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College Basketball

Monday’s Tip Sheet

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
4 minute read
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The first week of December in college basketball is highlighted by the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Monday night’s schedule gets things started with a pair of matchups on ESPN2.

The early game pits the ACC’s Miami Hurricanes on the road against the Big Ten’s Illinois Fighting Illini. Later Monday night, the Clemson Tigers go on the road to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Miami at Illinois (ESPN2, 7:00 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: Illinois -8, Total 146.5

Betting Matchup

Back to back losses (straight-up and against the spread) to Florida and Connecticut have dropped the Hurricanes to 4-3 on the year. They are 3-4 ATS after failing to cover in their last three outings and the total has gone OVER in four of their last six games. Miami is averaging 70.6 points per game on offense but it is allowing an average of 71 points a game at the other end of the court. Senior guard Dejan Vasiljevic leads the team in scoring with 13.9 PPG. He is shooting 50 percent from the field and 43.9 percent from three-point range.

Illinois improved to 6-1 SU with last Tuesday’s 117-65 victory against Lindenwood in a game that did not have a posted betting line. The Fighting Illini went an even 3-3 ATS in their six previous games. Their only loss of the year was on the road against Arizona in a 90-69 defeat as seven-point underdogs. The total has gone OVER in three of their last five contests with a closing line. Sophomore guard Ayo Dosunmu is one of five players averaging at least 10 PPG. He leads the way with 16.3 points while going 51.1% from the field shooting the ball.

Betting Trends

-- The Hurricanes have failed to cover in four of their last five games against a team from the Big Ten. The total has gone OVER in four of those five matchups.

-- The Fighting Illini are 6-2 ATS in their last eight Monday games with the total going OVER in seven of their last 10 games played at home.

-- Miami has won both previous meetings (2013 and 2014) SU with the total staying UNDER in each game.

Clemson at Minnesota (ESPN2, 9:00 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: Minnesota -3, Total 131

Betting Matchup

Clemson’s SU five-game winning streak came to an end with a 71-67 loss to Colorado last Tuesday. The 5-2 Tigers covered as 4 ½-point underdogs to improve to a highly profitable 6-1 ATS. Their only other SU loss came against Virginia Tech in a 67-60 setback on Nov. 5 as seven-point home favorites. The total has gone OVER in four of their last five games. Junior forward Aamir Simms led all scorers in Thursday’s loss with 23 points. Senior guard Tevin Mack is the team’s leading scorer with 15.4 PPG. He put up 11 points in Tuesday’s losing effort.

Minnesota has stumbled out of the gate to a 3-4 SU start while going 4-2-1 ATS in those seven games. The total had stayed UNDER in each of its first six games before going OVER in Friday’s loss to DePaul. The Golden Gophers also failed to cover their last time out as four-point favorites in that 73-68 loss. Minnesota is averaging 71.6 PPG behind center Daniel Oturu (17.0 points) and it is allowing an average of 63.4 points a game on defense. The team is shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from three-point range.

Betting Trends

-- The Tigers are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 Big Ten games and the total has stayed UNDER in their last four road games.

-- The Golden Gophers have gone 5-2 ATS in their last seven home games with the total going OVER in five of their last seven games against the ACC.

-- Minnesota holds the slight 3-2 edge both SU and ATS in this series with the total going OVER in the last two meetings (2006 and 2015).

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