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Top College Basketball Betting Odds, Picks & Predictions: Wednesday, January 11 (2022)

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Though three ranked vs. ranked matchups highlight the day’s college basketball action, our three top picks involve two more under-the-radar Big Ten games and a game involving two teams atop the America East Conference.

Here are all of our picks for Wednesday:

Here are our best bets for Wednesday’s college basketball action. (Odds courtesy of DraftKings)

Top College Basketball Betting Odds, Picks & Predictions: Wednesday, January 11th (2022)

Vermont vs. UMass Lowell Spread

UMass Lowell has a stark advantage over Vermont in playing close games, as this one projects to be. The River Hawks are comfortable in close games, going 3-1 in the four contests decided by seven or fewer points, while Vermont is 2-4 in such games.

UMass Lowell is a perfect 8-0 this year on its home floor. Its impressive 14-3 start is primarily because of improved defensive splits from last year. The River Hawks are the country’s best defense inside the paint, allowing a 40.4% 2-point shooting percentage. UMass Lowell allowed under one point per possession last year, with teams connecting on 37% of 3-point attempts. So far this year, it is allowing just 34.8% from the perimeter, which all adds up to a top-17 defense in terms of effective field goal percentage.

The River Hawks are just 1-5 ATS in their last six games, but they have are 3-0-1 ATS in their last four games against Vermont.

Bet: UMass Lowell -1 (-110 at DraftKings) 

Indiana vs. Penn State O/U

Indiana and Penn State rank in the top half of the Big Ten in scoring. And if you have watched the Hoosiers lately, you would know they are not a good defensive team, as they allowed an average of 87.5 points in consecutive losses against Iowa and Northwestern. However, the good news is that it faces a Penn State team that it has had success guarding in the past and one that will not expose its most significant weaknesses.

The Hoosiers held the Nittany Lions to an average of 59 points in the two meetings last regular season. A big reason for that success was holding Jalen Pickett (17.9 points) to 29 combined points on 11-for-27 shooting (40.7%). Indiana could not guard Iowa or Northwestern off the dribble in its last two games, as the Hawkeyes and Wildcats shot 53 combined free throws. However, the Nittany Lions do not get to the line often, ranking 362nd in free throws attempted per field goal attempt.

Consider this a contrarian play on the Under, as the Over has cashed in six of Indiana’s last seven games. However, the Under is 8-1 in Penn State’s last nine following a SU loss.

Bet: Indiana-Penn State Under 142.5 (-110 at DraftKings)

Rutgers vs. Northwestern Spread

The Scarlet Knights are 11-5 and are in the top six of the Big Ten standings, but that is not because of having excellent perimeter shooting prowess. Rutgers’ Cam Spencer leads the team in 3-point attempts (76) and has connected on 44.7% of those. However, the Scarlet Knights’ following four players who have all attempted 22 or more 3-pointers are all shooting 30.4% or worse from deep. Making shots beyond the arc is imperative against Northwestern, as the Wildcats allow just 41% shooting (second-best in the country) inside the arc, and opponents get just 42.5% of their scoring (351st) from 2-point range.

The Wildcats are riding high after back-to-back wins over Illinois and at Indiana, and have covered five of their last six against teams with a winning percentage over .600.

Bet: Northwestern +1.5 (-110 at DraftKings)

Go premium to view top prop bets based on Cover Probability, Expected Value & Star Rating >>


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Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.