New month. Same themes. Wisconsin blows a 19-point lead in Nebraska, and another top 10 team loses on the road to an unranked conference opponent. Time to get out of the 1-1 days and find a sweep on the board. Here are the College Basketball picks for February 2nd.
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College Basketball Picks February 2nd
Ohio State at Iowa (-4.5) (O/U 157)
Iowa is looking for a home win. Words that seem foreign to type. They have lost their last two games at their home arena to Purdue and Maryland.
Throw in a loss at Indiana in their most recent road game to compound issues, and we’re looking at a team that has lost three of their last four coming into this matchup.
If there are any certainties in college basketball, and there are close to none, then it would be too shade to the home team, especially in Big 10 play. We saw it last night, and the theme isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Purdue outrebounded Iowa by a double. Maryland shot better from three in Iowa City. Indiana was able to capitalize on their own home court by getting more active on the glass vs this Hawkeyes team.
There isn’t one single thing to pinpoint for the Hawkeye’s troubles in this stretch. They are not as good from deep as they have been in the past.
However, Ohio State is on their own skid. The Buckeyes have lost six of their last seven overall. They also haven’t won a true away game this season. Laying the number with the Hawkeyes and neither team inspires much confidence. Keeping the theme of Big 10 home teams.
The Pick: Iowa -4.5
Butler at Creighton (-10.5) (O/U 147)
This isn’t what we want to hear, but size will matter. Butler might be too small for this Creighton team despite how the Bluejays misuse their own advantage.
Creighton isn’t a great rebounding team, but they can disrupt in the paint. Butler is 218th in point distribution percentage from three-pointers this season.
That translates to most of the buckets coming from inside the arc. Creighton won’t do any favors in helping the freebies, as they rank in the top 40 in allowing or not allowing opponents to get to the FT line.
Creighton is the 4th most efficient two-point scoring team on the season, and they complement that with 39.2% of their points coming from three.
It’s a good indicator that they primarily look for the open three-point shooter, but if that ball gets into Kalkbrenner, then he is efficient in getting it in the basket. The Bulldogs don’t have anything to combat the size with except for the occasional double team.
Look for Creighton to rain three-pointers tonight in Omaha in what should be a fired-up home crowd. The scoring shouldn’t be an issue for the Bluejays.
The Pick: Creighton -10.5
