Top NCAA Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – February 12th Edition
Here is Sunday morning’s updated @CBSSports Top 25 (and one) college basketball rankings from @GaryParrishCBS.
— CBS Sports CBB (@CBSSportsCBB) February 11, 2018
1. Virginia
2. Villanova
3. Michigan State
4. Xavier
5. Purdue
6. Cincinnati
7. Texas Tech
8. Duke
9. Auburn
10. Gonzaga …https://t.co/FuO2P0udz5
No. 17 Oklahoma at No. 7 Texas Tech
When: Tuesday, 7 PM ET (ESPN) Raise your hand if you had Texas Tech winning the Big 12 regular-season title. Yeah, didn’t think so. The Red Raiders are one of the nation’s biggest surprises and are atop the country’s deepest conference, leading Kansas by a game. KU, which already has lost once to TTU, has won an incredible 13 straight Big 12 regular-season titles, tying a record for most ever in a row with UCLA. Texas Tech won its sixth straight game Saturday, 66-47 at Kansas State. The game was tied at the half, but on the defensive end Tech was locked in for the entire 2nd half. The Red Raiders allowed the Wildcats to score only 20 points for the half, shoot 5-for-19 from the field and not score for the final four minutes of the game. Keenan Evans led a balanced attack with a game-leading 19 points as four players collected double figures for TTU. The 19-point margin of victory was the largest for Texas Tech during a Big 12 road game. The previous mark was a trio of 18-point wins, most recently an 84-66 triumph at No. 21 Baylor on Feb. 13, 2016. Texas Tech’s 9-3 start in Big 12 action is the best in program history and the best conference start for the program since the 1995-96 team under James Dickey ran through the final season of the Southwest Conference with a 14-0 mark.How Have the Red Raiders So Far This Season?
Texas Tech has registered wins in 21 of its first 25 games for the third time in program history. This year’s squad joins the 1953-54 team under Polk Robison which concluded the regular season with a 21-4 record. The 1995-96 team turned in a 30-1 start ignited by a program-record 23-game winning streak. Oklahoma has one of the nation’s best players in freshman Trae Young, but he can’t do it alone. The Sooners lost their third in a row Saturday, 88-80 at Iowa State. The Cyclones ran the Sooners out of the building in the first half, holding Young to just one 3 in the opening 19 minutes while building a lead that stretched to 40-23. Young finished with 22 points and 11 assists, but he was just 1 of 8 on 3s with six turnovers. OU has lost six in a row on the road. On Jan. 9, Oklahoma beat Texas Tech 75-65. Young had 22 of his 27 points in the second half. He was 6-for-11 shooting after intermission after going 1-for-12 in the first half. Young also had nine assists and four steals. His father Rayford averaged 14.1 points for Texas Tech from 1996 to 2000. Christian James had 15 points and Khadeem Lattin added 11 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks for the Sooners. Keenan Evans scored 19 points for Texas Tech. He was the only Red Raider to reach double figures. Tech shot 37 percent overall.No. 23 Nevada at Boise State
When: Wednesday, 11 PM ET (ESPNU) It’s the game of the year in the Mountain West Conference. Nevada has a half-game lead over Boise State. Both schools likely have done enough to make the NCAA Tournament even if neither wins the conference tournament. Nevada would all but lock down the regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the conference tourney with a win here because it already beat Boise state on Jan. 20, 74-68. The game featured 10 lead changes and neither team led by more than seven points. Caleb Martin had 28 points to lead the Wolf Pack. Martin made 11 of 22 from the field, including four 3-pointers. Jordan Caroline finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Chandler Hutchison led Boise with 27 points. Christian Sengfelder added 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.