Top College Basketball Picks and Predictions Today (Back Detroit, South Alabama on Thursday)
By Peter Dewey
Conference tournaments are starting in college basketball, and the BetSided team has you covered with some of their top predictions for Thursday's contests.
All odds via WynnBET Sportsbook.
Detroit vs. Northern Kentucky Prediction and Pick
Sometimes in Conference Tournament week, all you need is the best player on the floor. That's what I'm riding with here with Antoine Davis. The senior guard is top 10 in minutes percentage, possession rate and shot percentage. Lastly, he is third in the country in points per game.
As for the game, he'll be going against a Northern Kentucky team that the Titans have defeated twice already this season. With that in mind, NKU has won their six other games during that eight game span with the Titans the only team that foiled their winning streak.
I'm going to go with the season long trends and trust the best player on the floor in Davis to put together a strong game and keep this within two buckets. The first game closed with NKU +4 and the ladder with Detroit as a 1 point home favorite. I believe there needs to be some sort of upgrade here and I'll side with the underdog to stay close. I see the Titans as live for an upset in the always crazy Horizon League Tournament, but will stay safe with the points for now.
PICK: Detroit +4, play to +3.5 -- Reed Wallach
All of Reed's college basketball plays can be tracked here, his best bets column for college basketball is 79-76-3 for -1.45 units.
UMass Lowell vs. Hartford Prediction and Pick
UMass Lowell enters this matchup with a clear advantage on the defensive side of the ball. The River Hawks rank 92nd in scoring defense while their opponents sit at 247th. But, Hartford does a few things better that I believe are more important than these blanket stats for scoring stats.
With the spread so short, any little edge can make or break this bet. Usually, I turn to free-throw shooting in this situation but both teams are equally bad and shoot around 68 percent from the charity stripe. However, the Hawks do something that their opponent struggles with mightily.
Hartford is the 17th best three-point shooting team in the country while UMass is 314th in that category. Hartford also pulls down more defensive rebounds, gives up fewer turnovers, and keeps fouls to a minimum with just 15 personal fouls per game on average.
These slight advantages are enough for me to feel good about taking Hartford at home to end the season on a high note.
Pick: Hartford -1 (-110) -- Matt De Saro
Follow all of Matt De Saro’s betting picks HERE.
Little Rock vs. South Alabama Prediction and Pick
Earlier this week, we broke down our favorite picks to win the early conference tournaments. My best bet was for South Alabama to win the Sun Belt, so you know which way I'm going in this game.
South Alabama ranks 106th in effective field goal percentage, which is miles ahead of Little Rock, who ranks 293rd.
Little Rock has no redeeming qualities. On top of their horrid shooting, the Trojans rank 335th in defensive efficiency, 298th in turnovers per possession, and 345th in rebounding rate. You'd have to be a brave soul to back Little Rock in today's game.
Pick: South Alabama -12.5 -- Iain MacMillan
Check out Iain's detailed 2022 betting record here.