College Basketball Betting Guide: Lines, Trends & Picks For Friday, Dec. 2

College Basketball Betting Lines, Odds & Picks

Friday night in college basketball features a pair of top-25 matchups. No. 16 Illinois at No. 22 Maryland and No. 6 Baylor vs. No. 14 Gonzaga are two must-watch games tonight and I have picks below for both of them.

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Illinois at Maryland Prediction

Maryland (7-0 SU, 6-1 ATS) is off to a hot start this season with a perfect 7-0 record and I think that continues tonight against a very good Illinois (6-1 SU, 4-2-1 ATS) team. However, this is going to be the first big test for Maryland because so far they’ve won every game by at least 15 points. Defensively, Illinois has the edge in this game, but offensively, I would take Maryland. They are a deep team with four players averaging double-figures and they have the size inside to match up with Illinois. The Terps are also great at defending the three-point line, ranking 25th, which is where the Illini do most of their damage. Illinois has had trouble taking care of the ball this season, ranking 258th in turnover rate. This is another area where Maryland can take advantage being they have a number of players who are long and athletic and can force Illinois into bad decisions. The home crowd is going to be loud tonight so I’m riding with the home team. Plus, BetQL’s Dan Karpuc agrees with me on this one! 

My pick: Maryland -1.5

Appalachian State at Charlotte Prediction

Appalachian State (4-2 SU, 4-2 ATS, 3-3 O/U) meets Charlotte (6-2 SU, 6-2 ATS, 2-5-1 O/U) for a matchup between two in-state rivals. 

The total for this game is set at 122, which feels just a bit too low to me. App State is putting up 78.1 points per game, which is good enough for 81st in the country, and has three players averaging double figures. Not to mention they have two players in C.J. Huntley and Justin Abson who are shooting over 57% from the field. While they’ll be going up against a strong Charlotte defense, App State has the rebounding edge over the 49ers, which should lead to extra opportunities. And even though Charlotte has the better record at 6-2 and is 3-0 at home, all three of the Mountaineers losses have come by five points or fewer, meaning this is likely to be another close game, which is good for the over. These two teams have also gone over this total in 11 of their 16 games combined. And if that wasn’t enough, this is a play that our BetQL model seems to really like!

My pick: Over 122 

Baylor at Gonzaga Prediction

The Baylor Bears (4-2 SU, 2-4 ATS, 5-1 O/U) and Gonzaga Bulldogs (4-2 SU, 1-5 ATS, 4-2 O/U) square off tonight in the Peacock Classic at The Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

With this being a matchup between two top-15 teams, this is one of the better games on the slate tonight. Baylor is coming off of a 26-point blowout loss to Marquette on Tuesday and I expect them to bounce back with a solid performance tonight. Fun fact: ​​Scott Drew is 18-6 after a blowout loss by 20 points or more while coaching Baylor. Now, the Bears have been struggling lately, so it’s not a given that this trend continues, but I think we see a much more focused Baylor team tonight. Their turnaround needs to start on the defensive end where they are allowing opponents to shoot way too high of a percentage from deep. Gonzaga is knocking down 3s at a 41% clip right now, so Baylor needs to make this an emphasis if they want to find success tonight. Defensively, the Bears are also really good at forcing turnovers, and taking care of the ball is something that the Zags have struggled with. If Baylor can limit Gonzaga’s success from deep and force them to be careless with the basketball, I like the Bears to get back on track here with a cover and possibly even a straight-up win.

My pick: Baylor +2.5

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