By the night’s end, we’ll have just four teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament.
Sunday’s matchups include the Midwest Region final between the Tennessee Volunteers against the Purdue Boilermakers and the NC State Wolfpack going up against the Duke Blue Devils for the South Regional Final.
Ironically enough, both teams have already played one another this season at least once. Purdue defeated Tennessee and NC State split with Duke. However, NC State won the most important one in the ACC Tournament.
Which players will show up and be clutch in the Elite Eight? Here are three player props to consider for the two NCAA Tournament games.
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Sunday’s Best Prop Bets
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Tennessee Volunteers vs. Purdue Boilermakers
There’s no stopping Zach Edey. The Purdue big man has scored at least 24 points in nine of his last 10 games.
This season, he’s averaged 24.6 points on over 62% from the field. But in the NCAA Tournament, he’s shot 67.4% from the field through three games and has added 26.7 points per matchup. He’s also seen more than 10 foul shots per game in the NCAA Tournament, making 68.8% of those.
Tennessee has a really good defense around the paint. But its aggressive style of defense will likely put Zach Edey on the foul line at a high rate. It’s also super challenging to get stops against Edey, who is over every single other player on the court.
Let’s ride with Edey to get at least 23 points against Tennessee.
Bet: Zach Edey Over 22.5 Points (-122)
Tennessee Volunteers vs. Purdue Boilermakers
We’ll stay in this game for another player prop. If Edey earns 23+ points, many of his buckets will come from Purdue point guard Braden Smith.
Smith has earned 7.5 assists per game this season and has nailed at least seven assists in eight of his last 10 games. In Purdue’s matchup against Gonzaga, Smith tallied 14 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds.
In the NCAA Tournament, he’s earned 10.3 assists per game, including two games with at least 10. Smith is truly the X-factor for Purdue heading into this game. It’s not Edey. Smith needs to keep Purdue on point and facilitate accordingly. Let’s back his assist prop of 6.5 and take the over.
Bet: Braden Smith Over 6.5 Assists (-132)
NC State Wolfpack vs. Duke Blue Devils
The Duke Blue Devils have many exciting pieces on their roster. But the guy who doesn’t get talked about enough is Jeremy Roach.
Against Houston, Roach didn’t score a single point in the first half. Then he came alive and scored 14 points in the second half to help lead the Blue Devils to a major upset win. He took his NCAA Tournament high of 14 shots in that game. Despite only hitting five of his shots, he hit some big ones and found his way into the paint often during that game against Houston.
Duke trusts Roach with the ball late in games. One reason Duke lost to NC State in the ACC Tournament was that Roach went just 1-for-6 from the field and scored only five points. He made little impact. He’ll be much better in this one. Grab Roach’s over for points at 12.5.
Bet: Jeremy Roach Over 12.5 Points (-125)
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Sunday:
