Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to March! The Madness is nearly here and some of the most anticipated regular season games tip off today—I’m talking No. 1 Auburn vs No. 17 Kentucky, No. 6 Alabama vs No. 5 Tennessee and Florida State vs No. 2 Duke. And I’ve got three player props that cover the trio of matchups I just gushed out for Saturday’s college basketball schedule. All odds courtesy of Sportsbook.
Johni Broome OVER 35.5 Points+Rebounds Vs Kentucky Wildcats (-120)
Preview: Auburn Tigers vs Kentucky Wildcats, 1:00 p.m. ET
Purdue is in the thick of a four game skid, due to a recent schedule that featured three ranked programs. Braden Smith has already struggled from the perimeter while at Mackey Arena, hitting just one three-pointer across 15 attempts in his last five home appearances. To put it into another perspective, the last time the junior drained a three in West Lafayette was January 21.
He won't have much luck against the Bruins either. UCLA is allowing opponents a 31.2 3PT%, strengthening that defense to a 26.3 3PT% across its last three outings. Smith hasn't found luck on the perimeter at home and the Bruins aren't going to allow it tonight.
Jordan Gainey oVER 3.5 rebounds vs alabama crimson tide (-115)
Preview: Alabama Crimson Tide vs Tennessee Volunteers, 4:00 p.m. ET
One of the toughest matchups on the slate as No. 6 Alabama visits No. 5 Tennessee, the programs sit side-by-side in the KenPom net ratings. However, the Tide's third-overall offense will struggle against the Vols first overall defense. I'd rather find an easy Tennessee player prop than fade its defensive efforts.
'Bama is giving up 36.4 total boards per game, grouping itself with others who aren't known to protect the glass well. Jordan Gainey has exceeded 3.5 rebounds in seven of his last nine games, averaging 4.0 rebounds per game.
cooper flagg UNDER 20.5 Points vs florida state seminoles (-130)
Preview: Florida State Seminoles vs Duke Blue Devils, 7:00 p.m. ET
You may have caught on that I didn’t tag Broome as the best player in college basketball. That’s because a young fella named Cooper Flagg still exists. Of course, I’ll take any chance to bet on him, too. Too bad I’m fading him.
Averaging 25.6 PPG in January compared to his 18.1 PPG in February (and that’s with two extra games accounted for, BTW), maybe Flagg is saving is best for the Big Dance because he hasn’t necessarily been recording numbers on par with his earlier season stats. His Wooden Award odds have even dropped from -210 to +165, now Broome has officially taken over as the new favourite.
It has nothing to do with his opponents, either. The freshman was more than capable of suffocating Miami, Illinois, Virginia and Stanford in his recent outings. Maybe Jon Scheyer is keeping his Flagg cards close to his chest or letting Don Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor build up some confidence ahead of the tournament.
