Big East Semifinal : No. 25 Marquette vs. No. 6 St. John’s
St. Johns and Marquette face each other for the third time this season. St. John’s won both of the matchups including in overtime thriller in Milwaukee. Even though this considered a neutral site game, it will essentially be a home game for St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.
In their first game of this conference tournament, the Red Storm dominated Butler, 78-57, with guard RJ Luis Jr. leading the way with 20 points, and 7 rebounds. The junior had a monster game the last time these two teams faced off as well, finishing with 28 points and 11 rebounds.
His teammate Kadary Richmond also had a great game against Butler finishing with 15 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds. Although he didn’t have the best game in the last time these two teams faced off, in their first match up he played a massive part in the Red Storm winning that game.
For Marquette, star guard Kam Jones has been on fire. Even in the loss against St. John’s he had a monster game finishing with 32 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
In Marquette’s first game of the Big East Tournament against Xavier, Jones finished with 28 points, 5 assists and 2 rebounds. If Marquette is going to win this game, it will have to be on the shoulders of Kam Jones.
Although it is really hard to beat a quality opponent like Marquette three times in a row, I think the home court advantage for the Red Storm will give them the boost that they need. Rick Pitino’s team will advance to the Big East Tournament Final, and cover the spread.
Best Bet: St. John’s -3.5 (-115) on FanDuel
Big 10 Quarterfinal: No. 24 Illinois v. No. 11 Maryland
This will be the second time these teams face off this season. The ‘Terps’ dominated the first matchup in Champaign, with forward Julian Reese and center Derik Queen having massive games as Maryland won by a final score of 91-70.
Guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie has been very good from beyond the 3-point line for Maryland. If he is on, Maryland is one of the best offensive teams in the country.
The true star for Maryland this season has been freshman center Derik Queen, who is leading the team in scoring averaging 15.7 points per game, along with 9.2 rebounds per game. And if Maryland is going to win this tournament he is gonna be the key.
On the Illinois side, the Illini had up and down season, but finished the regular season on a three-game win streak, including a 20-point road victory against Michigan.
Freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis has been a dominant force for the Fighting Illini leading the team in both points per game and assists per game. Jakucionis had a strong performance in the first matchup against Maryland finishing with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. If the Illini are going to advance to the semi-final it will be on Jakucionis to cary this team.
Both of these teams are lead by Freshman but I think Maryland has the veteran presence throughout their roster and have been their before to help lead them into the Semifinal.
Best Bet: Maryland Ml (-113), Over 158.5 (-110) on FanDuel.
No. 17 BYU v. No. 2 Houston – Big 12 Semifinal
BYU is coming into this game as one of the hottest teams in the country winning their last nine games, including two wins over Iowa State and a 34-point win against Kansas. I picked this team to win the Big 12 tournament, and will probably pick them to go deep into the NCAA tournament.
Junior forward Richie Saunders has been BYU’s best scorer this season averaging 16.2 points per game. He has also been fantastic from beyond the arc shooting 43.4%, with 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the BYU Cougars.
Yet in their first match up against Houston he only 9 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist one of his worst performances of the season. Houston dominated the first matchup winning by 31 points at home, Emanual Sharp led the ‘Cougs’ in the game with with 18 points.
The key player for the Cougars will be L.J. Cryer who leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.3 points per game this season and was red hot going into the Big 12 tournament scoring at least 20 points in the final 3 games of the regular season.
For many people Houston is going to be a one seed in the NCAA tournament and with a win today, I believe that would become a lock. But in march a team like BYU that is this hot, is going to be extremely hard to bet against.
Although some would argue that Houston has been just as hot finishing the Big 12 regular season 20-1, and have not lost since the February 1, when Texas Tech shocked the ‘Cougs’ at home. But with that being said gimme BYU.
Best Bet: BYU +6.5 (-105), BYU ML (+240) on FanDuel.
Bonus Bets
No. 21 Missouri v. No. 4 Florida
Best Bet: Florida -8.5 (-110) on FanDuel
No. 15 Kentucky v. No. 5 Alabama
Best Bet: Alabama -7.5 (-110), O 179.5 (-110) on FanDuel
No. 10 Louisville v. No. 13 Clemson
Best Bet: Louisville ML (+100) on FanDuel
No. 20 Purdue v. No. 22 Michigan
Best Bet: Purdue -2.5 (-110) on FanDuel
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