Freedman’s Favorite Oregon-UC Irvine NCAA Tournament Player Prop Bets

Each day, I publish at least one quick-n’-dirty piece highlighting a favorite prop of mine. See my master list of 2019 prop bets for more information.

Also follow me in The Action Network app, where each day I post additional official player prop picks.

In this piece I’m going to highlight my favorite NCAA Tournament player props for the Oregon-UC Irvine game. For more information, check out my piece on my March Madness prop-betting strategy.

You also should look at our live betting odds page for up-to-the-minute lines.

2019 Year-to-Date Record

346-284-12, +44.14 Units

• NFL: 21-13-0, +11.72 Units
• NBA: 198-154-4, +26.06 Units
• NHL: 66-80-7, -7.57 Units
• Golf: 4-7-1, -2.35 Units
• NASCAR: 5-8-0. -1.70 Units
• NCAAB: 29-19-0. +6.35 Units
• NCAAF: 0-1-0. -1.00 Units
• Exotic: 23-2-0. +12.64 Units

#12 Oregon vs. #13 UC Irvine

• Spread: Oregon -4.5
• Over/Under: 127.0
• Time: 9:40 p.m. ET
• TV: TBS

Payton Pritchard Under 16.0 points (-130)

In his first conference tournament game, Pritchard played only 23 minutes in an 84-51 blowout of Washington State, but in the four postseason games since then he's averaged 19.3 points on 37.5 minutes: This under looks a little scary.

But Pritchard is due for some regression. He's first on the team with 35.5 minutes per game, so it's not as if he's seeing way more playing time in the postseason, and for the year he's averaging just 12.9 points per game.

He is taking more shots per minute in the postseason than he did during the regular season (0.40 vs. 0.27), but even that is something that could regress.

Basically, Pritchard has just had his best four-game stretch of the season. He seems unsustainably hot.

Paul White Over 10.0 points (-115)

Bet the over, and then bet it again.

The senior forward is just fourth for the Ducks with 10.7 points and 26.9 minutes per game, but he's seen a recent surge in playing time. Over the past three games, White has averaged 36.0 minutes and scored 14 points in each game. In Round 1, he played 39 minutes.

In his 22 games with 25-plus minutes, he's averaged 13.1 points — and he should easily exceed 25 minutes against UC Irvine.

Max Hazzard Under 14.5 points (-130)

The Anteaters have averaged 72.9 points per game, but their implied total against Oregon is only 61.25, so we should lower our overall expectations.

Hazzard leads the team with 12.7 points and 26.3 points per game, but in the postseason his playing time has increased to only 27.3 minutes per game.

He's yet to play more than 35 minutes in a game this year, so if he's to hit the over he'll need to be efficient, and I don't mind betting against a guy whenever his playing time is stagnant and his offense is likely to be less productive.

Matthew Freedman is the Editor-in-Chief of FantasyLabs. He has a dog and sometimes a British accent. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he’s known only as The Labyrinthian.