It's another light college basketball slate on Friday, but we're searching for betting value, not the best matchups.
In fact, we have college basketball best bets and odds below, including Three Man Weave's three picks for Friday, February 23. Take it away Matt Cox!
College Basketball Best Bets
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our college basketball betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 7 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAB Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Saint Peter's vs. Mount St. Mary's
By Matt Cox
Corey Washington.
That's it, that’s the handicap.
The Peacocks were soaring in the early portion of MAAC play, spearheaded by Washington, their do-everything wing. Then, an untimely injury put him on the shelf for two weeks in February, and the Peacocks came crashing down.
Granted, three of Saint Peter’s four losses without Washington came on the road against top-tier opponents, but none of those tilts were particularly competitive.
He returned shortly after Valentine’s Day, fueling the Peacocks to a 2-0 record and two easy covers against Siena and Iona.
To date, SPU is an impressive 14-9 against the spread overall but 2-5 without him.
While a trip to Mount St. Mary’s is one of the harder road trips in the MAAC, and the Mount is much improved, an upper-echelon team in this league shouldn't be a dog anywhere against a sub-500 league opponent.
Pick: Saint Peter's +1.5
Marist vs. Manhattan
By Matt Cox
Another MAAC tilt makes the card tonight, but there's no need to tune in for this one.
John Dunne against John Gallagher equals an ugly rock fight, especially if the rematch plays out anything like the first meeting back in December.
Marist prevailed comfortably, 70-56, in the first matchup in a game that clocked 67 possessions. KenPom projects tonight’s duel to clock 66 possessions, right in line with what transpired the first time around.
However, there’s reason to believe a closer game could pull that possession count down to the low 60s. Manhattan just surrendered 100 points to Rider, an embarrassing result for the defensive-minded Gallagher.
The Jaspers' confluence of defensive looks should be a much bigger issue for the younger, less dynamic Marist backcourt. At minimum, the Foxes will treat their possessions in methodical fashion, as they have been lately.
Three of Marist’s last four games played under 65 possessions, with the lone exception being against the same Rider team that just torched Manhattan last weekend.
There’s no major numerical edge in this one, but the coaching and stylistic matchup sets up for this game to settle into the mid to high 120s, and any 4-5 point edge in a low total game is magnified.
For context, each point in the 120-129 range is worth anywhere from 3-4% at each number, about a 1% bump over numbers in the 140s and 150s.
Pick: Under 134 (Play to 133)
Brown vs. Columbia
By Matt Cox
These two teams just played on February 10, and the Bears and Lions combined for 152 points — an impressive tally given the overall pace clocked in at 64 possessions.
It’s never wise to bank on an efficiency driven total, but that first meeting could serve as a proxy as to what’s to happen in tonight’s rematch. Granted, another low-to-mid 60 possession affair could also doom the over if shots aren’t falling, but recent lineup changes may point to a rise in pace tonight.
Head coach Mike Martin toggled with his starting lineup in the two games since losing to Columbia two weeks ago.
Former full-time starter Aaron Cooley was relegated to a reserve role, removing a defensive-minded cog from the lineup. Sharpshooting specialist Alexander Lesburt Jr. seized the vacancy and canned three triples in each of those games last weekend.
While neither game against Princeton or Penn resulted in a shootout, that simple tweak could drive a 2-3 point shift towards the over, assuming Martin keeps that intact.
Also, Brown’s average offensive possession length in its most recent game was 17 seconds, the fastest since an 84-83 loss to Cornell on January 20.
