The first day of the Love, Like, Lean went 2-1. Illinois and Virginia pulling through for us with the only letdown coming for West Virginia. 2-1 gets the job done every time. Back at it again tonight.
LOVE: 1-0
LIKE: 0-1
LEAN: 1-0
OVERALL: 2-1
LOVE:
Akron vs. Bowling Green 6 p.m. CT ESPN+
Akron is currently tied for the best under team in the country, with their unders coming in at a 73.9% clip (17-6). When taking a deeper dive at the numbers it is pretty easy to see why. According to the wonderful Kenpom.com, the Zips have the 260 ranked offense, 22nd ranked defense, and the 289th ranked pace in the land. In summary, they suck on offense, love to lock up on defense, and they don't like to get out and run on you. A perfect recipe for an under.
On the other side, Bowling Green is a team that can hit the deep ball, but they lack efficiency in the other two areas of scoring: from two point and the free throw line. As they rank in the bottom third of the country in both categories. I think Akron's defense can help limit BG from deep while also controlling the pace of this game and ultimately helping us out.
PICK: Under 134.5
LIKE:
Purdue vs. Indiana 6 p.m. CT ESPN
Good ol' fashioned rivalry game here. There is no love lost between these two teams. Indiana has had a very disappointing season, they are 13-12 on the year and have only 1 win since January 6th. On the bright side, that one win came against Michigan State in East Lansing.
There really is no reason for this pick besides feel and the rivalry aspect. Indiana will get up for this game. If there is anything left to fight for in the regular season it is splitting the series against Purdue and defending your home court with the Boilers heading into town tonight. Archie Miller is a solid coach and when engaged and on Romeo Langford is as smooth as any in the country. Also coming from the state of Indiana Langford understands the magnitude of this game. Those factors mixed with a few other veteran players on the roster who will be fired up for this one, I think Indiana shows up to play for us tonight.
PICK: Indiana +6
LEAN:
Baylor vs. Iowa State 8 p.m. CT ESPN2
Much like the discussed in yesterdays post about UVA/VT, we have a massive mismatch here on the perimeter. Baylor ranks near the back end of the BIG 12 conference in 3 point percentage allowed (35.9%). Meanwhile, Iowa State comes into this game ranked in the top 2 in the conference in shooting from deep (36.9%). Not to mention Iowa State is the 9th ranked team in the nation in overall offensive efficiency. Iowa State is 10 point favorite at the time of writing this, so with all of these factors considered they should be able to get any bucket they want tonight. Here's to hoping a blowout turns into a little run n' gun.
It also helps that Baylor's overs are 10-2 this year in conference. GIVE ME THE ALL THE BUCKETS.
Pick: Over 140
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