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NCAA BASKETBALL JANUARY MADNESS BEST BETS: SATURDAY, JANUARY 28th
Our resident college hoops expert Ej Garr is consumed by the Madness, and he picked out a pair of totals to preview today. Starting in the MAC and rolling into the Mountain West Conference, Ej has caught the line setters giving away money on Saturday, so he is excited and ready to dish out the good news!
In this article:
- Northern Illinois Huskies vs Ball State Cardinals Preview
- Northern Illinois Huskies vs Ball State CardinalsBest Bet
- UNLV Rebels vs Nevada Wolf Pack Preview
- UNLV Rebels vs Nevada Wolf Pack Best Bet
Northern Illinois Huskies vs Ball State Cardinals Preview
January 28, 21:30 (UK time)
I would like to make this a one-paragraph preview and give this tip away, but I want you to slide down to the selection after reading a little. You have to listen to my reasoning behind why this total is the best bet to make on Saturday first.
The Huskies and Cards will take the NIU Convocation Center court at 9:30 p.m. in the UK, but for me, it is an afternoon game that I will be watching closely. This should be one heck of a contest for those who like to watch high-scoring games because this is certainly going to be one of those.
When I saw a simple 144 being shown on this total I think someone in Sweden set the line after he got wasted drunk. I used to call these the Drunken Line Setters Alert back when I hosted the NCAAB Throwdown Podcast at Diamond Sportsbook.
The Huskies defen… wait, nope. You won’t catch me using Huskies and defense in the same sentence because they have none to talk about. Ranked 321st in the nation, the Huskies will give up 75 points to everyone they play, and you want to put the Ball State offense across the court?
The Cardinals put up their own 75+ PPG, which is only good enough to be ranked 107th in college hoops. Just because 100+ other teams are scoring more points than they are means nothing to me because that’s pretty damn good!
The Cards shoot from behind the arc as well as any team in the nation, ranked 46th in the country sporting a 37.1% mark from distance. That hasn’t helped them a bit in their last two games, as they’ve been absolutely pounded and humiliated by Kent State and Buffalo. Surrendering 177 points to those two teams is a major concern with Northern Illinois starting to play their best ball right now.
The Huskies have won their last 3 games, and neither of their opponents was able to hold them under 81 points. That’s a great way to head into a home game with a struggling Ball State program, so who is going to stop who?
The Cardinals have four players averaging over 12 points an outing, so they can pick their poison and attack from anywhere on the floor, They certainly hold the rebounding edge, so I expect Ball State to show up tonight. They are favoured by -3.5, but I won’t touch that with a hot Northern Illinois team at home. I know they are only 3 – 3 in this building, but that could change today!
Northern Illinois Huskies vs Ball State Cardinals Best Bet
The Over 144 is your best bet to make and to me, it is a gift from the line setters. We don’t get to catch them setting lines too low very often, and I believe they have made that mistake!
- Selection: Over 144
- Best odds: 1.98 (Pinnacle)
- Stakes 4/10
More Northern Illinois Huskies vs Ball State Cardinals Tips
UNLV Rebels vs Nevada Wolf Pack Preview
January 29, 03:00 (UK time)
Now, if you think that the total from my first game was set to low as I do, wait until you see this line.
UNLV and their biggest rivals will take the Thomas & Mack Center floor at 3 a.m. for you folks across the Atlantic, so I will not blame you if you miss it. This will be the last game of the night that I will be watching with my own eyes, and I cannot wait to see these two offenses go at it.
I think the oddsmakers are setting this total too low because it is a big rivalry game, but that only makes me want to expect more offense. They both know what they do well, and scoring points is the name of the game in Sin City.
Essentially, the line setters never stopped hitting the booze when they put a 139 o this total. My jaw dropped, and I am not even kidding. WHAT? SPLAIN, LUCY!
These two teams have combined to cash 27 totals over the number this campaign, and you want to be convinced this will be a low-scoring game? Have another shot on me! ( bartended for 22 years of my life so I can say that, HA!)
Seriously, I don’t even understand what we are looking at there. Let’s play Truth or Dare.
The truth means that you don’t even need to look at the rankings for this matchup.
The numbers on the defensive side of the ball for these two programs have nothing to do with what is happening right now as they have inflated as each game is played lately.
I am so much more interested in how teams are playing in the moment than concerning myself with stats that include games against who knows who. THIS IS A UNLV NEVADA GAME! I will tell you right now I was all over that Nevada vs New Mexico total on Monday night, and I watched that late game until the final possession. What a tough way to lose a game, and New Mexico Head Coach Rick Pitino lost his marbles in the second overtime. A flagrant elbow foul got called which sent Nevada to the line for two shots and the ball in what was a tie game at the time, 94 – 94.
A pair of Nevada players were just swiping their hands all up in Morris Udeze’s mug after his defensive rebound, and he caught Daniel Foster right in the chin. As tough of a call that was to decide a game with only 14 seconds left in double-overtime, it was the right call even if Udeze claims he was just trying to get away from the pressure. It was still quite the game, and Nevada has the confidence of following up a 97-point effort that saw another total get shredded to pieces.
UNLV Rebels vs Nevada Wolf Pack Best Bet
I don’t even understand why the line setters are trying to point people to a low-scoring game. These two teams can put up buckets in droves, and I don’t expect any long dry spell that eats up the clock to kill our total. This is a rivalry game so if the line setters are daring me to play this total, I accept!
- Selection: Over 139.5
- Best odds: 1.89 (Unibet)
- Stakes 4/10
More UNLV Rebels vs Nevada Wolf Pack Tips
Odds as of 9:00 am January 28, 2023. Odds may now differ.
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