Best NCAA Tournament Prop Bets to Target for Friday's First Round Action
The longest stretch of college basketball continues with the second day of action this opening weekend in the NCAA Tournament. There are 16 more games on tap for today following a Thursday slate that was filled with some exciting finishes, bracket busters and star power performances on the sport’s biggest stage.
With the growth of college basketball player props, the market has proven to give us plenty of opportunities to cash in on lesser known players, like yesterday.
Thursday’s picks gave us a record of 2-1. Riley Minix went over his points with Morehead State and Oumar Ballo went over on rebounds for Arizona. The final pick crumbled late as RJ Davis cashed his over on points with three minutes left for North Carolina, it came so close. Let’s run it back for another action packed day. Which teams should be targeted? Who is the next upset potential? Here’s how to play it Friday in the tournament.
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Best Prop Bets for NCAA Tournament Games on Friday
- Jayden Nunn UNDER 11.5 Points
- Walter Clayton OVER 16.5 Points
- Zach Edey OVER 11.5 Rebounds
Jayden Nunn UNDER 11.5 Points (Baylor)
This pick centers around junior guard Jayden Nunn, who has really struggled to get any offensive production going as of late.
Most recently at the Big 12 tournament last week, he failed to score double digits and might be in trouble again today against a Colgate team that ranks 18th in the nation in defensive efficiency.
His line of 11.5 points has gone under in six of his last eight games, and he has shot 20 percent from the field or less three times in that time span.
Baylor has plenty of other options to resort to, including all-Big 12 freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter, RayJ Dennis, rising freshman center Yves Missi and Jalen Bridges. As a whole, the team shoots it very well from deep at a 39.4 percent success rate With all these other weapons, I can’t trust Nunn to get going due to his recent struggles, play the under in this opening round game.
Walter Clayon OVER 16.5 Points (Florida)
One of the men at the center of the Gators success this season is Walter Clayton Jr., who transferred from Iona after working with head coach Rick Pitino in 2022-23.
He is the leading scorer on this team averaging 17.1 points per game this season and carries the ability to produce at any moment. Florida is the leading program in the country in field goals attempted per game, with an average of 65.2 attempts. This provides Clayton with big game potential against a relatively fatigued Colorado team who played Tuesday in the First Four. If the Gators have a lead late, they will likely get it into his hands as the best free throw shooter at an 87.6 percent clip.
Zach Edey OVER 11.5 Rebounds (Purdue)
Zach Edey has been at the forefront for Purdue as of late and has dealt with an abundance of failure. Purdue has lost to a No. 13, 15 and 16 seed team in each of the past three seasons. This has to be the year that Edey and the Boilermakers come through to make a deep run or else it will be viewed as an utter failure.
Purdue gets a draw with Grambling State in their opening round matchup and this is a great opportunity for Edey to crush his rebound prop. Looking at his recent track record, his total of 11.5 has come quite close, yet he has failed to reach the over in three of his last five games, grabbing 11 boards twice. For the 3rd leading rebounder in the nation, I see no reason to shy away from this over again. Purdue additionally averages close to 40 rebounds per game as a team.
With Grambling State likely going in an up-tempo style of offense and resorting to the 3-point shot coming from behind, it will provide endless chances for Edey to thrive in the interior. He will be motivated and hard at work to make sure another Cinderella team won’t be walking away with a victory this time out against Purdue. It’s a major challenge to prevent a towering 7-foot-4 figure from getting in close and finishing at the rim. Take the over as Edey always carries the potential of being an unstoppable threat any time he’s on the floor.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.