Thursday's Best NCAAB Bets
No. 9 Georgetown Hoyas at No. 17 Memphis Tigers
Georgetown coach John Thompson III doesn’t like this time of year when his players are juggling exams and hoops while the holiday season looms. There are a lot of distractions to be worried about.
"School is tough," Chris Wright told reporters after Georgetown dropped Loyola of Maryland 99-75 on Saturday. "As you can see, I don't have no haircut. I've been in the books. It's tough, but it's part of what we've got to do and we have to do it."
The Hoyas did a good job of putting the Greyhounds out of their misery early in that one, jumping out to a 15-point lead after only 10 minutes and a 23-point advantage at the half. They cruised from there and have focused in on the Tigers since then to close out the schedule before the holiday break.
The Tigers aren’t the kind of team that’s going to wilt early like that, but they have had some problems early this year. They’re still getting their wins, though their 2-6 number against the spread has bettors frustrated.
Look for Georgetown to build on that frustration here.
Pick: Hoyas
Oakland Golden Grizzlies at No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes
The Golden Grizzlies have created quite the name for themselves among bettors with a terrific 9-5 mark against the spread heading into Thursday’s game against the Buckeyes.
Oakland had a great stretch this month when they upset Tennessee outright and covered in four straight, once at Illinois and another at Michigan State. Then the wheels fell off. The Grizzlies have now dropped their last three against the number and will be in tough here even though they’ll have a ton of points to work with.
However, even though Ohio State is undefeated the club has had a tough time covering big numbers. The Buckeyes did cover as 18-point favorites against Southern Carolina, but couldn’t cover when favored by more than 19 points in four games before that.
This time, the Buckeyes will be ready. They know what Oakland is capable of and will come out quick.
Pick: Buckeyes
NCAA Betting: Hoyas make trip to Memphis
By: Adam Markowitz
The Georgetown Hoyas have had themselves one heck of a run this year out of the Big East, starting off the NCAA basketball betting season with a 10-1 record and the nation's No. 9 ranking.
However, just before heading home for the holidays there is a crucial game on tap with another team on the rise, Conference USA's Memphis Tigers, who are No. 17 in the country and looking for a game that will clearly have them shooting up the rankings.
Memphis failed to make the NCAA Tournament last year with Georgetown, a three-seed, suffering an embarrassing first-round loss to Ohio. Both squads have designs on not only making the tournament this time, but making deep runs. You can bet that this college basketball odds battle is going to be one that provides one of these teams with a welcome Christmas gift, while the other will be looking at a lump of coal in its stocking.
The Hoyas might be the most efficient team in the country right now, and it's showing in terms of their against the spread rankings. G'Town has already put up eight covers this season against just two failed attempts, and it is one of the best teams for NCAA basketball betting fans in the land.
As a team, the 'Hoya Destroya' ranks No. 2 in the country in shooting percentage at 52.5 percent, while the end result is netting 80.5 PPG. There might not be a better shooting backcourt in the nation with Austin Freeman, Jason Clark and Chris Wright all absolutely the real deal. Freeman leads the team in scoring with 18.5 PPG, but both Clark and Wright are averaging over 13 PPG as well.
On the inside, both Julian Vaughn and Hollis Thompson have the ability to dominate. Vaughn is averaging 8.9 PPG and a team high 6.7 RPG, while Thompson puts up 8.5 points and 5.0 boards on the average night.
The same really can't be said about Memphis. The oddsmakers knew that this team was going to be in for a much better year this year, and though the Tigers are winning games, they haven't been covering the spread all that much. They actually have one of the worst ATS marks in the country at just 2-6 ATS.
Of late, this has been a team that has struggled. The Tigers needed to go to overtime to beat both the Murray State Racers and the Arkansas State Red Wolves, and they only beat the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders by five.
However, what you do know you're getting out of the Tigers is a well-balanced attack with a number of different scoring options hitting the court at any given time. Even though Wesley Witherspoon is out of the lineup with a knee injury and DJ Stephens (groin) is probably out for this one as well, there are still seven other players that are averaging at least 6.0 PPG.
Joe Jackson stepped up his game against the Islanders in the second half, scoring a total of 23 points for the game to save the day for Memphis. With Witherspoon out of the fold, he is the team's top scorer at 11.5 PPG. Will Barton is a significantly more balanced scoring threat at 11.4 PPG, as he more consistent outings.
These two teams have met four times since the 1997-98 season, with Georgetown going 3-1 SU and ATS. The hosts have gone 3-1 as well, but this very well could be the first time that the team at home is the underdog. Be sure to check out the college basketball odds in this fantastic tussle on Thursday night.