College Basketball Best Bets: 2 Best Bets for Thursday's Games

College Basketball Best Bets: 2 Best Bets for Thursday's Games

Two games have my full attention on this loaded college basketball slate. The first is a rematch between Duke and Clemson and the second is a Big10 rematch between Iowa and Maryland. Let's dive in.

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Clemson vs Duke

Clemson vs Duke Odds

This is Duke's second time playing Clemson this season and in their first meeting at Cameron Indoor Stadium the Tigers gave them everything they could handle. Clemson was 12.5 point underdogs and nearly won the game outright as they ended up only losing by two points in a back-and-forth affair.

Now Duke comes into this game after a very surprising home loss to Virginia and I think this is the perfect combination of a revenge and bounce back spot for the Blue Devils. The big story for Duke over their last few games has been the recent emergence of freshman AJ Griffin.

Since the first meeting between these 2 teams, AJ Griffin has averaged 16 points per game on 60% shooting from 3 and 54% overall from the field. I expect him to be much more active in this second game vs the Tigers as he had a very poor showing the first time they met.

Duke has also bounced back from losses very well this year as they are 3-0 ATS in those games in both the 1H and full game spreads. I expect a very focused effort from Duke right out of the gate, similar to how they started the Louisville game which followed their disappointing performance in the first game vs Clemson. The Tigers have played fairly solid at home here, but Duke has a real size advantage inside with Mark Williams, Paulo Banchero, and Theo John and think they will be able to use that to their advantage. With that being said I am rolling with Duke 1H -3 -112 tonight. (Good up to -4.5)

Clemson vs Duke Pick

• Pick: Duke 1H -3 (-112) (Bet $112 to win $100)

Clemson vs Duke Line Movement

Maryland vs Iowa

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This is another rematch where Maryland nearly defeated the Hawkeyes in their own building but squandered a halftime lead and ended up losing a close but high scoring game by the score of 80-75.

Maryland has really been struggling ever since then as they have gone 3-8 in their last 11 games and are currently on a 3-game losing streak. When these two teams first played, Maryland stormed out the gate with hot shooting, but I think this game will be different. I think Iowa will get out of the gate fast and should set the tone with their fast and up-tempo offense. Iowa has one of the better offenses in the country and Maryland barely struggles to crack the top 200 in any major offensive category.

The line is obviously shorter in this matchup because Maryland is at home where they have played much better, but I think Iowa will get off to a fast start here unlike in their first matchup. With that being said, I will be taking Iowa 1H ML at -134 tonight. (Good up to -160)

Maryland vs Iowa Pick

• Pick: Iowa 1H ML -134

Maryland vs Iowa Line Movement