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NCAA Basketball December Madness Best Bets: Thursday, December 29th
After belting out another 2 – 0 for our readers before the Holiday, our resident college hoops expert Ej Garr is officially consumed by the madness. Only NCAA Basketball can do that to people, and we haven’t even turned the calendar to January yet. Ej will have 2 tips today and another pair for Saturday for you to take advantage of, so buckle up for a ride to the new year.
The schedule has 91 NCAA basketball games being played on Thursday, so do you understand why it is constant hoops madness? It doesn’t need to be March to be consumed by the madness, so that’s my theme around here and I hope you like it. Picking out a couple of games to go with is no easy task, but you know I am up for this challenge any day and twice on Thursday… and Saturday this week too!
You’ll get four plays over the next three days from the Mayor of Value City, and I have picked out a game from Conference USA and another from the Big West Conference for tonight.
In this article:
- Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs Rice Owls Preview
- Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs Rice Owls Best Bet
- CSU Fullerton Titans vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Preview
- CSU Fullerton Titans vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Best Bet
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs Rice Owls Preview
December 30, 00:05 (UK time)
Conference USA begins the portion of the schedule that many pundits wait for, now that the non-conference games are starting to conclude it brings a different dynamic to the picture. We can basically throw out the records for now, because absolutely none of that will impact what happens until we get the post-season tournaments. Oh, the Madness!
The Hilltoppers come into the game at 8 – 3 overall with a perfect 4 – 0 home record thus far, however, they have only covered a total of three games and I see more than a handful of points being shown to us here. Western Kentucky is 6 point favourites, and they’re expected to start Conference play with a big win. Yeah, that’s not going to happen for them, and I will tell you now that Rice is not only going to cover this handicap, but they’ll probably win the damn game outright.
The Owls have only had to travel away from home for 4 games this campaign, so there isn’t much to learn from any of that. Losing to Texas in Austin brings no shame, and Texas State is no cupcake either, so those are just tough games that Rice couldn’t come out with wins.
These two offenses are not similar in the least, because the Hilltoppers shoot three-pointers as often as they can and Rice wants to play inside and keep that shooting percentage up. You’ll notice that Rice is 10th in the country with an obnoxious 50.6% from the floor, and this is where those rankings can be deceiving.
Rice is ranked 109th in the land shooting only 35..5% from behind the arc, and that is pretty damn good so don’t be mislead. The Owls have 7 players averaging over 34% from distance and keep an eye on #4 tonight. Quincy Olivari is a stud, and he’s busted out 9 straight games with double-digits (19.9 PPG) coming into this affair.
The next key you need to pay attention to is team rebounding. Because of that inside presence, Rice Head Coach Scott Pera wants his guys to produce one thing every night. THE GLASS!!
When those Hilltopper 3-point attempts aren’t falling, they will not get many opportunities for a second possession all night long. Although the total is 150 so the line setters are expecting a shootout tonight.
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs Rice Owls Best Bet
I don’t know about all of that shootout stuff, but you can give me all 6 of those points with Rice to hang around all night with the Hilltoppers. Might we see an upset? Hmm?
- Selection: Rice +6
- Best odds: 1.93 (Pinnacle)
- Stakes: 4/10
Odds as of 9:00 am December 29, 2022. Odds may now differ.
More Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs Rice Owls Tips
CSU Fullerton Titans vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Preview
December 30, 02:00 (UK time)
The Big West Conference has also concluded the non-conference portion of the schedule, and that means every game matters twice as much in the standings when tournament time arrives. If any of these two programs has the goods to compete with the big dogs in the Big West, the Gauchos have some good things happening this year.
At 9 – 2, UC Santa Barbara is riding a 5-game December winning streak into conference play, their last loss coming to Duquesne back in November on the road. Oh, don’t be judging them for losing 2 away games this year, because they’ve won 4 of their last 4 games on the road, and I am expecting an early lead to happen here.
I am going to suggest you fancy a wager on UC Santa Barbara 1st Half to cover the -2.5-point handicap because they are the better team and I don’t think that big home-court advantage actually exists at all at Fullerton. THERE WERE 538 PEOPLE AT THEIR LAST HOME GAME! Intimidate that!
Now that we have that covered, I am going to turn you right to those rebounding stats again for this game as I did above. UCSB is a defensive rebounding beast, and you will see 3 guys under that rim all night limiting second possessions time and again. You don’t become the 6th ranked team on defensive glass by mistake, and Fullerton doesn’t have the size or the talent to compete in the paint with the Gauchos.
Ajay Mitchell and Miles Norris are the unquestioned leaders for the Gauchos, and they lead by example and do it well! Andre Kelly will have a double-double tonight and don’t ask me how I know this or I will have to kill you. Kelly grabs 7.4 boards a night and he drops 9.3 points per game as well, and I expect both of those to rise after this game is done. I know he can do it because I watched this Gaucho squad wipe out Fresno State as he took in 16 points and 15 rebounds
The Titans had lost 5 straight games before winning their last two outings, and if wins over Sacramento State and San Diego Christian do it for you, you need to get that head checked! This is the same team that lost to Utah Tech!
CSU Fullerton Titans vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Best Bet
Santa Barbara being favoured by only 5 points is hysterical, and the -2.5 first-half line is there for the taking along with it. Bang them both if you have to because this will be a convincing win for the Gauchos continuing their upward pace to begin Big West Conference play.
- Selection: UC Santa Barbara -2.5 1st Half
- Best odds: 1.91 (Bwin)
- Stakes: 4/10
Odds as of 9:00 am December 29, 2022. Odds may now differ.
More CSU Fullerton Titans vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Tips
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