College Basketball Best Bets for Today, February 10th

There's a ton of action on Thursday night, north of 50 games, which is mainly filled with mid majors, but I only see a few edges worth betting at the time of this post.

Last edition of the best bets column went 2-3, with two of them coming with Illinois failing to win outright at Purdue. The game got away from the Fighting Illini in the second half leading to a blowout loss while the other L came when Penn State hit a meaningless three at the buzzer. First losing night in sometime so let's look to get back on track with a 2-0 Thursday.

If I add any other plays they will be posted to my betstamp, which you can find here, but won't count towards the best bets record. Happy Thursday everyone, here are the plays:

Odds courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook

Column Record: 55-46-3 (+6.7 Units)

Iowa vs. Maryland OVER 146.5

You can find more information on this one in my game preview, but I believe that Iowa's sliding offensive metrics in Big Ten play are driving this total down, but simply too far. When the two teams faced last month, the total was north closed at 151.5 and cleared it with relative ease despite both teams combining for 22-of-39 outing from the free throw line.

Maryland should be able to get to the line against a foul prone Iowa team, the Terps are second in free throw rate in the Big Ten and hit on more than 74% of their attempts. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes should set the pace in this one with the 57th fastest adjusted tempo in the country.

From the aforementioned game preview:

"If Maryland can rack up fouls and get into the bonus early we can see this game stay close and slow down Iowa's up-tempo offense...Despite having a ton of shot making on the perimeter, the Hawkeyes are posting the 13th best 3-point percentage in Big Ten play.

The team has been in a funk on the offensive side of the ball, but I see this as a good opportunity to get on track against a Maryland team that is bottom 30 nationally in turnover rate. For its struggles in conference games, Iowa is still 13th in ShotQuality's adjusted offense metric."

In what should be a close game, I'll take the over with the likelihood of free throws in the final minutes.

PICK: OVER 146.5, play to 148.5

Louisiana Tech (-3.5) vs. Charlotte

While Charlotte has won back-to-back games by double digits, it was against poor Conference-USA competition in Marshall and FIU. When the team has played the elite of the league, they have gotten blasted, losing to Florida Atlantic, North Texas and Western Kentucky by a combined 62 points.

Louisiana Tech fits that mold of a C-USA contender. The team should run their offense with ease considering Charlotte is bottom 100 in generating turnovers and the Bulldogs are top 50 nationally in that metric. Meanwhile, the team can pound the rock inside with Kenneth Lofton, who is a key reason for the Bulldogs near-54% two-point percentage this season (48th in the country). Lofton is a brute inside and the team's highest usage player at 6'7" 275 pounds. He is also top 20 nationally in offensive and defensive rebounding rate.

On defense, Louisiana Tech has the best interior defense in the conference, but will need to close out on Charlotte's shooters, who love to shoot from distance (41.4% three-point rate). I believe that the team's ability to switch along the perimeter can negate the shooting for the 49ers and force them into tough shots.

If this game is close late, I like La. Tech to wash this away at the line, where they shoot over 73% on the year.

PICK: Louisiana Tech -3.5, play to -4

You can find all of Reed's bets HERE!