Will the fifth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers avoid the big upset against the visiting Louisville Cardinals on Wednesday night? Can the defending national champion Villanova Wildcats snap out of their recent funk to handle Canisius on Thursday night? Last but not least, can No. 6 Nevada Wolf Pack remain unbeaten when they host the visiting Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Thursday?
If you’re looking for some expert college basketball betting picks that could help you cash inconsistently over the course of the coming week, then consider your ticket punched MyBookie basketball betting faithful! Okay, let’s find out the answers to all three questions.
Top NCAA Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – November 20th
🎥: “Sam has a versatility to his game that makes him difficult to handle.” See for yourself…@S_Williamson35 pic.twitter.com/evhQ7hlmVV
— Louisville Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) 19 de noviembre de 2018
Louisville (3-0) at No. 5 Tennessee
- When: Wednesday, November 21 at 5:00 PM ET
- Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
- TV: ESPN2
Louisville isn’t in the national rankings, but the Cardinals are off to a nice, 3-0 start and into this contest off a closer-than-expected 86-78 win over Vermont on Friday night as an 8-point home favorite. Sophomore forward Jordan Nwora scored a team-high 22 points in the win while adding five rebounds. Nwora leads the team in scoring at 18.0 points per game while shooting 53.1 percent from the field. The Cardinals are ranked an excellent 17th in scoring (91.7 ppg) and solid 130th in points allowed (68.0 ppg). Four players are averaging double digits in scoring for the explosive Cardinals.
Tennessee also improved to 3-0 on the season by beating Georgia Tech 66-53 on Tuesday despite failing to cover the chalk as a 15.5-point home favorite. The Vols got a team-high 22 points and eight rebounds from junior forward Grant Williams one game after Williams toasted Louisiana-Lafayette for 31 points. Tennessee is ranked a modest 134th in scoring (79.7 ppg), but a stupendous 12th in points allowed (53.0 ppg). Tennessee is limiting its opponents to a mind-boggling 29.3 percent shooting mark from the field and even more stunning 22.8 percent from beyond the arc.
Prediction
In this classic, offense vs. defense matchup, I’m going with Tennessee to get the big home win as their defense leads the way to victory by shutting down Louisville to snap a five-game losing streak against the Cardinals, though these two haven’t met since 2008. Bruce Pearl’s team has a ton to play for and that’ why they’ll get the statement-making home win!NCAA Basketball Betting Pick: Tennessee 81 – Louisville 75
Villanova (2-2) at Canisius (1-1)
- When: Thursday, November 22 at 1:30 PM ET
- Where: HP Field House, Orlando, FL
- TV: ESPN2
Previously eighth-ranked Villanova lost its second straight game by falling to Furman 76-68 in overtime on Saturday. The loss gave Jay Wright’s team their first back-to-back losses since the end of the 2012-13 season. Three days after getting dominated by No. 18 Michigan 73-46, Villanova lost their stupendous status as the only team in all college basketball not to suffer back-to-back losses since the start of the 2013-14 season.
The Wildcats are struggling offensively in averaging a modest 75.0 points per game (214th) while giving up 69.8 points per contest defensively (164th). Canisius comes into this matchup off a humbling 75-66 home loss against Albany as a 9.5-point home favorite no less. Ironically, the Golden Griffins average – and allow – an identical 74.0 points per game.
Prediction
I don’t see any need to get into a bunch of ATS trends for this matchup, simply because there is absolutely no way the Villanova Wildcats lose this matchup against a clearly overmatched Canisius squad. Villanova wins this one by at least a dozen points.NCAA Basketball Betting Pick: Villanova 80 – Canisius 68
No. 6 Nevada (2-0) at Tulsa (3-0)
- When: Thursday, November 22 at 4:00 PM ET
- Where: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV
- TV: FS1
Sixth-ranked Nevada steamrolled Little Rock 87-59 on Friday as Caleb Martin scored a team-high 19 and both, Jordan Caroline and Jazz Johnson added 17 points apiece. Caroline pulled down 12 rebounds while Jordan Brown added a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards. The Wolf Pack average 85.3 points per game offensively (56th) and limit the opposition to 63.3 points per game defensively (67th).
Tulsa moved to 3-0 on the season by squeaking past Cal-Baptist (who?) 82-79 on Friday night as DaQuan Jeffries scored a team-high 19 points and Martins Igbanu added 18 points. The Golden Hurricane held the Lancers to just 39.7 percent shooting in the win. Tulsa averages 76.3 points per game (186th) while allowing just 62.3 points per contest defensively (55th).
Prediction
For this contest, the elite Nevada Wolf Pack are the easy pick to get the double-digit road win despite being on the road. Nevada has at least three legitimate NBA prospects in the Martin Twins and Jordan Caroline, not to mention that Jazz Johnson and Jordan Brown are playing as they could potentially reach the next level as well at some point in the future.Tulsa is 0-4 ATS in their last four games dating back to last season and they just don’t have the talent required to keep up with a Nevada team that is elite at both ends of the floor.
NCAA Basketball Betting Pick: Nevada 85 – Tulsa 70
