Interesting news late last week that the NCAA will adjust its procedure for reviewing last-second shots during March Madness. During the NCAA Tournament, officials will review all shots made at the buzzer. Why is this news now? Last week, two games say 3-pointers made that shouldn’t have counted. The made shots wouldn’t have changed who won or lost so they weren’t reviewed. What did they affect? Who covered or didn’t. Here’s a look at two intriguing NCAA matchups this week. Check back for college basketball odds. Rankings may change on Monday.
Top NCAA Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – February 11th
Huge victory for the Tigers today‼️ 🏀 9-1 in SEC Play 🏀 29 Second Chance Points 🏀 38 Points in the Paint
📄 https://t.co/Ywc15wsnbc pic.twitter.com/y8SQRPOIpr — LSU Basketball (@LSUBasketball) 10 de febrero de 2019
No. 21 LSU at No. 5 Kentucky
- When: Tuesday, 7 PM ET (ESPN)
These two schools are 9-1 in the SEC, a game back of top-ranked Tennessee. Neither has played the Vols yet. LSU comes off an 83-78 home win over Auburn on Saturday. The Tigers were down as much as 16 in the first half.
LSU outrebounded Auburn, 48-35, and 23-7 on the offensive boards that allowed the Tigers to get a 29-1 advantage on second-chance points. The LSU Tigers also took advantage of 19 Auburn turnovers, posting a 31-12 advantage in points off turnovers. That helped offset Auburn’s three-point shooting as Auburn made 16-of-38 attempts on the night (41.1 percent).
Skylar Mays led LSU with 20 points and no turnovers in 35 minutes of play, while Tremont Waters had another points-assists double-double with 19 and 10 to go with three steals. Naz Reid had a double-double of the points-rebound variety with 13 points and 11 boards, and Kavell Bigby-Williams had 10 rebounds to go with seven points.
The Tigers are unbeaten in Will Wade’s tenure when scoring 90 or more points. LSU is 6-0 this season and 9-0 in Coach Wade’s two seasons. LSU is 13-1 this year and 24-4 when scoring 80 or more over two seasons. On defense, the Tigers are 10-0 when allowing less than 70 points and 20-1 in the Coach Wade era when allowing less than 70 points.
UK is off a 71-67 win at Mississippi State on Saturday. PJ Washington led the charge with 23 points. He made 9 of 13 from the field and made all three tries from 3-point land. It is his seventh 20-point game of the season and his fifth in the last six games. He has eight straight games in double figures. Tyler Herro had 12 points. He made two 3-pointers, including a crucial long-range – as the shot clock expired – with three minutes to go that helped keep Mississippi State at bay.
Kentucky has won 10 in a row, its longest streak since a 14-game win streak in 2016-17. UK has won nine consecutive SEC games, its longest since sweeping the 18-game league schedule in 2014-15. Kentucky has won five straight road games, the longest road streak since sweeping the 10-game away schedule in 2014-15. This is UK’s 11th straight 20-win season, including all 10 years under Coach John Calipari.
It’s Calipari’s 25th consecutive on-court 20-win season. He leads all active coaches with that streak. Calipari is now 295-67 at UK. He is now two wins away from tying Joe B. Hall for the second-most victories by a UK head coach in program history.
Boston University at Army
- When: Wednesday, 11 AM ET
Why are we previewing this otherwise meaningless game between Patriot League members? Because it’s an 11 a.m. ET start time, so if you want to get off to an early start on Wednesday, here’s your chance.
BU (11-14) lost its second straight game on Saturday, 82-76 at Bucknell. Seeking its first-ever season sweep against two-time defending Patriot League champions, BU came up just short. Facing a 79-67 deficit with 1:25 left, the Terriers used three Javante McCoy 3-pointers to pull within four at 17 seconds, but the Bison followed with two free throws to seal the win. Both McCoy (19 pts) and junior Tyler Scanlon (16 pts.) reached double figures for BU.
McCoy’s five 3-pointers were a career high, as he finished two shy of his personal best in points (21 at Lehigh and vs. Lafayette in 2018). BU started the game 7-of-12 from behind the arc but went 1-of-10 in the second half before McCoy drained three treys in the final 80 seconds. The Bison shot 56.7 FG% in the second half while holding the Terriers to 32.4 FG%. BU’s bench was outscored in back-to-back games for the first time this season, as the Bison posted an 18-12 advantage.
Army (11-14), lost its fourth in a row Saturday, 71-68 at American. Stacy Beckton Jr. made two free throws to give American a 71-68 lead with 16 seconds left and Army’s John Emezie missed a 3-pointer with 3 seconds to go. Matt Wilson had 14 points for the Black Knights.
On Jan. 9 in Boston, the Terriers lost to Army 86-82. Jordan Fox drained 6 of 8 3-pointers to score a season-high 24 points for the Black Knights. Tommy Funk scored 16 points with six assists a block and a steal for Army, and Matt Wilson scored 12 and grabbed seven boards. The Black Knights were 11 of 26 from behind the arc. Boston U was 7 of 18 in 3-point shooting. BU prevailed, 61-59, in its last visit to West Point.
