Hope you all enjoyed the Chiefs super bowl win as much as I did. With the NFL season finally over, it’s officially March Madness season. There’s eleven days until small conference tournaments start so this could be my last weekly picks article. I plan to transition to some conference winner articles for the rest of the year leading up to the big dance. Below are POSSIBLY my last week’s picks in 2023 for college basketball in the upcoming week.
New Mexico @ San Jose State -1 2/17 9:30pm CST
As of lately, this is a game of opposites. San Jose State continues their home dominance in the Mountain West beating Utah State by 5 at +6.5 and stomping Wyoming by 20 just a couple weeks ago. Their record in conference is 7-6, but they’re 6-1 at home, you do the math. Then we’ve got New Mexico who at this point might as well be New Mexico State with their four-game losing streak and five out of their last six. A team that started off extremely hot and was even ranked at one point is now fighting for their life for a tournament berth and sitting sixth in the Mountain West standings.
San Jose State’s best scorer and only guy who hits the double digits on average is Omari Moore. Moore brings in 17 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game, a great all around leader for the Spartans. A big part of this team’s success is their ability to rebound as a team. They’re 16th in the nation in defensive rebounding and 26th in the country in offensive rebounding efficiency. I think this is huge going against a struggling New Mexico squad at home.
I have San Jose State set at -1 and will take this to -2.
Duquesne @ Saint Louis -3 2/18 7:00pm CST
Both teams struggle on the road and as you can see, SLU is at home in this matchup. This will be the only time they play each other in conference and the Billikens got the luck of the draw while they’re both fighting for first place. Duquesne is two games back of VCU while Saint Louis is just a game back.
SLU is led by three double digit scorers, with 36.4% three point shooting at home, and one dominant rebounder. Gibson Jimerson leads the way with 13.5 points per game while shooting 39.3% from deep and 82.9% from the charity stripe. Yuri Collins is not only their second leading scorer at 11.6 points per game but he also is what makes this team run at 10 assists per game which LEADS THE NATION BY 2.4 ASSISTS EACH GAME. He also manages 37.8% from deep and 76.3% from the free throw line.
Last but not least is their leading board getter in Francis Okoro who stands at 6’9 230lbs and brings down 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. If this comes down to a free throw game the Billikens as a team shoot 73.3% while Duquesne is at 68.3% and 62.9% on the road.
I’ve set Saint Louis at -3 but would take this all the way to -5.
Bradley @ Southern Illinois +2 2/19 1:00pm CST
Although Southern Illinois has lost three of their last six, all those losses have been on the road. In fact, they’ve only lost one game at home in the Missouri Valley this year and that was all the way back on December 7th. If anyone could change that, it’s Bradley, who’s currently riding a seven game win streak, but I’ll take the home underdog in this situation.
Southern Illinois is led by two seniors in forward Marcus Domask and guard Lance Jones. Domask is mister do it all with 16.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game while also shooting 86.5% from the free throw line. Lance Jones scorers 13.8 points per game and is shooting 76.4% from the charity stripe.
I’ve set Southern Illinois at +2 and I would take them to a pick em.
Cal State Fullerton +6 @ UC Santa Barbara 2/20 9:00pm CST
If you change the lyrics from “all I do is win” to “all I do is cover” you’ve got the Cal State Fullerton Titans in 2023. They’re sitting at 16-7-2 overall and 8-3-2 as the away team and they’re coming off two straight road victories.
Cal State is lead by a trio of guards in Latrell Wrightsell Jr, Jalen Harris, and Max Jones, all averaging double digits going into next Monday’s contest. Wrightsell is the leader with 16.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 39.1% from three. Jalen Harris dumps in 12.7 points per game and Max Jones brings in 11.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while also shooting 39.7% from deep.
Overall Cal State Fullerton is a 36.9% three point shooting team which is ranked 71st in the entire country. I’ve set them as 6-point underdogs and would take this down to +4.
Goodluck to all your sports gambling this weekend and as always please bet responsibly.
