It’s a loaded day of college basketball with more than 100 games on the docket as conference play continues to pick up.
There’s plenty of headline matchups with some of the best teams in the nation, including Iowa State and Tennessee, heading on the road for tough road matchups against Lone Star schools like Texas Tech and Texas, respectively.
With some big games, let’s get you ready to bet on them! Here’s three picks for the Saturday card.
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Iowa State vs. Texas Tech Prediction and Pick
Iowa State’s offense is incredibly reliant on scoring in transition and scoring points off of turnovers. TJ Otzelberger’s defense’s elite ‘no-middle’ principles unpacks the opposition and generates easy buckets in bunches.
However, Texas Tech is an elite ball handling team with Hawkins leading the way, top 50 in turnover rate, and denying transition opportunities at a nice clip as opponents are posting a sub-13% transition rate this season.
Texas Tech is comfortable in the half court and slowing this game down while also catching overplaying defenses sleeping, something Iowa State has struggled with this season. The Cyclones are allowing 1.40 points per possession off of cuts this season, a bottom 50 rate in the country. Meanwhile, Texas Tech is scoring 1.48 points per possession on cuts, a top 100 rate.
This matchup sets up nicely for Texas Tech at home to keep this within a possession. The Red Raiders motion-based offense is scoring far more effectively than Iowa State (third in effective field goal percentage vs. 26th) and can slow down the fast-paced Cyclones offense at home.
I’ll lay the points on Saturday in Lubbock.
PICK: Texas Tech -2.5
BYU vs. TCU Prediction and Pick
While TCU is a tough out with a bruising defense, the team simply doesn’t have a reliable enough offense to take on the Cougars defense.
BYU does a great job of limiting the interior for opponents. The team is top 20 in opponent three-point rate, which is impactful against a TCU team that is outside the top 200 in three-point percentage and is reliant on getting to the rim to score.
However, the Cougars defense forces all teams to shoot from the perimeter while also limiting second chances and free throws. The team does an excellent job at winning the shot volume battle.
While Demin has cooled off since a hot start, BYU remains a top 25 shooting offense in terms of effective field goal percentage with a well balanced shot diet that features five rotations players that shoot better than 35% from beyond the arc.
It’s tough to trust a road favorite in Big 12 play, but I like the avenues to success for the Cougars.
PICK: BYU -2.5
Tennessee vs. Texas Prediction and Pick
Iowa State’s offense is incredibly reliant on scoring in transition and scoring points off of turnovers. TJ Otzelberger’s defense’s elite ‘no-middle’ principles unpacks the opposition and generates easy buckets in bunches.
However, Texas Tech is an elite ball handling team with Hawkins leading the way, top 50 in turnover rate, and denying transition opportunities at a nice clip as opponents are posting a sub-13% transition rate this season.
Texas Tech is comfortable in the half court and slowing this game down while also catching overplaying defenses sleeping, something Iowa State has struggled with this season. The Cyclones are allowing 1.40 points per possession off of cuts this season, a bottom 50 rate in the country. Meanwhile, Texas Tech is scoring 1.48 points per possession on cuts, a top 100 rate.
This matchup sets up nicely for Texas Tech at home to keep this within a possession. The Red Raiders motion-based offense is scoring far more effectively than Iowa State (third in effective field goal percentage vs. 26th) and can slow down the fast-paced Cyclones offense at home.
I’ll take the points on Saturday in Lubbock.
PICK: Texas +5.5
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