NCAA Basketball Betting – Wichita State Shockers at TCU Horned Frogs
The Wichita State Shockers (3-4 SU, 4-0 ATS) of the Missouri Valley Conference, who are coming off back-to-back tough losses to capable teams, will try to even their record on Monday night when they take on the TCU Horned Frogs (6-3 SU, 4-2 ATS) in NCAA college basketball online betting action that is scheduled to tip off at 9 PM ET at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in Fort Worth, TX.
BetUS NCAA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: TCU -2.5, Total 119
Here are some of the NCAA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* WSU has lost 18 of its last 24 games SU
* WSU has covered five of its last six road games
* WSU has lost 13 of its last 14 road games SU
* WSU has played seven of its last nine road games OVER the total
* TCU has won its last five games SU
* TCU has won 19 of its last 24 home games SU
These are two teams who would rather slow things down and play deliberately than race it up and down the court. TCU has won five games in a row, the first time since the the 2001-02 season that they have done that. So Jim Christian, who took over the coaching reins this year, is off to a good start.
The shooting has improved recently. In their first six games, TCU hit just 41% of its shots, before managing to convert 54% against St. Gregory’s, 46% against Colorado and 50% against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. But they had to go on a 25-4 run in the second half, sinking five three-pointers in that stretch, which they don’t normally do, to overcome a 12-point deficit. This is far from a complete package. Remember that they were dead last in the Mountain West in shooting percentage last season.
Wichita State is under the .500 mark, but is much more battle-tested, with their losses coming against the likes of Georgetown, Michigan State and Texas Tech, by a total of 19 points, in addition to a very painful defeat suffered at the hands of Missouri-Kansas City. But there is also a significant win, a two-point victory over Siena, who is considered a possible mid-major spoiler prospect for the NCAA’s. Gregg Marshall is in his second season, having last turned Winthrop into a small-major power.
The Shockers need to find a better way to break from the starting gate. If they had, things may have turned out differently against Pat Knight’s Texas Tech team, which won with a three-pointer at the buzzer. Wichita State has averaged 26.5 points on 36.5% shooting in the first halves of its games. Only one starter – Clevin Hannah – averages in double digits (13 ppg). Forward J.T. Durley (36% shooting) has disappointed.
But despite allowing Siena and Texas tech to shoot better than 50%, and hitting only 28% against Georgetown, these guys have figured out a way to hang around enough for the cover, and in the case of Siena, the win. And we give Ramon Clemente a reasonable chance to control the boards against a TCU club that does not dominate things against anybody on the inside.
TCU doesn’t get huge home support at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. And if Wichita doesn’t lag behind to badly early, there is a definite shot at the straight-up win, since they shoot ten percentage points better in the second half. Take the points with Wichita State, the 2.5-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA college basketball sports betting action.
