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What Happened Last Night
- Texas A&M 95, CS Northridge 73: Northridge tried to speed up the Aggies in the first round of the Wooden Legacy. It... did not go so well, as A&M scored 95 points in 73 possessions; DJ Hogg scored 25 points in spite of playing just 18 minutes. Freshman Robert Williams had 11 points, 7 boards, and 4 blocks and is quickly emerging as a force in the paint.
- Ole Miss 86, Montana 81: The final score makes this look closer than it really was; Ole Miss led by double digits for most of the second half before a late run by the Grizzlies made the final score close. Sebastian Saiz had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Rebels.
- Butler 76, Vanderbilt 66: Oh God, Vanderbilt is already at the “bench your leading scorer because you don’t like his effort” stage. This game was close until Butler put it away in the last ten minutes. Freshman Payton Willis had a career-high 17 for the Commodores in the loss.
- Florida 81, Seton Hall 76: The Gators couldn’t do much to stop Seton Hall’s Khadeen Carrington, who scored 28 points, but did manage to outscore the Pirates thanks to 21 points from KeVaughn Allen and 20 from Canyon Barry.
- LSU 66, Old Dominion 60: Brandon Sampson had a career-high 24 points as LSU survived an off night (to put it nicely) by Antonio Blakeney and beat Old Dominion in the consolation bracket of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Today’s Schedule
| Game | Time (ET) | TV/Streaming |
|---|---|---|
| Texas A&M vs. Virginia Tech | 5:00 PM | ESPNU/WatchESPN |
| Gardner-Webb at Georgia | 7:00 PM | SEC Network+/WatchESPN |
| Tennessee-Martin at Kentucky | 7:00 PM | SEC Network/WatchESPN |
| LSU vs. VCU | 7:00 PM | AXS |
| Lehigh at Mississippi State | 8:00 PM | SEC Network+/WatchESPN |
| Vanderbilt vs. Santa Clara | 8:00 PM | FS1/Fox Sports Go |
| Florida vs. Gonzaga | 9:30 PM | ESPNU/WatchESPN |
- There’s a lot of continuing holiday tournament action, though strangely there aren’t any afternoon games; the earliest is Texas A&M’s game against Virginia Tech in the semifinals of the Wooden Legacy. LSU faces VCU for fifth place in the Battle 4 Atlantis; Vanderbilt plays Santa Clara in the consolation game of the Las Vegas Invitational; and Florida gets a good barometer game against Gonzaga in the semifinals of the AdvoCare Invitational. Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi State have standard-grade buy games — though Mississippi State, playing its first game without Quinndary Weatherspoon, may be in trouble against a pretty good Lehigh team.
Odds and Picks
Yesterday: 2-3 ATS; Season to Date: 19-23-1 ATS
- Texas A&M vs. Virginia Tech (+2.5): Virginia Tech is 4-0 and I think the Hokies should be favored in this game.
- Tennessee-Martin (+28.5) at Kentucky: The Skyhawks have won five in a row since a season-opening loss to Ole Miss and should be good enough to keep things within 28.5. That’s not saying much, but that’s the problem with huge lines.
- LSU (+7.5) vs. VCU: VCU is probably the better team here but this line just feels too high, though I wouldn’t discount the possibility of LSU mailing it in like they did on Wednesday.
- Vanderbilt (-6) vs. Santa Clara: Vanderbilt has looked shaky (to say the least) in losses to Bucknell and Butler, but Santa Clara is not very good and a six-point line feels like an overcorrection in reaction to the Commodores’ slow start.
- Florida (+3) vs. Gonzaga: Another one where it feels like the wrong team is favored. Florida is probably the better team and is playing much, much closer to home to boot.