Courtside Players Club NCAAB 4-5 Units (3/3/25)

NCAAB

2 Picks (8 Units).

9PM EST: Wichita State vs North Texas Under 128 (5 Units).

North Texas has the 2nd ranked scoring defense in the Country, allowing just 59.4 points per game. They're 313th in scoring offense and their tempo (362nd) has a lot to do with those numbers. They play a very physical brand of defense that's 30th in defensive rating. With the physicality they can send teams to the line quite a bit but Wichita's 159th in Free Throw %. North Texas excels guarding the perimeter, ranking 11th in opponent 3-PT %. Wichita is 341st in 3-PT % and 356th in 3-PT Rate. The 3 Ball just won't be there for Wichita and it'll be hard to find space to attack the basket. They've been terrible offensively all year, ranking 165th in offensive rating. North Texas isn't much better, ranking 114th in offensive rating. Both teams rebound well and are better defensive rebounding teams than offensive. Long single empty possessions are exactly what we're looking for. These two met earlier this year with North Texas winning 58-54 in Wichita. UNT shot 40% from the field and Wichita shot 36%.

9PM EST: Kansas vs Houston Under 132.5 (3 Units).

Houston has the #1 ranked scoring defense and holds teams to 36.9% shooting at Home. Kansas has had some major offensive issues on the road, contributing to their 4-7 road record. They have a decent win over Cinci but the 3 other road wins came against Colorado, TCU, and UCF. They go from averaging 80.9 points per game on 50.6% shooting at Home to 69.5 points per game on 43.5% shooting on the road. It's not like they've had an incredibly difficult defensive road schedule either. Cinci and ISU are the only 2 defensive teams ranked higher than 38th in defensive rating on their road schedule and they scored 54 and 57 in those 2 games. These two played in Kansas earlier this year with Houston winning 92-86 in double overtime. That game ended at 132 points in regulation. Kansas's 6th ranked defense does travel just fine, limiting teams to 40% from the field compared to 38.6% at Home. They play excellent perimeter defense, ranking 13th in opponent 3-PT %. That will be important against Houston who ranks 3rd in 3-PT % but just 305th in 3-PT rate. They aren't looking for 3's and they want to get to the basket where the 7'2 Hunter Dickinson is waiting. Houston will also grind down games, ranking 361st in Tempo.