At one point, Memphis looked like a national championship contender with a superstar freshman James Wiseman and a Top-10 ranking, but Wiseman quit the team to focus on the NBA Draft and the Tigers have largely collapsed. They wouldn’t even make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team currently. Here’s a look at two intriguing early-week matchups around the nation. Check back for Mybookie College Basketball Betting odds. Rankings may change on Monday.
Top NCAAB Betting Picks of the Week February 17th 2020
No. 6 Dayton at VCU
- When: Tuesday, 8:30 PM ET (CBS Sports Network)
Dayton (23-2, 12-0) leads the Atlantic 10 and is on a 14-game winning streak. It won at UMass 71-63 on Saturday. The Flyers were led by Obi Toppin with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, seven rebounds and three assists. Jalen Crutcher also scored in double-digits with 17 points, four rebounds and five assists. Toppin is going to win A10 Player of the Year honors. Toppin had three dunks during the game, tying the Dayton season-dunk record (83) that he set last season.
Dayton is 23-2 for the first time since 1957-58, have won 14 games in a row in a single season for the first time since they won 16 in 1957-58 (UD also won 14 at the end of the 1961-62 seasons and the beginning of the 1962-63 season), and are 12-0 in the A-10 for the first time ever.
VCU (17-8, 7-5) is squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble. A 77-59 loss at Richmond on Saturday didn’t help matters. Richmond shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field, including 11-of-22 from beyond the arc, while VCU shot just 34 percent (24-of-70) in the game, including 4-of-21 from three. Rams. senior guard Marcus Evans missed Saturday’s game with a knee injury. He’s questionable here.
Teams met back on Jan. 14 in Dayton and the Flyers won 79-65. Toppin scored 24 points on a tender ankle and led a 22-point run in the second half as Dayton ended its streak of four straight losses to the Rams. Toppin had three dunks and a 3-pointer during the second-half run that broke it open. Jalen Crutcher added 20 points for Dayton, which shot 50% from the field. De’Riante Jenkins and Nah’Shon Hyland led VCU with 16 points apiece. VCU leads the series 11-6 and is 3-5 all-time at University of Dayton Arena. The Flyers’ last win in the series had been 106-79 on Jan. 12, 2018 at UD arena.
No. 19 Butler at No. 10 Seton Hall
- When: Wednesday, 6 PM ET (Fox Sports 1)
This is the first game on Wednesday’s schedule and Seton Hall could take one step closer to clinching the Big East regular-season title with a victory.
The Pirates (18-7, 10-3 Big East) lost their second in a row Saturday, 74-71 at Providence, but still are atop the conference. Seton Hall fell behind Providence, 34-9, roared back to cut the deficit to two at 52-50, but ultimately ran out of gas. Senior All-America candidate Myles Powell scored 27 points in the loss and moved into third place all-time in Seton Hall scoring history in the process, surpassing Jeremy Hazell (2007-11). The loss snapped a six-game true road winning streak for The Hall, the longest in the program since a 7-0 true road game record during the 1955-56 season.
Butler (19-7, 7-6) was upset 73-66 at home to Georgetown on Saturday. Butler’s Sean McDermott hit a three-pointer with 3:46 remaining to pull Butler within one at 61-60, before the next 10 points belonged to the Hoyas.
Kamar Baldwin led the Bulldogs with 17 points, six assists and six rebounds. Jordan Tucker added 16, while McDermott had 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Butler took a season-high 32 three-pointers, but connected on only nine of them. Overall, Butler shot 41 percent (25-61) from the field. Butler played without Aaron Thompson and Derrik Smits, who were both injured.
These teams met on Jan. 15 when Seton Hall was ranked 18th and Butler No. 5 and the Pirates won 78-70 despite trailing by 10 at halftime. Powell and Romaro Gill combined for 34 second-half points, and Quincy McKnight finished with a career high 13 assists. Powell finished with 29 points, and Gill matched his career high with 17. McKnight added 11 points and seven rebounds and had only one turnover in more than 35 minutes. Together, they helped Seton Hall score 48 points in the second half. Kamar Baldwin had 19 points and six assists to lead the Bulldogs. Jordan Tucker finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Point guard Aaron Thompson fouled out with 6:28 to play, finishing with six points and three assists.
College Basketball Betting Expert Picks
VCU with the upset and Seton Hall.
