The No. 13 LSU Tigers remain on top of the SEC standings following another action-packed weekend of college basketball, but they are tied with the No. 7 Tennessee Gators. In other words, the Tigers can’t afford to lose their Wednesday showdown with a dangerous Florida Gators team that beat them last month. Going into the game, NCAA basketball futures list LSU with +3,000 odds to win the 2019 National Championship while Florida is priced with +15,000 odds.
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Betting Preview for the LSU Tigers vs. Florida Gators College Basketball Game on March 6, 2019
Where: Stephen C. O’Connell Center, Gainesville
When: Wednesday, March 6, 2019, 7:00 PM ET
Line: LSU Tigers (odds) vs. Florida Gators (odds) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the LSU Tigers (24-5 Overall / 14-2 Conference)
The Tigers are picking up steam as the championship week nears. They have won all of their last three games, with their latest preys being the Alabama Crimson Tide, whom LSU beat in Tuscaloosa last Saturday, 74-69. LSU picked on Alabama with an incredible display of lockup defense and offense from the pair of Skylar Mays and Ja’vonte Smart. The Tigers held Alabama down to just 37.5 percent shooting from the field and forced the Crimson Tide to commit 13 turnovers. LSU generated plenty of extra possessions by also coming up with nine steals to just one by ‘Bama. Mays led the team with 20 points while Smart added 19 to help give star point guard Tremont Waters a nice welcome back victory. Waters, who missed the last two games with an undisclosed condition, came off the bench and only had five points but had four steals. Look for Waters to play a bigger role against Florida, which beat LSU in Baton Rouge last month, 82-77 (OT). Waters and company know they need to play better perimeter defense this time around, with Florida waxing hot from deep in the first meeting.
LSU, which is 12th nationally with 82.1 points per game and fifth with 9.4 steals per contest, is 13-9-1 against the spread (ATS) in games after a win.
Betting on the Florida Gators (17-12 Overall / 9-7 Conference)
Like LSU, Florida appears to be peaking just in time for the conference championship. That’s despite the fact that the Gators lost to the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, 61-55 at home. After suffering three-straight losses, the Gators have won all of their next five games, including the aforementioned win over LSU on the road in February. KeVaugh Allen starred for Florida in the first meeting with LSU, as the senior shooting guard had a game-high 21 points on 6-for-12 line from the field and five 3-pointers in the win. The experienced gunner followed that up with a 17-point performance in a home win over the Missouri Tigers. He leads the team with 12.8 points per game. But it’s Florida’s defense that will likely dictate the team’s faith in the rematch with LSU. In the first date with the Tigers this season, the Gators held LSU to only 64 points in regulation, almost 20 points fewer than LSU’s season average. Florida has the third-best defense in the SEC per KenPom and second in defensive turnover percentage. The Gators gave LSU a taste of its own medicine, too, by forcing the Tigers commit 14 turnovers.
Florida is 3-1 straight up (SU) and 3-1 ATS in its last four home games against LSU.
Writer’s Prediction
Florida wins, 69-67.
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