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College Basketball

Monday’s Tip Sheet

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
4 minute read
ESPN’s first Big Monday of college basketball in February features a pair of matchups between conference foes in both the ACC and the Big 12 with all four teams in need of a quality win on the resume heading into the final full month of the regular season.

Syracuse at Louisville (ESPN, 7:00 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: Louisville -7, Total 130

Betting Matchup

Syracuse has scored a combined 95 points in its last two games; falling to Georgia Tech on the road 55-51 in a game that closed as a PICK before getting completely shutdown in Saturday’s 15-point loss at home to Virginia as a six-point underdog. The Orange (15-8) have failed to cover in seven of their last nine games as part of an overall record of 8-13 against the spread. The total has stayed UNDER in 13 of those 21 games.

The Orange have not been known for their offensive firepower this season with an average of 68.1 points per game, but they have failed to cross the 60-point threshold in four of their last five games. Sophomore guard Tyus Battle led the team in scoring against the Cavaliers with 15 points and his scoring average on the year is a team-high 19.5 PPG. Syracuse has been one of the better teams in the nation at the other end of the court defensively with a points-allowed average of 62.7.

The Cardinals continue to struggle with just one straight-up victory in their last four games while going 2-2-1 ATS in their last five contests. They came up short against Florida State on Saturday in an 80-76 loss as four-point favorites at home. Louisville is 6-4 SU in ACC play with a 7-2-1 record ATS and the total has gone OVER in five of its last seven games. It is 16-7 SU and 11-9-1 ATS on the year.

Junior forward Deng Adel has been the Cardinals’ leading scorer this season with 15.7 PPG as part of their 77.5-point scoring average on the year. He put up a game-high 17 points in Saturday’s loss with four of five starters ending the day in double figures. Louisville is giving up an average of 69.6 PPG, but this average has climbed to 77.3 points over its last four games.

Betting Trends

-- The Orange are 1-4 ATS in their last five games coming off a SU loss and the total has gone OVER in 21 of their last 26 road games.

-- The Cardinals have covered in four of their last five games following a SU loss and the total has gone OVER in seven of their last 12 home games against a team with a SU losing record on the road.

-- Head-to-head in this ACC tilt, the home team has covered ATS in four of the last five meetings and the total has gone OVER in the last four meetings in Louisville.

No. 15 West Virginia at No. 12 Oklahoma (ESPN, 9:00 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: Oklahoma -2, Total 170

Betting Matchup

It has been a rough stretch for West Virginia since mid-January with a SU 2-5 record in its last seven contests while going 3-4 ATS. It took out some of its frustration on Kansas State this past Saturday in an 89-51 romp as a seven-point home favorite. This was just the second time the Mountaineers scored 80 points or more in their last eight outings. Back on Jan. 6, they beat Oklahoma 89-76 as 5 ½-point favorites at home.

Even at 6-4 SU in Big 12 play, West Virginia is just one game off the pace for the regular season title. Led by senior guard Jevon Carter’s team-high 16.9 PPG, it has been able to average 82 points this season. He is one of five mountaineers averaging at least 10 PPG. Carter ended Saturday’s game with just six points after exceeding his scoring average in four of his previous six games. He scored 17 points in the first meeting against Oklahoma.



The Sooners have had their fair share of ups and downs since the middle of last month with a SU record of 2-4 in their last six outings while going a costly 1-6 ATS in their last seven games. They are 16-6 SU (9-13 ATS) overall with a perfect 11-0 SU run at home. The total stayed UNDER 153 ½ points in Saturday’s 79-74 loss to Texas as three-point underdogs on the road. It has stayed UNDER in seven of Oklahoma’s last nine games.

Freshman guard Trae Young has garnered national attention as college basketball’s leading scorer this season with an average of 29.8 PPG, but he was held to 19 points against Texas after going off for 44 points in last Tuesday’s 98-96 victory against Baylor with the Sooners closing as 5 ½-point favorites at home. Oklahoma is first in the nation in scoring with an average of 89.9 PPG.

Betting Trends

-- The Mountaineers have failed to cover in nine of their last 11 games following an ATS win and the total has stayed UNDER in five of their last six games played on Monday.

-- The Sooners are 1-4 ATS in their last five games coming off an ATS loss. The total has gone OVER in nine of their last 12 home games.

-- The favorite in this Big 12 matchup has covered in eight of the last 11 meetings and the total has stayed UNDER in the last four meetings in Oklahoma.


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