College Basketball Picks

The UCLA Bruins and the USC Trojans will face off on Monday night in Los Angeles for a Big 10 Conference showdown. This is a road game for UCLA, but they do not have to drive very far to get to Galen Center. This rivalry game between two LA schools should be a good one as the spread is currently set for just one point. UCLA is a slight road favorite in this one, but we like USC to win the game one their home floor. The Trojans have seven losses on the year but have played much better basketball in conference play. They have won 3 out of their last 4 games and are 4-4 in league play. USC to cover the one point spread and win the game is our best bet for this game.

USC to win this one is our best bet because they have looked like a great team as of late, led by their leading scorer Desmond Claude. Claude had 31 points in their upset road win at Illinois and is averaging 16.3 points per game on the season. UCLA looks to be on their way to the NCAA Tournament, but their offense has been bad on the road. Their offensive struggles on the road is what we expect to hold them back from winning this game. They are averaging just 65 points per game on the road this season and we do not see them being good enough to win here. According to KenPom, USC’s offense is ranked #5 in adjusted efficiency and #6 in three-point percentage in the conference during league play. UCLA’s offense is ranked just #13 in the conference while USC’s defense is ranked #5 in three-point percentage, so UCLA may struggle to shoot the ball effectively. Take USC here to win at home.

*USC Money Line available at time of publishing. Playable at -1*

The Maryland Terrapins will travel to Bloomington on Sunday for a Big 10 Conference game against the Indiana Hoosiers. Maryland is coming off their best win of the season on Thursday when the Terrapins went into Champaign and beat Illinois by 21. That was their first road win of the year, and they are currently on track to make the NCAA Tournament. Indiana is still on the tournament bubble after a road loss to Northwestern, and a win tonight would get them a quad one win. The Hoosiers will have their home crowd behind them, but our best bet of the game is Maryland to cover.

Maryland is currently a short favorite and we expect them to cover that spread on the road. After all, the Terrapins just scored 91 points in their last game, and we do not see Indiana being able to stop their offense. Indiana is ranked just 191st nationally in opposing points per game and Maryland is ranked 12th in points per game. Maryland’s offense is ranked 27th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 25th in turnover percentage. The Terps take care of the ball well and Indiana does not turn over opposing teams at a high rate, so Maryland should win the turnover battle as well. Let’s take Maryland to keep its momentum going and cover the spread in this one.

Maryland vs Indiana prediction: Maryland -3.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to -4.

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No. 24 Memphis gets ready to take on UAB in what should be a very exciting matchup between the top two teams in the AAC.  Memphis needs to be careful when heading into this game as I don’t think it’s going to be a walk in the park for the Tigers.  UAB has been on a roll as of late, winning 5 in a row and averaging 83.6 points per game in that span. As for Memphis, they rallied in the second half of their last game to walk away with a win against Wichita by a final score of 61-53. Memphis will need to pick up a win against UAB if they want to stay within the top 25, and even though they’re the better team, I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as some may think.

Memphis shot 44.2% from the field in their last game against Wichita and a big part of that was from their star player, PJ Haggerty who went 8-11, putting up 22 points. Memphis hasn’t been spectacular in their last couple of games, but they’ve managed to get the job done and walk away with a couple of wins. As for UAB, they’re shooting 47% from the field this season and are averaging 82.2 points per game while giving up 72.5 points per game, which could give the Tigers some trouble. UAB has four players in double digits this season, and they’ll be looking for Yaxel Lendeborg to step up big in this game against Memphis in hopes to pull off an upset. Lendeborg is averaging 16.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, and this UAB team will need to capitalize on turnovers and grab their fair share of rebounds if they want to keep this game close or pull off an upset. UAB has been shooting the ball well as of late and both teams are tied for first in the AAC. I think UAB is going to enter this game motivated and even though I don’t think they’ll necessarily pull off the victory, I think this team is talented enough to keep it close enough to cover the spread, making them my best bet of the day. 

UAB vs Memphis prediction: UAB +8 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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