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NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Jan. 19 Opening Lines

by - 1/18/2016

Jeff Newberry Oklahoma State Cowboys

If you enjoy upsets, then good luck finding a more interesting week in college basketball's 2015-16 regular season than last week. A total of 12 teams that entered last week ranked in one of the two major polls lost and three Top-10 teams, Michigan State, Miami (Fla.) and Duke, lost twice. One of those schools that lost was No. 1 Kansas, which made Oklahoma the new No. 1 on Monday. And I think the Sooners lose Monday night at Iowa State. So we could have a sixth different No. 1 team next Monday. March Madness can't get here soon enough.

No. 3 Kansas at Oklahoma State (+9.5)

Big 12 matchup tips off at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. Kansas (15-2, 4-1) fell out of the top spot in the poll with a very respectable 74-63 loss at then-No. 11 West Virginia last Tuesday, but the Jayhawks bounced back with a 70-63 home win over TCU on Saturday for their 33rd straight home victory. Touted freshman forward Cheick Diallo has largely disappointed this season but had his best game of the year vs. the Frogs with a season-high nine points and five blocks along with nine points in a season-best 21 minutes. Maybe that has earned Diallo more minutes, although Coach Bill Self has a deep team. Kansas has lost each of its last two trips to Oklahoma State's Gallagher-Iba Arena, and Self is 3-5 against his alma mater in Stillwater.

Oklahoma State (9-8, 1-4) lost a fourth straight Saturday, 74-69 at Texas. A Jawun Evans 3-pointer with 14 seconds left cut the Texas lead to 70-67, but the Longhorns took care of business at the free-throw line. UT was up 21 at one point in the second half. The Pokes have now trailed by double digits at the half of their past four games. Leyton Hammonds tallied a career-high nine rebounds and a team-high 18 points vs. Texas. OSU is 1-4 in the Big 12 for the first time since 2007-08.

Key trends: Kansas is 4-10 ATS in its past 14 vs. the Big 12. OSU is 4-0 ATS in its past four at home. The home team has covered the past four meetings.

I'm leaning: Oklahoma State. Pokes only lost by two at home to Oklahoma and have been pretty solid in Stillwater.

Houston at No. 8 SMU (-13)

American Athletic Conference game at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU. At this point, I feel obligated to preview every SMU game until the Mustangs (17-0, 6-0) lose as they are the nation's only team without a loss after South Carolina was beaten at Alabama on Jan. 13. Remember, though, the Mustangs are not allowed to play in the AAC or NCAA Tournament. So they best they can do is finish 31-0 and be proud of that. Coach Larry Brown's team is 5-0 since one of its best players, junior guard Keith Frazier, left the team and later announced he would transfer. Four of those five wins have been easy, including a 60-45 victory at Tulane on Sunday. Good teams can still win when not playing all that well, and that was the case there as SMU shot a season-worst 40.4 percent. The Mustangs average 80.2 points and are among the nation's leaders in shooting 51.5 percent.

Houston (13-4, 3-2) is much better this season than last but also hasn't really beaten anyone that great yet. The Cougars led at halftime Sunday vs. UConn but suffered their first home loss, 69-57. UH shot a season-worst 33.3 percent. Second-leading scorer Devonta Pollard had just two points and missed all seven field-goal attempts. Houston averages 78.7 points per game, which is second in the AAC to SMU. It's the highest total for UH since the 2007-08 team. The Mustangs are Houston's first Top-10 opponent since losing to Louisville in the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship in 2014. The Cougars were swept by SMU last year, falling 80-59 in Dallas.

Key trends: Houston is 1-4 ATS in its past five vs. teams with a winning record and in past five road games. SMU is 11-5 ATS in its past 16 at home vs. teams with a winning road record.

I'm leaning: SMU.

Fresno State at San Diego State (-6.5)

A Mountain West game at 11 p.m. ET on ESPNU and your last betting option of the night. Fresno State (12-6, 3-2) is off an 81-74 home win over San Jose State on Saturday. Senior guard Marvelle Harris, the Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year, had a season-high 32 points. FSU was 35-for-46 from the free-throw line, two shy of the school record for makes. Harris has now made the most free throws in a Fresno State career (421), passing Maurice Talbot. Torren Jones added 11 points and 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Fresno State is 7-0 this season when scoring at least 80 points.

But good luck scoring 80 against the excellent defense of San Diego State. The Aztecs (12-6, 5-0) were rather shaky in nonconference play but have ascended to their expected place atop the Mountain West standings. They won at Boise State, which had been unbeaten in the conference, 56-53 on Saturday. Winston Shepard scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds in helping end Boise's 10-game winning streak. It was the fewest points scored this year for the Broncos. No Mountain West team has reached 70 on SDSU yet this season. San Diego State has won nine of the past 10 meetings with Fresno but was upset in northern California 59-57 on Jan. 3, 2015. Fresno State has not won at SDSU since a 95-84 victory (later vacated) on Feb. 25, 1999.

Key trends: FSU has covered only six of its past 22 road games. It is 2-6 ATS in its past eight in the Mountain West. SDSU is 4-0 ATS in its past four vs. teams with a winning record.

I'm leaning: San Diego State.

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