Monday's Best NCAAB Bet
Texas Longhorns at Texas A&M Aggies (1.5, 129)
The Aggies have done three things better than almost every team they have faced this season – draw fouls, shoot free throws and rebound. But the Aggies struggled in all of those categories in an earlier meeting with Texas in Dallas. The result? An 81-60 beatdown. And Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon isn’t letting his team forget about it.
"I don't think we are very good, I really don't," he said. "I think that's the most exciting thing about where we are. We are not playing very well, making lot of mistakes, a lot of silly fouls and we're breaking down defensively. I just think we can do so much better, and that's the bright spot."
Per game this season the Aggies draw four more fouls, shoot seven more free throws and grab about 10 more rebounds than their opponents. And the team knows the importance of getting to the line. In a tight game against Kansas State, the Aggies used a late edge at the charity stripe to pull away for the victory.
"I think they were letting a lot go and then they started calling it a lot tighter and it helped us," guard B.J. Holmes said. "We shoot free throws after practice, during practice, before practice, and I guess it translated to tonight."
And it would be quiet the feat for Texas to win in College Station. The teams have split the past six seasons, with the teams each holding serve on their home floor. In their six victories over the Longhorns, the Aggies have won by an average of 13.3 points. Only one of those games was decided by fewer than 11 points.
Pick: Aggies
Game of the day: Texas at Texas A&M
By Marc Lawrence
A battle of Top 20 Big 12 basketball powers tips off Monday when Texas A&M (17-3, 4-2) hosts conference-leading Texas (18-3, 6-0) at sold-out Reed Arena in College Station. Let’s see how they match up.
CAN’T SHOOT STRAIGHT
Despite ranking 101st in the nation in scoring, and 109th in the nation shooting from the field, the Aggies took a 17-2 record on the season into Nebraska this past Saturday.
Its only two losses this campaign were a nail-biter to Boston College and a 21-point blowout against Texas.
As expected, it was the offense that was the culprit in 57-48 loss to the Huskers at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Despite outrebounding Nebraska, 19-9, and being up 31-24 at halftime, A&M’s marshmallow attack went super soft in the second half, accounting for just 17 points.
The Aggies shot 24 percent from the field in the last 20 minutes and 39 percent for the game. They also made just six of 14 free throws. In the end, A&M won the rebounding advantage for the 19th time in 20 games but lost 14 turnovers to Nebraska’s seven.
"We just weren't tough enough," A&M head coach Mark Turgeon said. "It was physical, real physical, and we didn't respond. We've been able to in the past, but we didn't today."
CRACK THE CODE
So the question begs: How does a team that averages 71.4 points a game and shoots less than 45 percent from the field keep winning?
That seems to be the question many people are asking, yet no one can figure out the answer.
Leading scorer, sophomore F Khris Middleton is averaging 15.7 points per game while senior F Nathan Walkup leads the team in rebounding at 5.6 per game. C David Loubeau completes a smallish front line. Not overly impressive numbers, to say the least.
Remember, this is a team that was 0-16 in conference play six years ago and has won at least one game in the NCAA tournament every year since.
Despite limited talent, A&M plays with confidence, takes care of the ball and works hard at the defensive end – all things within its control.
BOARD GAMES
The Longhorns have played one of the hardest schedules in college basketball, and at the same time, they find themselves 18-3 and ranked inside the Top 10 in the polls.
Rick Barnes’ team is tearing up the Big 12 with six straight wins – all conference foes and all by double-digits - and showing no signs of slowing down.
Sophomore guard Jordan Hamilton leads the team in scoring, averaging 19.5 points per game, and freshman Tristan Thompson is leading the Longhorns in rebounding.
Hamilton had 16 points and a career-high 13 boards in Saturday night’s 71-58 victory over Missouri, helping Texas remain undefeated in the Big 12.
Like the five teams before them in Texas' run, the Tigers came away impressed by the Longhorns' bruising play near the baskets.
"There's no secret how they play," Missouri guard Kim English said. "They are a physical team. They pressure the ball. Big, strong guys."
UT senior forward Gary Johnson promised more rugged, physical defense.
"We lost to a team that played that way at Pittsburgh," Johnson said. "We didn't like it. Good defense beats good offense on any given night. That's what we do."
CATCH US IF YOU CAN
So how good is Texas?
The only three losses this team has suffered are against highly ranked Pittsburgh, at USC, and against ranked Connecticut.
In the win over Missouri - the league’s most prolific scoring team – Saturday, the Longhorns were 16 of 34 at the charity stripe and it didn’t matter. They rebounded those misses and went about their business.
Texas is basically two games ahead of Kansas because of the tiebreaking Longhorn win head-to-head, and will be favored in every game the rest of the way out.
MEASURING STICK
According to College Basketball Statistics, here is a breakdown of how each team ranks among 345 others in three pivotal stat categories, namely Offensive Field Goal Percentage, Defensive Field Goal Percentage and Rebound Margin this season:
Offensive FG Percentage
Texas 46.3 – No. 57
Texas A&M 44.8 – No. 104
Defensive FG Percentage
Texas 36.6 – No. 4
Texas A&M 40.3 – No. 44
Rebound Margin
Texas A&M +8.9 - No. 4
Texas +6.9 – No. 15
YOU NEED TO KNOW
Texas A&M is 93-10 straight up at home the last six seasons, including 29-1 the last 30 games and 12-0 this campaign.
Big Monday Battles
By Judd Hall
The weekend’s college hoops offerings gave us some exciting finishes all across the country. Now that the public has whetted their appetite, they’re waiting a little more. That’s what ESPN will do with its Big Monday doubleheader. We’re going to open the night in Washington D.C. for a Big East battle. After that, we’re going to the Lone Star State for a test of Big XII powers.
