Top 2023 March Madness Betting Picks of the Week – March 20th

The most chalk NCAA Tournament region entering the Sweet 16 is the Midwest, which still has o. 1 Houston, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Xavier and No. 5 Miami. Let’s break down the matchups for Friday’s games with the winners facing off Sunday for a trip to the Final Four.

Top NCAAB Betting Picks of the Week (March 20th, 2023)

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Miami Hurricanes vs. Houston Cougars

• When: Friday, March 24th, 2023. 7:15pm EST.
• Where: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, MO

Tips at 7:15 p.m. ET on Friday from Kansas City and on CBS. Houston advanced with an 81-64 win over No. 9 Auburn on Saturday, rallying from down 10 at the half. Tramon Mark scored a career-best 26 points and AAC Player of the Year Marcus Sasser added 22 – including five 3-pointers. Sasser was no sure thing to play with a groin injury.

“I probably felt it a couple of times,” said Sasser, who played nearly 31 minutes. “But it was pain I could go through and keep pushing.” Now, Houston doesn’t play again until Friday. More time for Sasser to feel even better. “I don’t know about eliminating it,” he said. “But I feel like it will get way better.”

Houston is 15-1 in its past 16 games, its only loss coming to Memphis in the ACC title game when Sasser was sidelined with the injury. With Top-10 marks in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, this is most balanced team in the tournament. This is the fourth straight trip to the Sweet 16 for the Cougars.

ACC regular-season champion Miami was a short underdog Sunday vs. Indiana but beat the No. 4 Hoosiers 85-69 to claim a second consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. Miami finished with a 48.6 percent (34-of-70) clip from the field, including a 39.1 percent (9-of-23) ledger from 3-point range. The Hurricanes posted a dominant 48-31 margin on the glass and compiled more offensive rebounds (20) than Indiana had defensive rebounds (19). Head coach Jim Larrañaga’s team totaled a 29-11 cushion in second-chance points, 14-0 tally in bench points and a 46-28 ledger in paint points.

Isaiah Wong led the Canes with 27 points, for the co-fourth-most by a Hurricane in the NCAA Tournament, came on a 9-of-17 shooting from the field, including a 4-of-6 mark from deep, along with a perfect 5-of-5 line on free throws. The ACC Player of the Year also grabbed eight rebounds in the win.

Forward Norchad Omier scored seven points and pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds to break the program’s NCAA Tournament single-game record he set two days prior and post the top total by a Hurricane in any regulation game since November 2018.

Miami has scored 63-plus points in all 34 games it has played this season, one of just five teams — the others are Gonzaga (34), Marshall (32), Toledo (35) and Youngstown State (34) — to do so in every outing this year. That streak will be tested by Houston’s stellar defense that allows just 56.6 ppg.

NCAAB Betting Pick: Miami Hurricanes +6.5

Texas Longhorns vs. Xavier Musketeers

• When: Friday, March 24th, 2023. 9:45pm EST.
• Where: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, MO

Tips at 9:45 p.m. ET on Friday from Kansas City and on CBS. Both teams have adjusted to major midseason change. Rodney Terry became the Longhorns’ acting head coach after Chris Beard was fired in January, and Terry almost surely has to get the full-time job now. Xavier lost star Zach Freemantle (15.2 PPG, 8.1 RPG) for the season on Feb. 1, but Jerome Hunter is averaging 19.0 PPG through the first two rounds.

Xavier of the Big East advanced with an 84-73 win over No. 11 Pittsburgh in the Round of 32. Jack Nunge led six Musketeers in double figures with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting. The forward has now scored in double figures 27 times this season. He added three rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Adam Kunkel added 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting from behind the arc. The guard now has 19 double-figure games this season. The five made three pointers matches the Xavier single-game NCAA Tournament record for made three pointers. Colby Jones posted his second double-double of the season (had 14 points, 10 rebounds vs Creighton on March 10).

Xavier scored eight more points off of turnovers (12-4) and held a 14-2 advantage in fastbreak points. Xavier also scored 10 more points in the paint (42-32). Both teams scored 13 bench points. XU is in the NCAA Sweet 16 for the ninth time in program history and the first time since 2017.

Texas, of the Big 12, beat Penn State 71-66 in the Round of 32. Senior forward Dylan Disu recorded a season-high 28 points and 10 rebounds. Disu set a Texas NCAA Tournament single-game record for most field goals made (14-20), topping the previous mark of 11 that had been accomplished three times previously and the most recent by Kevin Durant in 2007.

Disu’s 28 points were the most ever by a Texas player in a NCAA Round of 32 victory. It also marked the highest single-game scoring output by a Longhorn in a NCAA tourney contest since Kevin Durant had 30 points in a NCAA Round of 32 loss to USC in 2007.

Texas limited the Nittany Lions to a 28.6-percent (8-28) mark from three-point range and allowed just six assists on the night. The Longhorns converted 50.8-percent (31-61) from the floor and committed just five turnovers during the game. UT is in the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time since 2008 when Texas reached the Elite Eight. The Longhorns are 8-1 under Terry this season in games decided by five points or less OR in overtime.

NCAAB Betting Pick: Texas Longhorns -4

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