NCAA Basketball Picks for November 12: Best Bets Today (Archive)
The Minnesota Gophers will take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in the Kemper Asheville Championship in North Carolina. The Minnesota Gophers are projected to be the worst team in the Big Ten this year. I completely disagree with this. Let’s see the NCAAB odds.
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs. Minnesota Gophers
Friday, November 12, 2021 – 6:30 PM EST at Harrah’s Cherokee Center
Minnesota doesn’t have much Power 5 experience, but they’ve got plenty of transfers from mid-major schools that deserve to be playing for a high major school. Last year, Luke Loewe scored 16.2 points per game with William & Mary, Payton Willis scored 13.4 points per game with Charleston, and Jamison Battle scored 17.3 points per game for George Washington.
To continue, Elijah Stephens scored 16.4 points per game with Lafayette, Sean Sutherlin scored 12.8 points per game with New Hampshire (‘19-’20) and Charlie Daniels is a solid forward out of Stephen F. Austin. Minnesota has seven redshirt seniors on this team and a whole lot of potential moving forward, even in the Big Ten.
On Tuesday, Minnesota took control against Kansas City, even after the line moved down in Kansas City’s favor. Minnesota won by double digits, 71-56, and held onto the lead throughout the game. On the other hand, Western Kentucky struggled in their home opener against Alabama State, a bottom 10 team in all of college basketball, winning just 79-74.
Western Kentucky doesn’t have former standouts Charles Bassey or Taveion Hollingsworth anymore. They also don’t have transfer Keith Williams, who came from Cincinnati, as he’s dealing with eligibility issues. Against Alabama State, WKU shot 43.8 percent from the field, tied in rebounding, and allowed Alabama State to shoot 9-for-22 from downtown.
The only reason Alabama State lost that game to Western Kentucky was due to 27 personal fouls. Outside that, Western Kentucky didn’t look so hot. Minnesota will be able to match up better and won’t foul 27 times against Western Kentucky. Minnesota has the bigger bodies to withstand a punch or two from Western Kentucky. The Gophers also have elite shooting and a small rotation to keep things close.
Prediction
So let’s roll with Minnesota as an underdog in this neutral-site game. The Gophers have so much experience and played very well with one another against Kansas City last game. Minnesota shot 46.2 percent and 36.4 percent from long range with basically a seven-man rotation of upperclassman players.
We’ll also be able to watch this game on national TV as it’s ESPNU! The other three bets I’ve made weren’t on national television so this is going to be fun!
Anyway, I have Minnesota winning this game outright by multiple possessions, but again, for my NCAAB picks, I’ll play it safe and take the points. If you tailed last night, you’ll understand why I like playing it safe as San Jose State ended up winning by just two points after up 17 at one point in the game.
NCAAB Pick: Minnesota +3.5 (-118) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.