BY: SOME GUY NAMED STEVE
Since the Syracuse/Louisville game was postponed last night we ended up with only two picks and split them. Kentucky was able to survive at Vanderbilt despite blowing a huge first half lead and Radford was unable to comeback vs. Gardner Webb. A 1-1 night neither helps nor hurts us so it’s time to move onto tonight where I added an extra pick to make up for the postponement.
Record: 13-19-1 (-8.8u)
Iowa (+2) at Wisconsin
In my opinion, Iowa (15-6, 12-9 ATS) is one of the few teams that can cut down the nets come March. The Hawkeyes continue to be overlooked by everyone. They have arguably the best big man in all of college basketball, Luka Garza, who is surrounded by very efficient guards (Joe Wieskamp, Jordan Bohannon, CJ Frederick) that don’t turn the ball over. Iowa is one of the best offensive teams in the nation with ranking 1st overall in offensive efficiency, 2nd in points per game, 30th in field goal percentage, 11th in three-point percentage, and 20th in effective field goal percentage. The Hawkeyes can score in bunches. Wisconsin (15-7, 10-11-1 ATS) on the other hand has been very inconsistent this season. The Badgers have lost their last four games vs ranked opponents. In those games, they have been outscored by 14.5ppg and have allowed their opponents to shoot over 50 percent in three of those games. If that poor defense keeps up they won’t have any answers for the deadly Iowa offense.
Illinois St (+2) at Bradley
When I first looked at this line, it felt too good to be true. Why is Bradley (11-13, 7-13-2 ATS) only favored by two points against Illinois St (6-15, 7-12-1 ATS). It made absolutely no sense to me, so I had to dig a little deeper. I found out that Bradley will be without its top three leading scorers tonight due to suspension. In total, they will be without four players that make up for 57 percent of its scoring and 47 percent of its rebounding. That is a major loss, and it will be very tough for the Braves to find extra offense after being held to only 56 points in their first match-up against Illinois St. Bradley may be the better overall team at full health. Still, with the suspensions, I am going to take Illinois St to get the season sweep.
Ohio State (-5) at Penn State
You could make a legitimate argument that Ohio State (17-4, 13-7-1 ATS) has been the hottest team in all of college basketball this past month. Ever since the Buckeyes’ loss to Purdue, they have won six straight games and covered in all but one. The only game they didn’t cover in was vs Penn State (7-10, 9-8 ATS) where they won 83-79. In that game, Penn State shot 49 percent from three-point range and won the turnover battle 11 to 17. Yet the Nittany Lions still lost the game. Those numbers will be hard to repeat against Ohio State who has the 4th best efficient offense in the NCAA and holds opponents to 33.1 percent from three-point range. I am once again taking the Buckeyes on the road who have won and covered in its last five road games and debunked the theory that you can’t win on the road in the Big Ten.
BYU (-5.5) at Pacific
Our final game on the slate tonight is a pure “trust the numbers” game. BYU (15-5, 10-6-3 ATS) is looking to get the season sweep against Pacific (6-6, 5-5-1 ATS) after winning the first contest in double overtime. BYU is simply the much better team. The Cougars rank higher in offensive efficiency (49th to 142nd), defensive efficiency (33rd to 108th), field goal percentage (48.1 percent to 42.6 percent), free throw percentage (71.8 percent to 66.2 percent), 3pt percentage (35.9 percent to 30.8 percent), rebounds (40.4rpg to 35.6rpg), assists (16.8apg to 12.8apg), and opposing field goal percentage (40.9 percent to 44.8 percent). That enough nerdy numbers for you? Okay, great, lets take BYU!
For live updates and breaking news, follow Trainwreck Sports, Crossing Swords or 2 Goalies 1 Mic on Twitter or subscribe to our YouTube channel
The Sports Desk can be reached at editorialtrainwrecksports@gmail.com