Hugely bad news late last week for the University of Washington as starting point guard Quade Green was ruled academically ineligible for the rest of the season. A transfer from Kentucky, Green was averaging 11.6 points, 5.3 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game in 15 contests this season — all of which are career-highs. There’s a slight chance he could return for the postseason but not likely. Here’s a look at two intriguing College Basketball Betting games early this week. Check back for Mybookie NCAAB odds. Rankings may change in Monday’s new polls.
Top College Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – January 13th Edition
No. 7 San Diego State vs Fresno State
- When: Tuesday, 11 PM ET
- TV: ESPN2
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
This is the late game on Tuesday’s schedule and comes from the Mountain West Conference. Fresno State isn’t any good, but don’t sleep on San Diego State as the Aztecs are a legitimate Final Four threat at 17-0. Malachi Flynn is perhaps the best player you never heard of and he’s on the midseason watch list for the 2020 Wooden Award.
The Aztecs come off an 83-65 rout of Boise State on Saturday to stay unbeaten. KJ Feagin scored 16 of his season-high 23 points in the first half, Yanni Wetzell added 20 and Flynn had 19 for the Aztecs. They and Auburn remain the nation’s only undefeated teams. SDSU continued its hottest start since 2010-11, when it opened 20-0 behind Kawhi Leonard and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time before finishing a school-record 34-3.
San Diego State is the 16th team since the start of the 2010-11 season to open a campaign 17-0. Of those 16 teams, 15 teams made the NCAA tournament and all those teams won a game in the tournament (at least made the round of 32) and six made the Elite Eight. San Diego State’s 17-game winning streak is the longest in the Brian Dutcher era and is the third longest in school history.
Why Fresno State should be one of your College Betting Picks?
Fresno State (5-11) lost 78-64 at New Mexico last Tuesday. The Bulldogs are coached by Justin Huston, who was formerly an assistant at San Diego State. Hutson is 25-4 all-time as a Division I head coach (5-2) or assistant coach (20-2) when coaching against one of his former teams.Fresno State leads the league with freshmen averaging 97.4 minutes per game, which is nearly half of the Bulldogs’ minutes per game average (47.2 percent). Fresno State’s freshmen have accounted for 1,558 of the team’s 3,300 total minutes played (47.2 percent) this season.
This wraps up the season series between these schools as on New Year’s Day the Aztecs beat Fresno 61-52 in San Diego. Flynn scored 16 points and Matt Mitchell had 15 for SDSU. Mitchell, starting in place of sophomore forward Nathan Menshah (illness) hit a long jumper just inside of nine minutes to go and then drained a 3-pointer for a 46-36 lead. Flynn, a transfer guard, reached 1,000 career points. The Aztecs snapped a five-game losing streak to the Bulldogs, who had won their last three games at Viejas Arena. Jarred Hyder scored 23 for Fresno State, which was without leading scorer Nate Grimes, out with a wrist injury.
No. 18 Virginia vs No. 10 Florida State
- When: Wednesday, 7 PM
- TV: ESPN2
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
Looks to be the only matchup of Wednesday featuring ranked schools and both could win the ACC title – although Duke is still the team to beat. UVA and FSU will play again in just 13 days.
Last year, they played once in the regular season and once in the ACC Tournament. Florida State pulled the surprise in the tournament semifinals, 69-59, over the then second-ranked Cavaliers. David Nichols scored 14 points as the Seminoles advanced to the championship game of the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2012 (the Noles would lose to Duke). Phil Cofer had 11 points and Christ Koumadje added nine points and nine rebounds. Florida State broke open the game midway through the second half with a 13-1 run. UVA had nine-game winning streak at the time snapped, but obviously rebounded to win its first national title. In the regular-season meeting, Virginia won 65-52. FSU didn’t even reach 35 points in that game until 2:34 was left.
More Numbers
Virginia is on a two-game skid following an overtime home loss to Syracuse on Saturday. Virginia trailed by eight early in the second half but used a 15-2 run to go ahead 35-30 with 12:03 to play. The teams traded points down the stretch to go to overtime. Jay Huff led Virginia with 16 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
The loss snapped UVA’s four-game winning streak vs. Syracuse. It also ended Virginia’s six-game ACC home winning streak. The Cavaliers have lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2016-17 (Duke and North Carolina). UVA 5-10 all-time in overtime under Coach Tony Bennett.
Florida State won its seventh game in a row last Wednesday, 78-68 at Wake Forest. Devin Vassell scored 17 points and Florida State pulled away in the final 10 minutes. M.J. Walker scored 12 of his 15 points in the first half for the Seminoles. They trailed early in the second half before going ahead for good on RaiQuan Gray’s 3-pointer at the 14:04 mark.
Seminole head coach Leonard Hamilton needs just one victory to move into sole possession of sixth place in ACC history with for overall career wins. Hamilton has 348 wins, tied with former Maryland head coach Lefty Driesell. Florida State has won three games against ranked teams this season, all away from home. Hamilton has now led the Seminoles to victories over 24 teams ranked in the nation’s top 10 with 13 of those wins coming away from Tallahassee.
