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College Basketball

Sunday’s Tip Sheet

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
5 minute read
This Sunday’s college basketball slate offers up pair of great matchups between nationally ranked teams in the Big Ten and ACC right out of the gate, but sports bettors might want to focus their attention later in the day with a couple of big showdowns including one between two of the top teams in the nation coming out of the AAC.

No. 19 Wichita State Shockers at No. 5 Cincinnati Bearcats (ESPN, 4 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: Cincinnati -6

Betting Matchup

The Shockers’ first season in the AAC has them tied with Houston at 10-3 straight-up and two games off the pace set by Cincinnati. Thursday’s 93-86 victory against Temple as 12 ½-point home favorites went OVER the closing 150-point line and it has gone OVER in their last six games. Wichita State falls to 7-6 against the spread in conference play and it is 1-3 ATS in its last four games on the road. The total has gone OVER in three of its last five road games.

Senior forward Darral Willis Jr. scored a game-high 24 points off the bench and senior center Shaquille Morris added 23 points and 13 rebounds in Thursday’s win. The Shockers are four-deep in double-digit scorers led by sophomore guard Landry Shamet with 14.6 points per game. They are ranked 18th in the nation in scoring with an average of 84.2 PPG and at the other end of the court they are allowing an average of 70.2 points to their opponents. Wichita State has exceeded this scoring average in four of its last five games.

Cincinnati’s perfect 12-game SU run in the AAC came to a sudden end with Thursday’s 67-62 loss to Houston as a two-point road favorite. The loss ended the Bearcats’ SU 16-game winning streak while going 12-4 ATS. The total stayed UNDER the closing 133-point line against the Cougars and it has stayed UNDER in five of their last seven games. Cincinnati returns home with a 5-1 record ATS in their last six home games. The total has gone OVER in three of its last five games at home.

The loss to Houston was just the second time in the Bearcats’ last 13 games where they allowed more than 60 points. They boast the second-stingiest defense in the nation with a points-allowed average of 56.3 points. At the other end of the court, four of five Cincinnati starters ended that game in double figures led by junior guard Jacob Evans’ 16 points. He continues to lead the team in scoring with 13.6 PPG as part of a foursome of players averaging at least 11 points a game.

Betting Trends

-- The Shockers have gone 20-6-1 ATS in their last 27 Sunday games and the total has stayed UNDER in nine of their last 13 games on the road.

-- The Bearcats are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games following up a SU loss and the total has stayed UNDER or ended as a PUSH in six of their last eight home games.

-- This will be the first meeting between these two programs.



Penn State Nittany Lions at No. 6 Purdue Boilermakers (Big Ten Network, 8 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: Purdue -4.5

Betting Matchup

Penn State brings some serious momentum into this game following Thursday’s 79-56 rout of Ohio State as a two-point home favorite. The Lions have won their last four games SU with a 3-1 mark ATS as part of their 9-6 record in Big Ten play. The total stayed UNDER 138 points in Thursday’s win and it has stayed UNDER in four of their last six games. Going back to an earlier SU upset against the Buckeyes as 10-point road underdogs on Jan. 25, the Lions have now gone 6-1 both SU and ATS in their last seven games.

Much of this team’s success this season can be attributed to the high level of play by sophomore guard Tony Carr. He posted 30 points in Thursday’s win while going 9-of-15 from the field and 4-of-8 from three-point range. He is the team’s leading scorer with 19.6 PPG and he has connected on 46.3 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. Penn State is averaging 76.2 PPG and it has gotten a big effort at the other end of the court with a points-allowed average of 66.0.

Purdue is a game off the pace in the current Big Ten standings at 12-3 SU as part of an overall record of 23-5. However, Thursday’s 57-53 loss to Wisconsin as a heavy 10 ½-point road favorite was its third defeat in a row. The first two losses came against the teams ahead of the Boilermakers in the standings; Ohio State at home and Michigan State on the road. The No. 6 team in the nation has been a costly bet over its last eight games at 0-6-1 ATS. The total has stayed UNDER in 11 of its last 13 games.

The last three losses have been by a combined nine points with Purdue scoring 65 points or less in all three contests. This pales in comparison to an 81.4-point scoring average on the year. Defensively, the Boilermakers stayed on track during this slide by holding Ohio State to 64 points before the 68-65 loss to Michigan State last Saturday in a game that ended as a PUSH. Sophomore guard Carsen Edwards is averaging a team-high 17.1 PPG and he has met or exceeded this average in three of his last five starts.

Betting Trends

-- The Nittany Lions have covered in four of their last five Sunday games and the total has gone OVER in 13 of their last 19 games on the road.

-- The Boilermakers are 1-4 ATS in their last five games at home and the total has stayed UNDER in five of their last six home games.

--The home team in this Big Ten tilt is 13-6 ATS in the last 19 meetings and the total has stayed UNDER in 10 of the last 12 games played in Purdue.

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