College Basketball Player Props: 3 Picks for Feb. 12, Including Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin
Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images. Pictured: Bennedict Mathurin (Arizona)
We are starting to get back on track here, as a 2-1 finish last week pushes our overall record to 5-7.
This Saturday, we are going to take advantage of multiple plus matchups that have data from earlier this season.
I'm ready to get back in the green, so let's dive in.
Isaiah Wong Over 14.5 Points (-125)
This will be Wong's second appearance in our prop selections, and he came through for us last time.
Wong has become the high volume scoring option for this Miami Hurricanes team, and the scoring in this game against Wake Forest will be cranked up a notch.
The last time these two teams played, there were 156 points between them, and Wong was a significant contributor to that. He dropped 25 points while going 11-of-18 from the field.
This matchup should be no different, as the market expects another high-scoring affair, with the total hovering around 151.
Points should flow once again for Wong, as he will take part in this track meet.
Wake Forest's defensive numbers don't support this, as the Demon Deacons are sound and rank in the top 50 in 2-point and 3-point percentage allowed.
This is a volume play for a volume shooter who should see an uptick in his average of 12.5 shot attempts per game.
Matthew Cleveland Over 5.5 Rebounds (-105)
This play correlates with what I broke down in my guide for this matchup. Injuries to Florida State's big men have recently ravaged the roster, and it has left a lot of rebounding opportunities.
In the two games since Naheem McLeod and Malik Osborne went down, it has been the 6-foot-7 Matthew Cleveland who has stepped up. Cleveland brought down nine boards against Wake Forest and followed it up by snatching seven more against Pitt.
Cleveland's rebounding is even more intriguing because despite being a guard, he's not afraid to get after it on the offensive glass, as well. Four of his nine boards against Wake were offensive, and three of his seven against Pitt were, as well.
So, in a game where many points are expected, look for Cleveland to be there to clean up a majority of the misses.
Bennedict Mathurin Over 14.5 Points (-135)
This line is a tad too low for a scorer of Mathurin's caliber.
I get that Washington's defense is above average, but its defensive shooting metrics are average at best. The Huskies are 170th in effective field goal percentage.
We saw how the Wildcats and Mathurin shot against the Huskies when they met earlier this season.
Arizona hung 95 points, and Mathurin had 27 of them. He put on a proper shooting display, as he went 10-of-16 from the field and 4-of-9 from 3. This matchup will look similar, as these two teams are amongst the fastest in the nation, with Arizona ranking third in tempo and Washington checking in at 47th.
Like my prior selection of Isaiah Wong, we are getting an elite shooter in a game where his volume is sure to tick up. Mathurin has gone over this mark in 12 of 23 games this year, and he should add another tally to that.
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