Saturday was jam-packed with bettable action from morning to night. Along with a large college slate — filled with a few upsets — came a night in the NBA filled with intrigue. Not to mention, UFC 235 drew eyeballs in the late evening with one champion retaining his strap and a new champion being crowned. Here is a full sports betting recap from Saturday along with a look ahead to today’s happenings in the sports world.
Jones Retains, Usman Dominates
UFC 235 ended just as oddsmakers anticipated with Jon Jones dominating in victory versus Anthony Smith. Despite being docked two points for an illegal knee, Jones (-850) cruised to a comfortable victory. Jones outstruck his challenger 238-45 and landed 125 significant strikes.
In the co-main event, Kamaru Usman claimed the UFC welterweight title after dominating three-time, defending champion Tyron Woodley. Usman won a unanimous decision with judges’ scorecards 50-44, 50-44, and 50-45. Bettors cashed in +132 tickets on the Usman victory.
NCAA Top 25 Rundown
The No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers were 2.5-point favorites and beat No. 4 Kentucky — 71-52 — in impressive fashion. The Vols snap a five-game ATS losing streak with the cover against the Wildcats. Jordan Bone poured in 27 points in the marquee victory.
Upsets occurred across the country as several Top 25 teams fell to unranked teams. No. 6 Michigan State lost to Indiana as 7.5-point favorites. The Spartans drop to 20-9 ATS on the season.
Elsewhere, No. 8 Houston fell to 12-point underdogs UCF. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights stunned No. 22 Iowa as 22.5-point underdogs. Finally, in the upset with the most consequence, No. 12 Nevada lost at Utah State to relinquish the lead in the Mountain West Conference standings. Utah State was a 1.5-point home underdog.
Stat of the Day
After another impressive 34-point scoring performance, Kevin Durant remains one of only three Warriors in franchise history to have 50+ 30-point games in his first three seasons with the team. Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry join Durant on this impressive short list.
Temperature Meter: Chilly In Hollywood
The notion that LeBron James might miss the playoffs becomes more believable with each disappointing loss. The Lakers traveled to play the Suns as 6.5-point favorites and lost outright. Los Angeles is now 1-4 outright in their last five games as favorites — only covering against the Pelicans during that span.
With the loss, the Lakers are now -600 to miss the NBA Playoffs on FanDuel Sportsbook.
Marquee Matchup In Boston
The Rockets travel to Boston to play the 2.5-point home favored Celtics. The Rockets are coming off of a home victory against the Miami Heat where James Harden went off for 58 points. Harden nearly scored half of the team’s 121 points and was three rebounds shy of a triple double.
Despite a four-game winning streak, the Rockets are 1-4-1 ATS in their last six.
Prior to the Friday night victory, the Celtics lost their last four games SU and lost the previous three ATS. In typical Boston fashion, seven players hit double figures in scoring while Al Horford led the team with 18 points. At home, the Celtics are 20-13 against the number on the season. Breakfast lean: Boston -2.5 points
Wolverines Travel To Maryland
In the only matchup of two Top 25 teams Sunday, 9th-ranked Michigan visits No. 17 Maryland in a pivotal Big Ten matchup. Both teams are destined for the dance with tournament seeding the bounty in today’s tilt. Only a game behind Purdue, the Wolverines can inch closer to the top spot in the Big Ten standings with a road victory.
A near pick’em, Michigan enters the contest as one-point favorites. The Wolverines are 16-13 ATS on the season and 5-4 against the number on the road.
Coming off of a bad loss against Penn State, the Terps look to right the ship against their conference foes. Maryland is 4-2 ATS in their last six but only 7-8-1 ATS at home this season. Maryland recently lost at Michigan 52-65 on February 16 and seem only to be short underdogs because of home court advantage. Breakfast lean: Michigan -1
Rookie Leads Honda Classic
Fresh face Wyndam Clark sits atop the Honda Classic leaderboard at -7. Clark shot three-under par on Saturday to hold his lead against Tour veteran Vijay Singh who went low (-5) during the third round.
Despite holding a lead, Clark is not the favorite to win the tournament. Clark is currently +490 to hold on while Rickie Fowler is +350, despite being two strokes behind at -5. With ten players within three strokes of the rookie, Sunday should be an interesting day for live bettors on FanDuel Sportsbook.
Prop Shop: James Harden O/U 36.5
After a 58-point explosion against the Miami Heat on Thursday night, oddsmakers are setting the line on James Harden’s scoring very high on Sunday. With the O/U set at 36.5 on FanDuel, the under is being bet already moving to -122. While James Harden is virtually unguardable, the Celtics rank second in defensive efficiency against the shooting guard position. Breakfast lean: Under 36.5 points
Quick Links
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