Louisville at Georgetown
When you are in a league that has 16 teams, you need to do whatever you can in order to differentiate yourselves. The Cardinals and Hoyas did just that over the weekend in the Big East. Now they’re going to try and one-up the other team on Monday night.
Louisville (17-4 straight up, 10-7-1 against the spread) took one on the chin last week in a surprising 67-72 loss on the road to the Friars. But the Cardinals have soared back into the Big East race with a pair of thrilling wins at home against West Virginia. And just last Saturday, Rick Pitino’s club surprised the Huskies with a 79-78 triumph as a 5½-point road pup.
The Cardinals were down by as much as nine-points with just over eight minutes left in the second half. That’s when Louisville went on an 18-9 run to force extra basketball. After a back-and-forth first overtime, the second extra session saw the Cards jump out to a 79-74 lead that they never relinquished. Peyton Silva was the man that paced Louisville with 19 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
Georgetown (16-5 SU, 13-7 ATS) looked like they were dead in the water just two weeks ago with a four-game losing streak. But the Hoyas have fought back strong with four straight wins, covering the spread in each of those contests.
The most recent win for the Hoyas came last Saturday in a 67-66 win over Villanova as 4½-point road underdogs. Georgetown was in control for the majority of the game. However, they did find themselves down 66-65 in the final 14 seconds of the game. That was before Big East Preseason Player of the Year Austin Freeman drained a pair of free throws to seal the win. Freeman played like the title he earned before the season started, scoring 30 points with four boards and six assists.
Recent history between these teams shows that Georgetown is the play. The Hoyas have gone 5-2 SU and 3-3-1 ATS since 2000. Yet the Cardinals are on a 3-1 ATS run in this head-to-head series. The ‘under’ is 5-2 in this setup.
Louisville is just 3-2 SU and ATS on the road this season, which shouldn’t make anyone squeal with glee. Georgetown is 7-2 SU at the Verizon Center this year, but just 4-4 ATS. The ‘under’ is a combined 7-4 in the last 11 games for these two programs.
Texas at Texas A&M
The Big XII might look like it’s supposed to be the domain of the Jayhawks, but the Lone Star State is where the power of the conference truly is right now.
Texas (18-3 SU, 13-3 ATS) has the makings of a team that could go deep into March. The Longhorns’ latest proof of this possibility coming in the form of a 71-58 pasting of Missouri as seven-point home favorites last Saturday. Jordan Hamilton led the charge with 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. It also doesn’t hurt that they held Mizzou to just 34 percent shooting from the field and held a 40-28 rebounding edge for the game.
Texas A&M (17-3 SU, 7-4-1 ATS) will be aiming to get back on track at home in this game…especially after falling prey to the Cornhuskers in a 57-48 loss as a 1 ½-point road pup. You can look at this game as an easy look ahead spot. The Aggies were roughed up in this game by Nebraska, shooting just 39 percent from the field. That stings considering they won the rebounding edge 29-25 in the game. Nathan Walkup was the lone standout with 13 points and three boards.
As bad as things might look for the Aggies, this game could go their way. The home team has gone on a 10-0 SU and 7-3 ATS in the last 10 meetings. The ‘under’ is on a 4-2 run between these rivals. That includes a 81-60 beatdown the Longhorns gave A&M on Jan. 19 as 6½-point home favorites.
Texas A&M has gone 10-0 SU and 3-1-1 ATS in home dates this season. The ‘Horns are 4-1 SU and ATS away from Austin in true road games.
vegasinsider.com
College Basketball Knowledge
Georgetown is 3-2 vs Louisville in Big East play, winning by 3 in only game played here. Hoyas won/covered last four games, after 1-4 start in Big East, with three of the four games on road- they're 1-3 as conference home fave. Louisville won four of last five, winning in double OT in last game, at UConn. Big East home favorites of 5 or less points are 13-8.
Home team won last 14 Texas-Texas A&M games; Longhorns lost last six visits here, by 11-3-18-17-15-16 points. Texas (-6.5) beat Aggies by 21 at home 12 days ago, shooting 58% from floor. Longhorns are 6-0 vs spread in Big 12, winning road games by 21-11-15 points. Big 12 home underdogs of 4 or less points are 4-2 vs spread. Aggies lost two of last three games, but arr 3-0 at home in Big 12, winning by 23-2-8 points.
Davidson upset Charleston Saturday, just its second win in last eight games; Wildcats lost their last four road games. Davidson won seven in row, 12 of last 13 games vs Georgia Southern, with Wildcats taking five of last six visits to Statesboro, with wins by 8-9-20-21-4 points. SoCon home underdogs of 6+ points are 6-2 vs spread. Georgia Southern is 0-9 in league play, 2-2 as home dog, losing at home by 23-9-18-4 points.
Fairfield won last six games vs Canisius, winning last four here by 11-3-19-2 points; Stags (-5) beat Canisius 67-60 in Buffalo ten days ago, as Griffs made just 5-21 behind arc. Fairfield won its last four games, but all by 8 or less points. Canisius is 1-4 on MAAC road, losing on road by 9-10-8-4 points, with a win at lowly Manhattan. Double digit home favorites are 11-5 against the spread in MAAC play.
Northern Colorado won four of its last five games vs Northern Arizona; Bears won here LY, after losing previous four visits by 12-11-16-3 pts. First game in nine days for NAU, which is 2-1 at home in league, with wins by 4-21 points. Bears lost first league game Saturday at Weber by a point. Big Sky home favorites of 8 or less points are 8-2-1 vs spread.