The madness of the opening two rounds of the NCAA Torunament has subsided with the pack narrowed down to 16 teams. Alabama will take on BYU to kick off the next round of matchups with this set to be an up-tempo battle of offenses. Mark Sears and company will need to lace up their track shoes as both these teams average over 80 points per game and rank in the top 26 in scoring.
Alabama enters the matchup as 5.5-point favorites and -230 on the Moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. BYU holds +190 odds of an upset on the Moneyline with the game total set at a sky-high 175.5 for this matchup. For reference, the next highest game total in this round is 157.5 between Florida and Maryland.
Ahead of Thursday’s showdown, here is my favorite Mark Sears player prop bet to place on DraftKings Sportsbook.
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Best Mark Sears prop bet for Saturday
At the heart of the top-scoring offense in the country sits 6-foot-1 guard Mark Sears. The scrappy 23-year-old has taken his game to new heights in his fifth collegiate season and third at Alabama averaging 18.6 points, 5.0 assists, and 3.0 rebounds on the season. Sears finished with 22 points and 10 assists in the opening round of the tournament against Robert Morris but then struggled against Saint Mary’s being held to 12 points and three assists.
Alabama enters with the top-scoring offense in the country but ranks 356th in points allowed giving up 81.0 points per game. BYU ranks 26th in the country in scoring at 81.2 points per game and allows 71.4 points per game which ranks 159th in the country. Simply put, there are going to be some points scored in this matchup.
Look for Mark Sears to be at the heart of things with his combined points and assists in mind. I initially was targeting his assist prop for 5+ at -130 odds. However, Sears is still a score-first player at his core and should be primed for a bounceback performance with a little rest under his legs.
Sears has recorded 26+ points and assists in 18 of the 35 games this season. This includes three games with 30+ points scored and three games logged with 10+ assists.
In the previous matchup against Wisconsin, BYU allowed 37 points and four assists to John Tonje. In the opening round against VCU, Zeb Jackson exploded off the bench for 22 points and four assists.
Sears has a stylistically different game than either of these players but he is capable of handling whatever the defense throws his way. This is the stage of the tournament in which the experience Sears possesses will come into play as he continues to be at the epicenter of the Crimson Tide attack. Expect Alabama to lean on their star guard frequently throughout this matchup and for Sears to have success leading the charge on the fastbreak at a high rate. Don’t be surprised if he statically outperforms both of the opening two matchups by a significant margin and look for the star guard to record 26+ combined points and assists in this Sweet 16 matchup.
Best Bet: Mark Sears 26+ points & assists (-110)
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