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NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Jan. 27 Opening Lines

by - 1/26/2016

Arkansas Razorbacks guard Jabril Durham

Could Duke actually miss the NCAA Tournament? That was a question posed on ESPN on Monday night following the Blue Devils' 80-69 loss at Miami, Duke's fourth defeat in five games. Obviously talk of Duke missing the Big Dance is ridiculous right now as the team is 15-6 overall and 4-4 in the ACC. That said, you can easily see at least five more regular-season losses with two games each against ranked Louisville and North Carolina and one against Virginia. The Blue Devils don't play again this week but surely will fall out of the Top 25 next Monday, ending the nation's longest active streak of being ranked in the AP poll at 167 straight weeks.

Auburn at Ole Miss (-7.5)

A 7 p.m. ET start on the SEC Network. Auburn's offensive struggles continued in a 95-63 loss at Florida on Saturday, the biggest loss of the season for the Tigers (9-9, 3-4). Auburn shot just 35.8 percent from the field, its fifth straight game under 40 percent. Leading scorer Kareem Canty was 0-for-6 from 3-point range and finished with just 12 points. Florida shot 56.9 percent, outrebounded Auburn by 13 and had eight blocks. The Tigers had no blocks. Auburn has lost nine straight to the Gators and is looking to avoid slipping under .500 for the second time this season; last time Auburn did, it followed with wins over Kentucky and Alabama.

I'm a bit surprised there's an opening line here because Ole Miss (12-7, 2-5) could be without three starters for a second straight game. Star Stefan Moody, who leads the SEC in scoring at 24.3 points per game and has scored at least 20 in 13 straight, and fellow guard Martavious Newby (5.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg) are both questionable. Out again is forward Sebastian Saiz (eye surgery), who is second on the team in scoring (12.8 ppg) and leads in rebounding (9.8 rpg). All three sat out Ole Miss' 83-77 loss at Mississippi State on Saturday, the Rebels' fourth straight defeat. Ole Miss has won six straight against Auburn, however.

Key trends: Auburn is 0-5 against the spread in its past five road games. Ole Miss is 11-4 ATS in its past 15 after a loss. The home team is 7-3 ATS in the past 10 meetings.

I'm leaning: I think Moody plays so go Rebels as Auburn is lousy on the road.

No. 5 Texas A&M at Arkansas (+3)

This SEC game also is at 7 p.m. ET on the ESPNU. Who would have thought the Aggies (17-2, 7-0) would be better at basketball than football this season? A&M has a two-game lead atop the SEC and is at the highest ranking in school history. It brings a 10-game winning streak into Fayetteville following a 66-53 home win over Missouri on Saturday. Jalen Jones broke open a close game by scoring 17 of his 20 points in the second half. A&M's winning streak is the school's longest since the 2010-11 season (13 in a row). It's not clear if the Aggies will have good-looking freshman center Tyler Davis back after he sat out vs. the Tigers with a mild foot injury. He's averaging 11.2 points and 5.8 rebounds.

Arkansas (9-10, 3-4) has lost three straight by a combined seven points. It was beaten 76-73 in overtime at Georgia on Saturday. Moses Kingsley had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season in the loss. Anton Beard scored a career-high 18 off the bench. Neither team led by more than eight points. The Hogs lost at Texas A&M 92-69 on Jan. 2. Jones had a career-high 28 for the Aggies. The Razorbacks led once at 13-12 with 11 minutes left in the first half. Arkansas missed all seven of its 3-point attempts before intermission and was down 21 at the half. The last time Arkansas hosted a Top-5 team, it upset No. 2 Florida in February 2013.

Key trends: Home team is 5-1 ATS in the past six meetings. Razorbacks are 20-9 ATS in their last 29 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.

I'm leaning: Arkansas in the upset.

Temple at East Carolina (+2.5)

American Athletic Conference game is at 7 p.m. ET and not on any TV network (but streaming on ESPN 3 and WatchESPN app). I wrote in Saturday's Opening Line Report that I thought Temple had a very good chance of knocking off college basketball's lone unbeaten team left in visiting SMU. And the Owls (11-7, 5-2) did, in a game that was moved from Saturday to Sunday because of the winter storm in the Northeast. Devin Coleman was the star for Temple, shooting 7-for-7 from long range for a career-high 23 points. He was named the AAC Player of the Week on Monday. It was Temple's third win over a ranked team this season (No. 22 Cincinnati, No. 23 UConn), the first time the school has done that feat since the 1999-00 season. It was the Owls' third straight win overall.

East Carolina (9-11, 1-6) ended a six-game losing streak with an 84-83 upset win at Memphis on Sunday. Prince Williams made two free throws with 4.1 seconds remaining. He had a season-high 20 points and a career-best 10 assists. B.J. Tyson played all 40 minutes despite being doubtful with a small separation in his shoulder and tied his career high of 26 points while adding six rebounds and four assists. It was ECU's first road win of the year. And it played without starting forward Caleb White, who missed the game with a concussion. He's second on the team in scoring at 14.1 ppg and leads the club in minutes per night. White is questionable.

Key trends: Temple is 6-0 ATS in its past six games. ECU has covered one of its past seven overall and is 3-7 ATS in its past 10 at home.

I'm leaning: Temple is 3-0 all-time vs. ECU. I started this story thinking this might be a huge letdown game for the Owls. But the Pirates are banged up, and that's a lower spread than I was expecting. Go Temple.

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