The Wednesday college basketball odds board includes only four top-25 teams in action, a departure from Tuesday’s full menu that featured several epic games involving ranked schools. Most notably, No. 10 Wisconsin shocked No. 8 Purdue on a final-seconds 3-pointer, No. 2 Arizona clinched the Pac-12 title with a road rout of No. 16 USC, and unranked TCU knocked off a second top 10 opponent in 48 hours, this time taking down No. 6 Kansas.
Tonight’s featured matchup comes from the ultra-competitive SEC, where four teams enter the final week of the regular season within one game of first place. That includes No. 14 Arkansas, which trails No. 5 Auburn by a game in the league standings heading into Wednesday’s home tilt against LSU.
Although the visiting Tigers are out of the running for the regular-season conference championship, they’re a lock to make the NCAA Tournament. And they’d love nothing more than to knock Arkansas out of the SEC race while also avenging an earlier home loss to the Hogs.
Which squad has the advantage in this one? Props.com previews the Wednesday college basketball odds for LSU-Arkansas.
Odds via DraftKings and updated as of noon ET on March 2.
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LSU Vs No. 14 Arkansas
Tipoff/TV: 9 p.m. ET/ESPN2
LSU: 20-9 SU (8-8 SEC)/18-11 ATS
Arkansas: 23-6 SU (12-4 SEC)/18-10-1 ATS
Spread/Total: Arkansas -5.5 (-115)/142 (Under -115)
Last meeting: On Jan. 15, Arkansas rallied to beat LSU 65-58, cashing as a 6.5-point road underdog
Did you know: Kentucky sank a meaningless basket in the waning moments Saturday at Arkansas, getting the push as a 2-point road underdog. That ended the Razorbacks’ nine-game ATS winning streak. Still, Arkansas enters Wednesday on a 12-1-1 ATS roll
About LSU: The Tigers have prevailed in four of their last six outings, including Saturday’s 75-55 thumping of Missouri, easily covering as 13.5-point home favorites. LSU started the season on fire at the betting window, cashing in 13 of their first 16 games. However, the Tigers are just 5-8 ATS dating back to their mid-January home loss to Arkansas. LSU leads the SEC in in scoring defense (allowing 61.9 ppg, 20th nationally) and steals (11.1 per game), but ranks just sixth in the league in scoring offense (72.9 ppg).
About Arkansas: The red-hot Razorbacks have won 13 of their last 14 games, including Saturday’s thrilling 75-73 victory over Kentucky as a 2-point home chalk. Arkansas has gotten into a habit of playing tight games, as six of their last seven contests were decided by an average of 5.5 points. That includes the team’s only setback since early January, a 68-67 loss at Alabama on Feb. 12. During their 13-1 SU run, the Razorbacks are 8-0 SU/6-1-1 ATS at home. Despite being in the running for the SEC championship, the Hogs only rank fourth in the league in scoring offense (77.4 ppg) and ninth in scoring defense (67.6 ppg allowed).
What’s At Stake: The SEC regular-season title will go to either Auburn (13-3, 1st place), Kentucky (13-4), Tennessee (13-4), or Arkansas (12-4). Even with victories over LSU on Wednesday and at Tennessee on Saturday, the Razorbacks still would need help to claim even a share of the conference crown. Meanwhile, LSU (8-8) has an outside shot at top-six seed for next week’s SEC Tournament. Based on the NCAA’s NET rankings, both the Tigers (16th) and Razorbacks (23rd) are locks for the NCAA Tournament.
Players To Watch
LSU forward Tari Eason leads the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) and blocked shots (1.1 per game), and ranks second in field-goal shooting (52.4%), 3-point shooting (36.5%), and rebounds (6.9 per game). The 6-foot-8 sophomore transfer from Cincinnati has registered seven double-doubles this season, but he had just 13 points and four boards against Arkansas in mid-January.
Arkansas guard JD Notae poured in 30 points and dished out eight assists in Saturday’s victory over Kentucky. The 6-foot-2 senior averages a team-best 19.1 points and 3.6 assists per game. He’s scored in double figures in all 28 contests this season, including three games of 30-plus points and six games of 25-plus points.
Notable Trends
- LSU is 3-1 ATS in its last four (following a 2-7 ATS slump)
- LSU is 4-1 ATS in its last five Wednesday contests
- Arkansas is 9-1-1 ATS in its last 11 as a favorite
- Over is 7-3 in LSU’s last 10 overall (4-1 on the road)
- Arkansas is 5-2 ATS in the last seven meetings vs. LSU
- Under is 3-0 in the last three series clashes (following a 6-0 Over run in this rivalry)
- The last six head-to-head meetings have produced a combined scoring average of 157.1 points, substantially higher than tonight’s total
LSU Vs Arkansas Odds and Action
UPDATE 5:45 P.M. ET: Arkansas opened -4.5 on DraftKings, and that eventually jumped to -6 at the time of this update. According to DraftKings, 63% of tickets are backing Arkansas, but only 43% of the handle is on the Razorbacks … DraftKings opened the total at 140, which jumped to 142.5 at the time of this update. Per DraftKings, 45% of tickets and 72% of the money is on the Under.
