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What Happened Last Night
- Auburn 76, Mercer 74: T.J. Dunans hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Auburn the win and improve their record on the season to 8-2; on the other hand, this was nearly a loss to the #188 team in KenPom. Mustapha Heron led the Tigers with 21 points; freshman Austin Wiley had 9 points and 2 blocks in 15 minutes in his debut.
- Clemson 67, Alabama 54: So far this season, Alabama has been pretty easy to figure out: they lose to KenPom top 100 teams (0-5) and win against everyone else (5-0.) The biggest issue is that there’s really no one they can rely on for scoring: currently, no single player is averaging over 10 ppg. Avery Johnson Jr. had 17 points for the Tide.
- Gonzaga 86, Tennessee 76: Gonzaga got out to a big early lead, leading 27-6 at the 12-minute mark of the first half, but Tennessee managed to claw back and cut it to a four-point game with two minutes left. But again, the Vols showed that they can compete with elite teams but haven’t quite gotten over the hump yet. Detrick Mostella led Tennessee with 17 points off the bench.
Today’s Schedule
| Game | Time (ET) | TV/Streaming |
|---|---|---|
| Charleston at LSU | 8:00 PM | SEC Network+/WatchESPN |
| Mississippi State vs. Southern Miss | 9:00 PM | ESPNU/WatchESPN |
| Bradley at Ole Miss | 9:00 PM | SEC Network/WatchESPN |
These are some really strange programming choices in Bristol. Charleston-LSU is probably the best game of the night, and it’s relegated to SEC Network+ for some reason; the Cougars are 8-3 and 87th in KenPom and absolutely are a threat to come out of Baton Rouge with a win. ESPNU is televising Mississippi State vs. a Southern Miss team that ranks 329th in KenPom and has beaten #351 Alabama A&M and a pair of non-Division I teams... and that’s it. And, Ole Miss caps the night off with a game against a pretty bad Bradley team.
Odds and Picks
Yesterday: 0-3 ATS; Season to Date: 38-65-1 ATS
- Charleston at LSU (-3): LSU makes no sense to me; my initial instinct is to take Charleston and the points, but since this is a Johnny Jones team the only predictable thing is that they’re unpredictable. So of course they’ll win by 20 or something.
- Mississippi State (-14) vs. Southern Miss: I kind of hate laying this many points with Mississippi State, but that’s a testament to how awful Southern Miss is this year. The Bulldogs can pretty much name the final score in this one.
- Bradley (+16) at Ole Miss: Bradley is a bad team but has shown some fight this year; Ole Miss, meanwhile, is somehow 2-6 ATS as a favorite this year and hasn’t beaten anybody by 16 points this season. Why not take the points?