College Hoops Weekly Summary (2/2/25)

Author: Dylan Lieck | February 2, 2025 | 12:50 A.M. CST

Best Bets Summary:

• Yesterday’s Record: 4-1 (80.0%)

  • Wins: Wake Forest, Oklahoma, Baylor, & St. Mary’s

  • Loss: UCF

• This Week’s Record: 6-3 (66.7%)

  • Sunday/Monday: No Plays

  • Tuesday: 1-1

    • Kentucky +10.5 over Tennessee (WIN) = UK won outright in Knoxville. I broke down this game in full, but I was pretty accurate here in the sense that Tennessee is so offensively challenged that it would be very tough to cover a number that big against a team who can actually score it. Kentucky shot the ball well and took care of it, despite having their starting PG Lamont Butler out. This was the right side, and was a sweat free winner

    • Dayton -2.5 vs. St. Bonny’s (LOSS) = This was a poor pick - I went with the road team in Dayton on a small winning streak, but really it was a fade of St. Bonaventure who had looked horrific the past 7 games, and they had shown no indication they were due for a bounce back. Dayton waxed from start to finish.

  • Wednesday: 0-1

    • West Virginia +9.5 vs. Houston (LOSS) = This was a spot play, fading Houston off a big, emotional win at Kansas, where they should’ve lost multiple times, but somehow pulled it out. WVU was coming off a really poor performance against K-State and it was a good bounce back spot. Houston just came out on fire and got a MASSIVE lead in the game. Funny enough, WVU came all the way back in the second half and actually cut the lead to 3 and had free throws to make it a one point game, but then collapsed late. Houston ended up covering, and Houston was the right side. We deserved this loss, but long run playing spots like this, is profitable

  • Thursday: 1-0

    • Nebraska +4.5 vs. Illinois (WIN) = Nebraska was the right side in this game the entire way. They really should’ve won this game outright in regulation. Illinois NEVER LED in regulation (not for one second). Yet they ended up with the ball on the final possession with a chance to win it. When the game went to OT, I figured “here we go again,” but the Huskers were able to pull out the victory in OT. Nebraska was the better team all night, and we were on point with this one. Nice outright win, taking the points with the home dog.

  • Friday: No Plays

  • Saturday: 4-1

    • Wake Forest -125 ML (WIN) = this line opened -1.5 and was sitting -2 most of the morning. There were plenty of -125, and -130 out there. And, while I don’t normally like laying increased juice, Wake always plays tight games. This one was MASSIVE for the tournament resumé of the Demon Deacons. Thankfully we DID take the ML and hopefully everyone else did too, because this line CLOSED Wake -2.5 or -3 depending on the spot. And there was a very tough 3 at the end of the game by Pittsburgh that covered the number for anyone who had the Panthers +3.5. Nonetheless, we got the dub and started the day 1-0

    • OU -2 vs. Vanderbilt (WIN) = Well OU did NOT look like the right side in the first half, as they got down by as many as 13. But they played about the best offensive half I’ve seen any team play all season in the 2nd half, scoring 61 points in 20 minutes. They ended up winning this game by 30 points. The Sooners were ultimately the right side in this one. This was just a massive game for the Sooner’s tournament hopes, needing a big win against a ranked team, and really just avoiding more losses in SEC play. Nice pick to start 2-0

    • UCF -1.5 vs. BYU (LOSS) = Well UCF controlled the game for a decent portion of the first half, leading by as many as 7 at one point. They never could get any separation, though, and this led to BYU hanging around. Still UCF had back-to-back possessions with under 5 minutes to play, up by 3. Those two possessions they had a wide open layup that was missed, and a kick out wide open 3 from their best shooter that was missed. If either of those shots go down, it’s very likely that they end up pulling out a win. Instead BYU got hot late, led by Richie Saunders (who finished with 22). They ended up losing by 6 (75-81). This UCF team is good, they’ve just struggled to finish and closeout games and that cost them here. Credit BYU for playing good ball & executing down the stretch.

    • Baylor -2 vs. Kansas (WIN) = I’m not going to say this was a lucky win, because Baylor was technically the right side from a post-game win expectancy. However, when you trail by 21 in a college basketball game, the odds of coming back and winning the game outright are quite low. And, that’s exactly what Baylor did. The Bears actually cut the lead down to a 2 point game midway through the second half, before Kansas regained a 9 point advantage with just 7 minutes left. But, Baylor hunkered down on defense, and got hot on the offensive end, finishing the game on a 29-9 run, to win by DOUBLE DIGITS.

    • St. Mary’s +1.5 vs. Gonzaga (WIN) = St. Mary’s controlled this game from the tip, building as big as a 14 point lead in the first half. The Gaels have traditionally struggled against the Zags, but this Gonzaga team is not nearly as good as any of their teams the past decade. That said, the Zags fought back. Trailing by 8 at halftime, they actually took as much as a 4 point lead in the second half. But this Gaels team answered every run Gonzaga had. That, along with some key stops late, and FINALLY knocking down some clutch FTs late allowed St. Mary’s to get the outright win as a short dog. And way MORE importantly, to get us to 4-1 on the day

• Season Overall Record: 29-12 (70.7%)