Best bets for February 26: Heading down the board to find two great values

“Finally, the picks... have come back!! to the Best Bets column (The Rock voice ends here)

We did get our 2-0 last night, despite Iowa and Michigan State making things unnecessarily close at the end. But we cleared our under Memphis-SMU selection by a cool 23 points, so we head back to the well tonight at 22-11 the last 2.5 weeks. Let’s keep it rolling. All lines are from DraftKings Sportsbook.

Loyola-MD +1 vs. Navy

You gotta get real deep in the weeds for this one, but there’s a terrific angle here. Loyola won their first Patriot League game, then lost eight in a row. But 6’11 freshman and Spanish superstar Santi Aldama finally joined the lineup for the Greyhounds after knee surgery. He’s played in their seven games and the Greyhounds have won six of them, including a six-point win over the Midshipmen on February 1st in Aldama’s first college basketball game.

Aldama is a terrific story, having led Spain with 18 points a game at the under-18 FIBA European Championships to pick up the tournament MVP last summer. Sometimes one player can make all the difference, and Loyola is a team to watch come Patriot League Tournament time just by his presence. Grab them with points while you still can.

Western Carolina vs. Samford UNDER 160.5

You ever walk into an ice cream or candy store and are just so overwhelmed at the choices you just can’t make a decision? There’s almost too many options, and you’re a bit frozen by all of them... but then you end up eating too much anyway and make yourself sick?

Welcome to WCU vs. Samford, where both teams are so defense optional, they give the offenses eyes bigger than their stat sheets. This monster CBB total is because the Catamounts are 44th in adjusted pace, but 275th in adjusted defense. The 9-21 Samford Bulldogs? 35th in pace, 329th in defense.

These teams battled to a 78-70 win for WCU earlier this season, and that number is more in line with the score we’ll see tonight. WCU actually defends the three-ball decently, which is enough to keep this from getting too scoreboard silly. #FadeOvertime, and take home an under winner for a total that just got a bit too high.

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