Best College Basketball Prop Bets for Clemson vs. Alabama
By Reed Wallach
Two surprising entrants into the Elite Eight play for a spot in the Final Four next weekend when No. 4 Alabama takes on No. 6 Clemson.
In a battle between two incredibly effective offenses that want to go about it in different ways, Clemson and Alabama will look to out-duel the other with the stakes at its highest. In this player prop article, I’m going to focus in on three key big men in this matchup, Alabama’s Grant Nelson and the starting duo of PJ Hall and Ian Schieffelin of Clemson.
Keep reading to find out my favorite props for this one!
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Best College Basketball Prop Bets for Illinois vs. UConn
- Grant Nelson UNDER 11.5 Points
- PJ Hall OVER 5.5 Rebounds
- Ian Schieffelin OVER 0.5 Threes
Grant Nelson UNDER 11.5 Points
Nelson was the hero of the Sweet 16 game against North Carolina, finishing the game with 24 points in 36 minutes while making 10 of his 13 free throw attempts. However, I’m now going to sell high on Nelson, who scored only three points in each of the first two games of the NCAA Tournament in a combined 32 minutes.
In a game that will be played more in the halfcourt as Clemson looks to stunt Alabama’s transition offense, unlike North Carolina who wants to also play in the open court, I believe that Nelson will see his shot volume dwindle quite a bit.
The Tigers play a compact defense that will give up the three-point shot and stymie shots at the rim, which won’t help Nelson’s case, who is shooting about 28% from beyond the arc this season and is also prone to foul trouble.
Clemson is a strong defensive rebounding unit, which I’ll harp on below, and can limit Nelson’s impact at getting easy putback opportunities. I think this number is inflated now based on the most recent data point.
PJ Hall OVER 5.5 Rebounds
Hall has battled foul trouble at times in this tournament run, playing less than 30 minutes in each of the first two games, but did grab eight rebounds in his more typical role of playing 32 minutes against Arizona.
Alabama will hoist from the perimeter a ton, so there will be plenty of long rebound opportunities against a Crimson Tide team that is elite at generating second chances. With an eye at dictating the pace, I like Hall to do his job on the glass and clear this mark while avoiding foul trouble.
Ian Schieffelin OVER 0.5 Threes
Alabama was able to sag off a few shaky three-point shooters on Thursday night to get past North Carolina and shut down driving lanes, but the team won’t have the same fortune against Clemson, who can space the floor with five capable shooters on the floor at times.
Schieffelin has been enjoying a strong NCAA Tournament, scoring at least 11 points in all three games, and making a three-point shot in each game as well.
He is not a high volume three-point shooter, only 47 attempts on the season, but I do believe that the leaky Alabama defense and slow-footed bigs on the perimeter can set up a handful of pick-and-pop plays for the big man to drill a perimeter shot.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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