Top College Basketball Picks for Friday, December 3 (2021)
Yesterday was just one of those days. Nothing went right. Our teams struggled to shoot the ball and fell down early in every game. It’s going to happen. Regardless, we’ve still been profitable through the week. Let’s keep it that way with the final three plays of the week before the weekend.
Here are my favorite plays for Friday, December 3.
All odds via BettingPros consensus
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Manhattan vs. Siena: Manhattan +3 (-110)
(7:00 PM ET tip)
Manhattan is the most experienced team in the nation. The Jaspers have started the season 5-1 and already have a massive win against a quality liberty team on a neutral court. Defensively, Manhattan has held opponents to just a 47 percent effective field goal percentage and has turned the ball over 23.2 percent of the time on the defensive end.
The Jaspers don’t take a high amount of threes but could find themselves open for some, with Siena allowing teams to shoot 41.3 percent from downtown on the season. Manhattan isn’t the best three-point shooting team, hitting just 28.2 percent of them, but any college basketball can hit wide-open shots.
Meanwhile, Manhattan has dominated the offensive glass and has a knack for getting to the line while shooting 73.3 percent from the charity stripe.
Therefore, if Manhattan shoots a higher percentage, turns the ball over less, wins the rebounding battle, and gets to the line at a higher rate, the expectation is that the Jaspers pull this one out on the road.
Notre Dame vs. Boston College: Boston College +4 (-110)
(7:00 PM ET tip)
Boston College has been hot and cold all season long. First, the Eagles won three games, then lost three games, and won their last two. The Eagles’ losses came against Rhode Island twice and Utah once. Boston College kept the games tight and close throughout in those three games and ultimately just didn’t close against better teams.
Notre Dame is going to be the toughest opponent for Boston College yet. However, the Eagles will be at home in this matchup. In conference play, games get tighter, and every possession matters just a little bit more.
Neither team will get many second chances, but Boston College will see plenty of opportunity from long range in this game. For the Eagles, the three-point shot isn’t the go-to, but against Notre Dame, the game plan should be to take more of them. Notre Dame has allowed teams to shoot 44 percent from downtown on the season, while Boston College has knocked down 37.2 percent from behind the arc.
That success has a little to do with limiting three-point shots, but in this game, they’ll have so many wide-open looks that they’ll have to shoot a little bit more from outside.
Fairfield vs. Canisius: Fairfield +1 (-110)
(7:00 PM ET tip)
Fairfield has the much better offense going up against Canisius, and in all honesty, I’m not so sure Canisius can keep up, even at home. Fairfield has an effective field goal percentage of 52.1 percent and has hit 35.8 percent of long-range jumpers. While Fairfield isn’t getting to the line at a high rate, there’s potential that the Stags see the line a little bit more going up against a Canisius team that has fouled at an above-average rate this season.
The Stags are shooting 78.1 percent from the line and knock down nearly 51 percent inside the arc. Canisius has been playing awful defense this season, and while Fairfield hasn’t been all that much better, the Stags will at least limit second-chance opportunities. With Canisius shooting 30.9 percent from deep and 42.6 percent from inside, there will be a lot of clanks that Fairfield can clean up on the defensive glass.
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Jason Radowitz is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Jason, check out his archive and follow him @Jason_Radowitz.