With so many college basketball teams around the country – more than 350 in Division I – it’s hard sometimes to keep track of which schools are excellent against the spread and which aren’t. Well, we’re here to tell you: Michigan State is the major school with the best ATS mark and California is the power school with the worst ATS record. Something to keep in mind. Here’s a look at two interesting matchups this week. Check back for NCAAB odds.
Top NCAA Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – January 28th
Ignas Brazdeikis has brought an edge to @umichbball 💪 pic.twitter.com/aRtGavLE6U
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) 26 de enero de 2019
Ohio State at No. 5 Michigan
- When: Tuesday, 9 PM ET (ESPN2)
This might be the best football rivalry in the country; not quite the animus in college basketball but the schools definitely don’t like each other. It’s the only scheduled meeting of the season, although a Big Ten Tournament matchup is possible.
OSU comes off an upset win in Nebraska to improve to 13-6 overall and 3-5 in the Big Ten. Luther Muhammad led all scorers with a career-best 24 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals while Andre Wesson and C.J. Jackson each added 10.
The Buckeyes grabbed a season-high 45 rebounds. When leading at the half, Ohio State improves to 9-2 on the season. Ohio State kept the Nebraska bench to just three points in the contest. Kaleb Wesson grabbed 11 boards for Ohio State. He set a career high with nine defensive rebounds and is now seven rebounds shy of 300 for his career.
Michigan trashed Indiana 69-46 on Friday. Michigan used a 17-0 run to start the game and never looked back. Charles Matthews collected his fifth career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Ignas Brazdeikis scored 20 points to lead the Wolverines in scoring. Jon Teske recorded his ninth straight game with at least two blocks and added 11 points.
Junior Zavier Simpson dished out five assists, marking the 15th time this season he has had five or more in a game and added 12 points and six rebounds.
Simpson was named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award Watch List. He is one of 15 players on the list and one of four Big Ten players (Maryland’s Bruno Fernando, Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ, and Minnesota’s Jordan Murphy). Simpson has not missed a game in three seasons, playing in 99 straight for U-M. Simpson leads the Wolverines in steals.
No. 4 Gonzaga at BYU
- When: Thursday, 11 PM ET (ESPN2)
Gonzaga appears likely to run the table in the West Coast Conference this season and the Zags’ best chance for a loss probably is at BYU considering Saint Mary’s is a bit down this season. Although, San Francisco is pretty good in the WCC. But no question the Zags will be solid favorites the rest of the regular season regardless.
The Zags won their 10th in a row last Thursday, trouncing Santa Clara 98-39. Star Rui Hachimura finished with 16 points, Josh Perkins had 18 points and eight assists, and every Gonzaga starter scored in double figures.
Zach Norvell Jr. added 16 points and eight rebounds, Corey Kispert had 13 and Brandon Clarke scored 12 points to help Gonzaga (19-2, 6-0 West Coast Conference) to its 19th straight win over Santa Clara. Coach Mark Few’s and his team also extended its conference road winning streak to 27 games, the longest active mark in the nation. Gonzaga held leads of 14-0, 20-2 and 48-10 while dominating Santa Clara on both ends of the floor in the first half, and was up 61 late in the second half well after Few pulled his starters.
Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke was named to the midseason watch list for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award. Clarke leads the West Coast Conference, and is third in the nation, I blocked shots. He is fifth in program history for most blocks in a single season, just seven away from the record. The redshirt junior needs 16 blocked shots to enter the program’s career totals Top-10. His 3.2 blocks per game average currently rank third in WCC history. Clarke adds 1.4 steals per game this season, which ranks third on the team and 11th in the conference. Clarke is also third in the country shooting 69.8 percent from the field. His 16.5 points per game ranks eighth in the conference, and his 7.8 rebounds a game rank fifth.
BYU is off a 71-66 win over Saint Mary’s last Thursday. Yoeli Childs had his 32nd career double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds; TJ Haws followed with 17 points and seven assists while Gavin Baxter rounded the top performers out with 10 points, five rebounds, and two blocked shots.
The Cougars only had two turnovers and defensively forced 17 turnovers. The last time the Cougars beat the Gaels at home was in 2016 when they earned a 70-59 win in the Marriott Center. Dave Rose (2005 to present) is second all-time in BYU basketball history with 342 career victories, behind only Stan Watts, who coached the Cougars to 371 wins from 1949 to 1972 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986. Including his record at Dixie, Rose has 505 career wins as a head coach.
Childs is a preseason candidate for the 2019 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award. He is averaging 22.3 points and 9.6 rebounds and has 11 double-doubles. Childs earned first-team All-WCC honors in 2017-18 while averaging 17.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks.
Expert NCAA Basketball Betting Picks
Michigan rolls and BYU pulls the upset.
