CBB Sharp Report: Pros Betting Illinois-Iowa, 2 Other Thursday Games

After two straight winning days to start the week, wiseguys went 1-2 on Wednesday. The killer was the St. John's Under (moved from 155 to 154.5). A meaningless, last-second layup pushed the game from 154 to 156, which ended up being the difference between a winning and a losing night.

No time to cry over bad beats. Wiseguys are already onto the next play.

After analyzing Thursday’s loaded 62-game slate using the betting tools available at Sports Insights and The Action Network, I’ve identified three games receiving sharp action from professional bettors.

Betting Terms to Know

Steam Move: Sudden, drastic and uniform line movement across the market caused by an overload of sharp action from respected players.

Reverse Line Movement: When the betting line moves in the opposite direction of the betting percentages. It’s a top smart money indicator.

Line Freeze: When one side is getting heavy betting, but the line won’t budge, indicating sharp liability on the other side.

Juice: The tax or commission that bettors must pay sportsbooks in order for them to accept your wager. A -115 juice means a bettor would have to wager $115 to win $100.

• Full Sports Betting Glossary 
• Sharp Betting 101: How to Track Professional Betting Action

UCLA vs. Arizona State

9:30 p.m. ET | PAC 12 Network

Sharp angle: Under (moved from 156.5 to 156)

UCLA and Arizona State are two of the highest-scoring teams in the country, with both averaging between 77 and 79 points per game. But wiseguys don't envision an old school shootout tonight. They see value on a total in this Pac-12 quarterfinal.

As soon as this over/under opened, wiseguys immediately got down hard on the Under 156.5, triggering market-wide steam that dropped the total down to 156.

The under is also receiving big action in the form of 78% of bets and 80% of dollars. On the surface, this looks like both a public and sharp play, however, we've tracked only 641 bets on the game. This means that the heavy betting is coming mostly from wiseguys who have targeted this game from the outset.

With so many games being played all day, the public just hasn't gotten down to betting the later games yet. And when they do, they'll likely be focusing on the over, not the under.

Illinois vs. Iowa

9:30 p.m. ET | Big Ten Network

Sharp angle: Under (moved from 155 to 154)

Recreational bettors don't quite know which way to go with this Big Ten Tourney over/under, but wiseguys have made up their minds.

This total opened at 155. Currently 52% of bets are taking the under, however, the under is also receiving 65% of dollars, signaling smart money support from professional bettors.

As soon as the line opened, pro bettors got down hard on the Under 155, triggering a steam move that dropped the total down to 154. We haven't seen a single conflicting move (or buyback).

Montana State vs. Eastern Washington

10 p.m. ET | Pluto TV

Sharp angle: Under (moved from 154 to 152.5)

Wiseguys are staying up late to sweat this Big Sky quarterfinal over/under.

The total opened at 154. Currently 79% of bets and more than 90% of dollars are coming in on the Under. But we've tracked only 395 bets on the game, which means it's flying completely under the radar. This heavy under betting is almost exclusively from sharp bettors with an edge, not average Joes.

Using our Sports Insights Bet Signals, we noticed two big steam moves on the Under, with sharps hammering the Under 154 and then coming back on the Under 153.

This overload of respected money forced oddsmakers to drop the line down to 152.5.