The Basketball Tournament Picks (TBT) & Predictions: Friday (7/24)
The Basketball Tournament (TBT) rolls on Friday night. In the early games, JHX Hoops, the Kansas alumni team, faces Purple Reign, the K-State alumni team, at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan. at 7:00 p.m. ET. Also at 7:00 p.m., in a non-alumni game, The Mecca meets Heartfire Elite at the M Resort in Las Vegas. At 9:00 p.m. ET, The Aftershocks host The Enchantment in Game 3 at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan., while Davis Steel and Knueppel Krew square off at 9:00 p.m. ET in the second non-alumni game from Vegas. You’ll find our top The Basketball Tournament picks below.
As a reminder, the bracket and rules are different this season. We have eight alumni teams facing each other in four best-of-three series. It’s a winner-take-all prize of $2 million this season, double last season’s amount.
There are eight non-alumni teams, and they’ll meet in a separate bracket in Las Vegas. The winner of the non-alumni bracket will travel to the winner of the alumni bracket’s home court for a championship game on Sunday, August 2nd. Let’s build our bankroll with our best TBT picks and predictions for Friday, July 24th.
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Friday’s Best The Basketball Tournament Picks & Predictions
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
The Enchantment (+295) at Aftershocks (-375) | O/U 143.5 (-110/-110)
The New Mexico alumni team bounced back in Game 2 in Wichita, topping the defending champion Aftershocks 74-68 in an upset on Thursday night. The Enchantment cashed 5X on the Moneyline straight up, easily covering as a 12.5-point underdog, as the under 148.5 connected. Now, it’s a winner-take-all Game 3 on Friday night.
The Enchantment shot 43.9% (25-of-57) from the field and 39.4% (13-of-33) from behind the three-point line. Vance Jackson erupted for a game-high 29 points to lead his team to its first victory. KJ Jenkins was the only other player on the team to score double-digit points, so it was Jackson doing the heavy lifting. Jemel Jones didn’t do much on offense with nine points, but he was good for seven rebounds and two assists. Troy Simons came up with both blocks for The Enchantment.
For the Aftershocks, they shot 45.5% (25-of-55) from the field, but just 32% (8-of-25) from behind the arc. Conner Frankamp did his part, going for 11 points, but he was the only player in double digits. The offense was spread around, as seven players scored six or more points. Marcus Santos-Silva was good for nine rebounds to go along with his seven points, while adding an impressive four steals.
Looking to Friday’s line, The Enchantment isn’t an underdog by nearly as much in Game 3. That’s where the value kicks in. The Aftershocks are the defending champs, and they’re not going to shoot nearly as poorly from downtown as they did in Game 2. Back the Aftershocks, and let’s continue to side with the under.
Picks: Aftershocks -7.5 (-110) & Under 143.5 Points (-110)
Davis Steel (-355) at Knueppel Krew (+280) | O/U 147.5 (-110/-110)
Davis Steel picked up a 79-76 win over the Gotham City Bockers in the first game, with Gabe York going for 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while hitting 7-of-11 from the field, including 5-of-7 from behind the three-point line. He also added three steals. Cameron McGriff came off the bench to provide 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, while DJ Rodman hit three triples to finish with nine points, also off the bench. Terrell Brown and Nate Watson each had one block.
Davis Steel shot 46.8% (29-of-62) from the field and 45.2% (14-of-31) from behind the three-point line, and had a +3 rebounding margin. It was -6 in turnover margin, however - something it needs to clean up.
Knueppel Krew also topped the Bockers 77-64, with three players going for 12+ points. Nick McGlynn led the way with 18 points, six rebounds and two triples, while adding a steal and a block. Chase Forte was good for 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while providing two steals, too. Meanwhile, Marcus Tomashek was good for 12 points, all on three-pointers, while finishing with four boards, three assists and three steals in 26 minutes.
Davis Steel was impressive, but we’ll take Knueppel Krew catching nearly four buckets. In addition, we’ll go high on the total here, as Davis Steel hit the over in the first matchup against Gotham City. The Krew hit the under, though, so be careful.
Picks: Knueppel Krew +7.5 (-110) & Over 147.5 Points (-110)