The Arkansas Razorbacks (+50,000 to win the national title) are feeling the pressure to get a quality win in order to keep their hopes alive for an at-large bid in March, as entering the national tournament as a conference looks like a distant possibility. The No. 19 LSU Tigers (+8,000), meanwhile, have a good shot of topping the conference standings at the end of the regular season, but they will have to focus more first on their visitors this coming Saturday in Baton Rouge.
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Betting Preview for the Arkansas Razorbacks vs. LSU Tigers College Basketball Game on February 2, 2019
Where: Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge
When: Saturday, February 2, 2019, 6:00 PM ET
Line: Arkansas Razorbacks (odds) vs. LSU Tigers (odds) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Arkansas Razorbacks (12-8 Overall / 3-4 Conference)
Heartbeats were detected in the Razorbacks on Jan. 23, when they stopped a four-game losing skid with a 12-point win against the Missouri Tigers at home. And while the Razorbacks followed that up with a 67-64 loss in Lubbock against the No. 14 Texas Tech Red Raiders last Saturday, it was still an admirable performance from Arkansas in the face of a quality opponent on the road. Then the Razorbacks dealt the Georgia Bulldogs with a 70-60 loss in Fayetteville on Tuesday, giving Arkansas something to feed confidence from ahead of a rematch with LSU. In the first meeting, the Tigers needed overtime to repulse Arkansas in a 94-88 victory in Fayetteville on Jan. 12. The duo of Daniel Gafford and Mason Jones had a field day against LSU’s defense, scoring 32 and 22 points, respectively. Expect the two and Arkansas’ stingy defense to make life hard again for LSU. The Razorbacks had nine steals and forced the Tigers to commit 19 turnovers in the two team’s previous encounter.
Arkansas, which is 20th in the nation in steals with 8.2 swipes per game, is 5-5 against the spread (ATS) in its last 10 road games.
Betting on the LSU Tigers (16-3 Overall / 6-0 Conference)
LSU is one of the hottest teams in the nation right now. The Tigers, who will face the Texas A&M Aggies this Wednesday, are on a nine-game winning streak. They are expected to handle their business smoothly against Texas A&M, but regardless of the outcome of that contest, LSU can’t afford to lose to a team like Arkansas, which is currently deemed unlikely to make the national tournament. Whereas the Razorbacks have Gafford and Jones, the Tigers have the trio of Tremont Waters, Skylar Mays, and Naz Reid. Mays was fantastic in the LSU’s road overtime win against the Missouri Tigers last Saturday, as he led the team with 24 points. In the win over Arkansas, he had 15, while Reid had 27. Waters chipped in 17 and looked like the engine that makes LSU run smoothly, adding 11 assists and three steals. That said, Waters committed seven turnovers in that game, so if LSU learned anything from that close win, it’s that it needs to give Waters more help in the backcourt. LSU needs to cut down on their turnovers to keep lesser caliber teams from hanging around too near the Tigers. It is 11th in the SEC with 14.1 turnovers per contest.
LSU is 4-2 ATS in its last six games as the home team.
Writer’s Prediction
LSU wins, 86-76.
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