After a massive Wednesday, only two games involve Top 25 teams on Thursday's college hoops slate of games. The No. 8 Arizona Wildcats will have a tough road test against the Utah Utes at 8 PM Eastern on the PAC 12 network. The 20th ranked Florida Atlantic Owls will also hit the highway to take on the UAB Blazers at 9 PM on ESPN2.
Our college basketball player props stumbled to a 1-2 mark in their season debut. Rylan Griffen of Alabama came up two rebounds short against Auburn and Tyrece Radford of Texas A&M scored big against Mizzou to lose those two plays. Thankfully, Quincy Olivari of Xavier cashed our Under ticket to keep us away from the dreaded golden sombrero.
Let's shake it off and move on. Here are 3 DraftKings college hoops player props we love for Thursday, February 8. Best of luck, folks!
Caleb Love (Arizona) Under 20.5 Points (-105)
Sure, I know it's tough to fade one of the top players in the country, but value is value. Love has been an outstanding scorer for the Wildcats, but his median point total is just 19 this season. That gives us a 7.3% perceived edge right off the bat.
Love's current form also favors an Under, as he's scored 20 points or less in 4 or his last 6 ball games. Overall, in the 2023-24 campaign, Love has stayed under this point total in 14 of 22 contests. Those two edges alone are a big reason why we like the Under in this spot.
Lastly, Love's matchup against the Utes won't be an easy one. The Utes may not be ranked, but they're a solid 15-7 on the year and the Huntsman Center will be rocking. Also, Utah ranks a respectable 40th in opponent shooting efficiency this season. That's pretty solid when you consider that there are more than 350 Division 1 college basketball teams.
Oumar Ballo (Arizona) Under 10.5 Rebounds (-120)
Here's another scary wager to hit submit on! Ballo is a 7-foot center who has no trouble pulling down his fair share of rebounds. So why in the world are we playing him to go Under?
We're glad you asked! Ballo's median rebounding number for this season is 9. He's also grabbed 10 rebounds or less in 14 of his 22 games. The -120 juice is a little bit of a turnoff, but not enough to keep us off the play.
The matchup for Ballo tonight won't be a cakewalk. Utah has a pretty good 7-foot center of their own in Branden Carlson. He's not nearly as thick as Ballo, but Carlson should be able to steal a few boards away from him in this one. That'll help our case for the Under!
Gabe Madsen (Utah) Over 2.5 3-Pointers Made (+110)
Madsen has been in a bit of a slump from three-point land, which is why we're getting an overly generous plus money price from the fine folks at DraftKings. Even with a few off games of late, Madsen is still shooting 42% from beyond the arc.
The former Cincinnati Bearcat has also made three or more 3-pointers in 12 of his 22 outings this season. He also nailed four shots from downtown against this same Arizona team back on January 6. You can see why we're quite fond of this Over.
We like the matchup tonight for Madsen as well. Arizona is a fabulous offensive team, but they can be lazy at times on the defensive end of the floor. The Wildcats rank just 241st in the nation at defending three pointers. Give us the Over!
