The college basketball postseason is ramping up as even more conference tournaments get underway, and we offer our top college basketball player props and best bets for Wednesday based on the best college basketball odds.
The week began with just two ASUN Conference tournament games, but if those were a precursor of what's to come this month, we are in for a wild ride.
Jacksonville and Queens each won in upset fashion, and now just one of the top three seeds remains as No. 1 Eastern Kentucky and No. 3 Lipscomb were defeated on Tuesday.
All other conference tournaments that are already underway take the day off, as three new conference tournaments (Northeast, Ohio Valley, Big South) begin Wednesday.
Elsewhere, No. 17 South Carolina looks to pull even for a share of the regular-season SEC title. It's one game back entering Wednesday night's home contest against No. 4 Tennessee.
Here are our college basketball player props and best bets for Wednesday (college basketball picks based on odds via our best March Madness betting sites; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
Wednesday's college basketball best bets
- Jordan King Over 20.5 points vs. Saint Joseph's (-105 via DraftKings) ????
- Dayvion McKnight Over 4.5 assists vs. Butler (-115 via bet365) ????
- Villanova ML vs. Seton Hall (+100 via bet365) ???
- UConn-Marquette Under 152 (-110 via bet365) ????
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Wednesday's college basketball schedule and odds
(Odds via Caesars)
- Houston vs. UCF | Spread: Houston -8.5 | Total: 131
- Tennessee vs. South Carolina | Spread: Tennessee -5.5 | Total: 139.5
- UConn vs. Marquette | Spread: UConn -5.5 | Total: 151.5
- BYU vs. Iowa State | Spread: Iowa State -7.5 | Total: 147
- Vanderbilt vs. Kentucky | Spread: Kentucky -17.5 | Total : 160.5
- Utah State vs. San Jose State | Spread: Utah State -10.5 | Total: 145.5
Wednesday's college basketball player props
Senior point guard Jordan King is Richmond's leading scorer (and is second in the A-10), averaging 19.4 points per game. He has scored 24-plus points in four of the last five games, and has been deadly from 3-point range all season, connecting on a team-high 43.7% of his 3-point shots (min. 20 attempts). We expect King to shine on Senior Night, especially since he has shot 49.8% from the floor in 17 home games, compared to 43.9% in 12 road games.
This is a four-star play, as he faces a Saint Joseph's defense that ranks 11th or worse in conference play in adjusted defensive efficiency, effective field-goal percentage, and 3-point percentage allowed (38.8%) in A-10 play.
Some of our other best sports betting sites charge standard -110 juice for this same wager, so we are opting for the better value and price at DraftKings.
Xavier averages 16.6 assists per game as a team and is led in that category by point guard Dayvion McKnight, who averages five assists per game.
McKnight has gone Over this projected total in seven of the previous nine games, but this total is likely low given that he finished with just one assist in a high-scoring 85-71 home victory over Butler in mid-January.
However, Xavier collectively dished out 20 assists on 30 made field goals in that game, and we expect positive regression from McKnight, especially since the Musketeers rank in the top 14 nationally in assists per field goal made, while Butler ranks ninth in adjusted defensive efficiency in Big East play.
Our other best sports betting sites charge slightly higher -120 juice to back this same wager, so we are headed to bet365, the same shop at which bettors can also back McKnight at +320 odds for him to dish out seven-plus assists.
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Wednesday's college basketball game picks
There is no shame in any Big East team dropping back-to-back road games against Creighton and UConn, but losing by a combined 51 points is worrisome, especially when Seton Hall is clinging to slim bubble hopes. Meanwhile, Villanova is actively working its way on the right side of the bubble with five wins in its last six games, with the only loss coming at UConn in that span.
Most bracketologists suggest that the Wildcats' NCAA tournament hopes should be safe by splitting the remaining two games at Seton Hall and home against Creighton. Entering Wednesday, DraftKings gives Villanova -350 odds to make the tournament (+280 to miss), so we are buying the oddsmakers' confidence and expect it to continue its hot streak with another huge road victory.
Villanova used an 18-2 run to separate from Providence in a raucous road environment last Saturday and shot 70% from 3-point range in the second half while also holding the Friars to 23 second-half points and 26.9% shooting.
The Wildcats' resurgence is largely tied to senior guard Justin Moore looking fully healthy for the first time this season, as he has averaged 11.8 points per game over the last five games, and connected on 14 of his last 26 3-pointers (53.8%).
Villanova is 1-9 when allowing 70-plus points this season, and 16-3 when holding opponents to 69 or fewer. Thus, it is a good sign that the Wildcats allowed just 57.3 points per game in February, the best among all major conference teams.
We would play Villanova on the point spread if we were getting +2.5 points or more, but with the spread topping out at +1.5 as of Wednesday morning, we find better value in the moneyline odds at bet365, the only one of our best sportsbooks offering plus-money to back the underdogs.
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Marquette learned the unfortunate news that it would be without reigning Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek for the last two games of the regular season, as he deals with an oblique injury. But even a healthy Kolek did not make an ounce of difference in the previous meeting this season, as UConn exacted its revenge for last year's loss to Marquette in the Big East semifinals with a resounding 81-53 home victory, a game that stayed well Under the projected 147.5 total.
Marquette's best path to offense in advance of that meeting was its bread-and-butter, a heavy dose of pick-and-roll offense with Kolek acting as the main distributor and shot creator. However, UConn entered that first meeting ranked in the 97th percentile in pick-and-roll defense on a points-per-possession basis, per Synergy.
The Huskies stayed true to that form in limiting the Golden Eagles to just 0.83 points per possession, while Kolek scored just seven points, his third-lowest scoring output in a game since Jan. 15.
Now, without Kolek, we expect Marquette to learn from its mistakes in an 89-75 road loss at Creighton and slow the tempo down considerably while limiting possessions and taking advantage of its 1-5 switching versatility to negate UConn's off-the-ball motion action.
The Under has cashed in five of Marquette's seven games against ranked opponents, and we expect it to be the right side of the total again tonight.
This total is as low as 150.5 at FanDuel, and it would be a no-play at that number, so we are taking advantage of the 152 (BetRivers also has an O/U of 152) while we can.
College basketball best bets made Wednesday at 6:38 a.m. ET
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