NCAAB
2 Picks (6 Units).
7:00PM EST: St. John's +3 (3 Units).
Baylor played exceptionally poor in a blowout loss to Gonzaga to start the season but followed that up with a nice win over Arkansas. Only 2 of Baylor's 7-man rotation and 1 of 5 starters were with this team a season ago. It's no surprise they've turned the ball over quite a bit in the early going and they'll get tested here. HC Rick Pitino made his name on the back of a unique full court pressure defense and it's still effective to this day. Opponents averaged 12.9 turnovers per game against St. John's last year and that's up at 15 this season. The addition of Kadary Richmond via the transfer portal certainly helped. St. John's matches up well defensively. Both teams feature smaller lineups and more guards off the bench. RJ Luis and Richmond are really Guard/Forwards and 2 of the best perimeter defenders in College Basketball. Harder for smaller guards to shoot over them but they're also incredibly difficult to drive on. This game’s being played in the Bahama's on a neutral floor. Just a little bit tougher for perimeter shooting teams when playing away from Home. St. John's is 268th in 3-PT Rate and looking to attack the basket.
9:30PM EST: Virginia/Tennessee Under 127.5 (3 Units).
Tennessee's operating much slower this year and losing an offensive weapon like Dalton Knecht will do that. They're 223rd in Adjusted Tempo while Virginia ranks 362nd. No surprise for the Cavs as they've been all defense with a struggling offense the last few years. Tennessee's defense finished 3rd in defensive rating last year and they're 4th so far this year. In fact, they've finished inside the Top 5 in defensive rating 4 straight seasons. They haven't exactly been tested yet, but Virginia doesn't pose much of a challenge anyway. They went nuclear from deep against Villanova their last time out, knocking down 14/25 3-PT shots and won just 70-60. The Vols held teams to 31.2% from behind the Arc last year and ranked 1st 2 years back limiting teams to just 26.5%. Opponents have shot 27.5% from 3 against them this year. Going to be difficult for Virginia to find consistent offense but their defense can certainly pose a problem for the Vols. Tennessee experienced plenty of scoring droughts last year and that was with arguably the best scorer in the game. Dalton Knecht's currently lighting it up in the NBA.
