) percent from the free throw line.
“We wanted to force them to play from the outside,” Alabama State head coach Trey Johnson said, although the Longhorns held a 32-12 advantage in the paint. “We felt like size-wise we matched up with them pretty good and we wanted to force them to play from the perimeter and play over the top of us.”
Texas Tech (9-2) beat Eastern Washington 78-46 last Wednesday. Tech led 50-27 at halftime, extended their winning streak in non-conference home games to 13, improved to 7-0 at home this season and now has a 19.9 scoring margin advantage over its opponents through 11 games which ranks 11th nationally.
Bryson Williams and Adonis Arms led the Red Raiders with 12 points each, while Kevin Obanor approached a double-double 11 points and seven rebounds to go along with a career-high four assists. Kevin McCullar led Tech with five assists and scored 10 points to give the Red Raiders four players in double figures in the game where the team finished with 17 assists on 29 made baskets.
Tech has now led at halftime in 10 of 11 games, only trailing in its loss to Gonzaga and has scored 50 or more in three opening halves – scoring 52 in the win over Lamar for its season high. Texas Tech played without Mylik Wilson and Terrence Shannon, Jr. for the second straight game due to injury. It’s not clear if they will play in this game.
Expert Picks
- Syracuse and Texas Tech