The madness of March is in full swing with the opening round of 64 now in the books. With Cinderella stories and legitimate NCAA Tournament title threats beginning to be established, teams have no time to rest with the second round picking up right away.
The pace of games slows down slightly with eight games taking place across the NCAA Tournament slate on Saturday. With 16 teams still set to take the floor, including high-profile teams like Houston, Auburn, Tennesse, and more, there are plenty of options for college basketball bettors. Ahead of the third day of action in the tournament, here are my three favorite college basketball props on DraftKings Sportsbook.
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RJ Luis Jr. 2+ Made Three-Pointers (-135)
Tipping off at 2:40 p.m. ET, No. 2 St. John’s will take on No. 10 Arkansas in the most entertaining coaching matchup of the tournament. Rick Pitino and John Calipari will face off for the 24th time in their collegiate careers, in addition to six times in the NBA, but the first time at their respective new schools.
St. John’s plays a defensive-minded brand of basketball and counts on RJ Luis Jr. to lead the offense. He is averaging 18.5 points per game and is one of the team’s best three-point shooters at 34.3%. Luis averages 1.4 made three-pointers and has made two or more three-pointers in 14 games this season, including a season-high five made perimeter shots in the opening round of the tournament. He has reached this total in seven of his past eight games.
The saying goes that defense wins championships but at a certain point, it will come down to which team can hit shots in this game. Luis will carry the bulk of the responsibility for St. John’s and has shot the ball with impressive confidence of late. Expect the Red Storm to lean on his production heavily and for Luis to connect on a pair of perimeter shots in the second-round matchup.
Ryan Kalkbrenner 10+ Rebounds (+130)
Top overall seed Auburn will face off with the Creighton Bluejays in their second-round matchup. There are plenty of reasons to love this Auburn team, but it is not as impressive of a rebounding team as you would expect with its personnel. Auburn ranks 75th in rebounds per game and 118th in total rebounds allowed. They also rank 269th in offensive rebounds allowed.
Enter 7-foot-1 Ryan Kalkbrenner, who is plenty capable of making an impact in this category. The four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year led the conference in rebounding with 8.7 per game this year. This ranks 40th out of all players in the country. Kalkbrenner has tallied as many as 15 rebounds in a game this season and recorded 10+ rebounds in 12 games.
The experienced big man got off to a bit of a rough start to the NCAA Tournament being limited to 14 points and six rebounds in the opening round. This was tied for his sixth-fewest rebounds in a game all season. Expect Kalkbrenner to be matched up with unanimous AP All-American Johni Broome and the 10.6 rebounds he provides. While Broome is a physically commanding presence who will not be shy to put a body on Kalkbrenner, the Creighton big man has a three-inch height advantage and a six-inch wingspan advantage. Kalkbrenner typically fares better in these types of one-on-one battles on the boards in comparison to having multiple bodies thrown his way. Count on a better performance from the experienced big man in the second round and expect the rebounding battle to play a huge factor in the outcome of this game.
Zakai Zeigler 20+ Points & Assists (-135)
In the final matchup of Saturday’s second-round slate, the Tennessee Volunteers will face off against the UCLA Bruins. When discussing the outlook for Tennessee, you can’t get far without bringing up Zakai Zeigler. The senior guard is averaging 13.7 points and an SEC-leading 7.5 assists per game on the season. He is coming off a 12-point, 12-assist performance in the opening round.
UCLA gets it done on both sides of the ball but has had some ups and downs defensively. It limits opponents to 65.2 points per game, which ranks 22nd in the country, but it has allowed as many as 94 points in a game this season. Zeigler’s ability as a scorer and playmaker allows him to impact the game in a variety of ways. The 5-foot-9 guard continues to be the toughest player on every court he walks on.
Zeigler has tallied 20+ combined points and assists in 21 of the 34 games he has played this season including in the opening-round matchup. Tennessee will live and die with where their point guard can take them and feel confident in Zeigler’s imprints being all over this game. While I think 25+ combined points and assists is also worth considering at +265 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook, feel comfortable laying the -135 for Zeigler to reach 20 points and assists.
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