Tough break for defending national champion Virginia as guard Braxton Key is out indefinitely following surgery on his wrist. Key, a senior, is the Cavaliers’ second-leading scorer at 10.3 points per game and leads the defending champions in rebounds (8.3 RPG) and steals (1.3 SPG). Jay Huff has taken his spot in the starting lineup. Here’s a look at two terrific matchups on Tuesday in the College Basketball Betting action. Check back for Mybookie college basketball odds.
Top College Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – December 2nd Edition
Michigan vs No. 2 Louisville
- When: Tuesday, 7:30 PM ET
- TV: ESPN3
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
Louisville should be No. 1 in the new polls later Monday because No. 1 Duke lost last week (see below). Fellow unbeaten Michigan, behind first-year head coach Juwan Howard, will absolutely be in the Top 5 after winning the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament last week in the Bahamas, knocking off both No. 6 North Carolina and No. 8 Gonzaga. Jon Teske had 19 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks vs. Gonzaga as the tournament’s most valuable player for the Wolverines.
UM just kept rolling along on defense, holding its three Atlantis opponents to 0.93 points per possession. Teske is posting his best career marks both in terms of block percentage and (by far) in defensive rebound rate. The Wolverines are 7-0 with victories over three top-40 KenPom teams. They’re shooting 60.0% from 2-point range and 42.4% from 3-point range.
Louisville is also 7-0 after beating Western Kentucky 71-54 on Friday. Malik Williams had his best game of the season Friday, leading the effort to shut down star WKU center Charles Bassey. After a quiet second half against Akron, Jordan Nwora showed again why he’s an AP All-American with 25 points. The Cardinals last topped the AP poll on Jan. 14, 2013.
“I know they just went in and destroyed the field at the Atlantis, which goes without saying is a tough field,” Louisville coach Chris Mack said of Michigan. “They’ve got a point guard that we tried to recruit for two years at Xavier in Zavier (Simpson), and he’s one of the best point guards in the country. They’ve got great size at the rim. It’s going to be a huge challenge.”
Recent History
These schools met in the 2013 NCAA title game, with Louisville beating Michigan 82-76. Louisville’s title was subsequently vacated by the NCAA on June 15, 2017 due to several NCAA violations. Neither head coach from back then, Michigan’s John Beilein or Louisville’s Rick Pitino, is still with the school. Beilein is in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Pitino isn’t coaching in the USA.
No. 1 Duke at No. 3 Michigan State
- When: Tuesday, 9:30 PM ET
- TV: ESPN
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
These schools played an epic game in last year’s NCAA Tournament Final Four, with Sparty upsetting the top-seed Blue Devils 68-67. Cassius Winston was dominant with 20 points and 10 assists for Michigan State. The Big Ten Player of the Year made or assisted on 19 of Michigan State’s 30 field goals. Kenny Goins drained the go-ahead shot with 34.3 seconds left to put Michigan State up 68-66.
That was the last NCAA game for then-Duke freshman superstar Zion Williamson, who would go on to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans. Williamson had a game-high 24 points and 14 rebounds.
This will be the 16th all-time meeting between the schools. Duke leads 12-3 and Mike Krzyzewski is 11-2 against Tom Izzo. It’s only the second time ever Duke will visit Michigan State. The Blue Devils won the previous home game for the Spartans on Dec. 3, 2003. The Spartans have played three times at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the other 11 meetings have been on neutral courts. The Blue Devils are 4-0 against Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Michigan State (5-2) went 2-1 in the Maui Invitational last week, beating UCLA 75-62 in the fifth-place game. Winston scored a game-high 20 points, and Xavier Tillman had 14. Michigan State opened the second half with a quick 10-2 run to go up 36-25 and pushed it to 15 points midway through. Izzo made his head coaching debut at the 1995 Maui Invitational, defeating Chaminade, before falling to North Carolina and Santa Clara.
Why Duke should be one of your College Basketball Betting picks?
We previewed Duke’s game last week against Stephen F. Austin and told you not to sleep on the Lumberjacks – and what do you know, they pulled the biggest pointspread upset in 15 years, stunning Duke 85-83 in overtime at Cameron Indoor Stadium.Nathan Bain went coast-to-coast for a layup as time expired to end Duke’s 150-game home winning streak against nonconference opponents. Bain’s buzzer-beater came less than three months after Hurricane Dorian destroyed his family’s home and severely damaged his father’s church in his native Bahamas.
The Lumberjacks became the first non-Atlantic Coast Conference school to beat Duke at Cameron since St. John’s in February 2000. The Blue Devils committed 22 turnovers and shot just 11 of 24 from the free throw line in the second half. The Blue Devils were favored by 27.5 points at Mybookie, surpassing Gardner-Webb’s 26-point underdog win over Kentucky in 2007 as the largest upset in a Division I men’s basketball game over the past 15 seasons.
Duke did bounce back with an 83-70 win over Winthrop on Friday but the Blue Devils are going to fall from No. 1 in the polls.
