Friday night’s college basketball schedule doesn’t have the big-name schools like most other nights of the week, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t betting options. We take a look at our favorites to bet on on Friday night.
College Basketball Bookies 2021
Richmond Spiders at Saint Louis Billikens Picks
Best Bet: Billikens (-5)
This is a tough bet for a variety of reasons, but the biggest of which is the fact that Richmond is really good on the road and Saint Louis is really good at home. The Billikens have suffered through a tough season where they were forced to sit for over a month at one point, but they have still managed an 11-5 record.
Lately, they have struggled a bit, falling to both Dayton and VCU, though both games were on the road.
Though the season has been arduous, Saint Louis has managed to defend its home court effectively with a 10-1 record straight-up. In those 11 games, Travis Ford’s team has managed to cover the spread in eight of them.
Saint Louis has an average margin of victory of 17.9 points per game, which is nearly three points better than any other team at home in the Atlantic 10. They are outperforming the spread by 3.3 points per game at home as well.
As good as Saint Louis is at home, Richmond is nearly as good on the road. The Spiders are 5-2 straight-up in true road games this season and have also covered in five of their seven road games.
The Spiders’ margin over victory is 5.8 points per game on the road while outperforming the spread by 4.6 points per game, both good for third-best in the Atlantic 10.
The statistic that jumps out in this matchup is offensive rebounding. Both Jordan Goodwin and Hasahn French average nearly three offensive rebounds per game, while Saint Louis as a team is ranked 13th in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage.
The Spiders are 171st in opponents’ offensive rebounding percentage and 278th in the nation in opponents’ effective field goal percentage. Look for the Billikens to crash the offensive glass and cover the nickel at home.
NCAA Basketball OddsandNCAA Basketball Picks
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at UC Riverside Highlanders Picks
Best Bet: Gauchos -2
UC Santa Barbara is quietly putting together one of the nicest seasons that no one in the nation is talking about. UCSB is currently 16-3 and completely dominating its competition each weekend.
Joe Pasternack, a Sean Miller disciple, has his team rolling regardless of where they are playing. At home, the Gauchos are defeating teams by a margin of victory of 23.7 points per game (includes loss margins).
On the road, they are still fantastic, covering six of their 10 true road games with a margin of victory of 8.5 points per game and outperforming the spread by 3.6 points per game.
The metrics are also a little deceiving when it comes to UCSB, as they are 315th in the nation in tempo and just 81st in adjusted offensive efficiency. But, they average nearly 78 points per game, which is in the top 55 in the nation.
On the flip side, UC Riverside has won just four of its seven home games and covered the number in just three of those games. The Highlanders are outperforming the spread by less than a point per game at home as well.
Right now, UCSB is easily the class of Big West, while UC Riverside has struggled to protect its home court. The name to watch in this game is JaQuori McLaughlin, a 6-4 senior guard that shoots 43% from behind the arc.
He is coming off of arguably his worst game of the season and the first game he has failed to score in double digits since just after Christmas. Look for McLaughlin to be hungry and focused to get his offense back on track and put a big number on the board. UCSB covers on the road.
Check out our college basketball game recaps to catch up on any action you may have missed.
