College Basketball Bets Analysis Parlay Picks

There was a huge surprise in college basketball over the weekend as Mark Turgeon decided to step down as Maryland basketball coach. Very unusual timing. Turgeon had been in charge of the Terrapins since 2011, and he signed a three-year contract extension in April that was expected to keep him in College Park until 2026. Former Kansas legend Danny Manning is the interim head coach the rest of the season. The Terps lost their first game under Manning, 67-61 Sunday vs. Northwestern. Here’s a look at two games to parlay from Monday’s schedule.

Let’s take a look at how the teams are performing so you can place your College basketball bets.

College Basketball Matches To Must Wager Week 14

Texas Southern at No. 14 Florida (-20)

This tips at 6 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. This could be a bloodbath considering that Texas Southern, a SWAC team, is 0-7 on the season. They have played a very tough schedule, though, and have yet to even have a home matchup. SU’s first home contest isn’t until Saturday, Jan. 8.

TSU will face off against teams from nine conferences in 2021-22. TSU will square off against teams from the Pac-12 (2), WCC (2), Mountain West, ACC, Conference USA, SEC, WAC, American and Big 12. The Tigers are off an 87-60 loss at Louisiana Tech.

TSU would get as close as 15 on three occasions within the first six-and-a-half minutes of the second half but Tech once again was hot from the field as they went 13-of-18 over the next nine minutes to pull away good after a 32-13 surge. John Walker III had TSU’s first double-double of the year with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Karl Nicholas added 13 points along with 10 from John Jones.

TSU was picked to finish first by the Southwestern Athletic Conference while the duo of Walker III and Justin Hopkins both earned preseason honors.

Florida was upset 74-67 at Oklahoma last Wednesday for its first loss. Sooners forward Tanner Groves scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while forward Jalen Hill added 18 points, including three-point play with a minute and a half to play to clinch it. Groves made eight of his 11 shots, including a pair of 3-pointers and won his big man battle against Florida 6-11 forward Colin Castleton (14 points, 11 rebounds, 6 turnovers). Oklahoma shot 49 percent for the game against a UF defense that began the night ranked 11th in the country in efficiency, only to surrender too many easy baskets on the way to allowing 38 points in the paint.

UF’s defense has made its presence felt in the early going, limiting five of its first seven opponents to 61 points or fewer. The Gators have held two opponents to 45 points, the first time Florida has multiple opponents to 45 points or fewer in a season since 2014-15. Florida ranks among the SEC’s top three in 3-point percentage defense (second, .255), blocked shots (second, 6.0) and scoring defense (third, 58.3).

The Gators won their only prior meeting with Texas Southern in December 2014, and this marks UF’s first contest against a SWAC opponent since that game.

Illinois at Iowa (-2)

A 7 p.m. ET tip on Fox Sports 1 from the Big Ten. The Illini opened Big Ten play on Friday by crushing Rutgers 86-51. Alfonso Plummer scored over 20 points for the fourth consecutive game to lead the Illini. Along with Plummer’s 24 points, Jacob Grandison had another big night with 16 points on 7-11 shooting from the field while Kofi Cockburn added 13 points. Cockburn is currently in 7th place in Illinois history for total double-doubles, just 11 away from breaking the Illinois all-time record of 41 set by Skip Thoren from 1963-65. Cockburn is one of five players nationally averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The Illini defense stepped up against the Scarlet Knights, holding them to 30.9% shooting from the field. Coleman Hawkins was tasked with guarding Rutgers’ Ron Harper Jr. and locked him down, allowing just five points on 1-9 shooting. Only one Rutgers player hit double digits scoring as Jaden Jones had 10 points.

Illinois tied a season-high in three-pointers with 12 while taking a season-high 33 attempts from behind the arc. Illinois recorded a season-high percentage from the charity line, going 10-for-11 for a .909 make percentage.

The 35-point margin of victory was the largest by Illinois over a Big Ten team since Feb. 23, 2005 when the Illini defeated Northwestern by 36 (484-48).

Iowa opened Big Ten play on Friday as well and lost 77-70 at No. 2 Purdue. The Hawkeyes played without Big Ten leading scorer Keegan Murray, who missed the game because of injury. It’s not yet clear if he will play Monday. Murray has been one of the most efficient players in college basketball this season. He’s is averaging 24.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while shooting 61.2 percent from the field.

Iowa could use Murray’s length and versatility against a taller squad like the Illini. Murray’s twin brother, Kris, started in place of him against Purdue. Kris scored 12 points and knocked down two three-pointers in the loss to the Boilermakers. Kris is the third-leading scorer for Iowa this year behind his brother and Patrick McCaffery with 11.7 points.

Illinois is looking for its first win in Iowa City since Feb. 18, 2017.