The 8th-seeded South Alabama Jaguars (19-15) and No. 2 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (25-7) meet Monday in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship Game. Tip at Pensacola Bay Center is at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the South Alabama vs. Louisiana odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
South Alabama went just 9-9 in circuit play, buts its losses came early. Since Jan. 28, the Jaguars are 11-2 and own a 13.9-point average margin of victory. USA has advanced with 3 relatively easy games in this tournament, holding its opponents to a 38.3% field-goal percentage.
Louisiana went 15-3 over its 18 SBC games behind an offense cranking out frees and threes. The Cajuns logged the 2nd-best free-throw rate in the league while shooting a robust 36.2% from beyond the arc. ULL is looking for a 3-game sweep of the Jaguars: the Cajuns beat them 79-76 Jan. 14 and 74-64 Feb. 24.
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South Alabama vs. Louisiana odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:55 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline: South Alabama +105 (bet $100 to win $105) | Louisiana -125 (bet $125 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): South Alabama +1.5 (-110) | Louisiana -1.5 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 138.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
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South Alabama vs. Louisiana picks and predictions
Prediction
Louisiana 74, South Alabama 71
Moneyline
A slight nod toward Louisiana is on the mark, but there is no leverage on either side: STEER CLEAR.
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Against the spread
The last 3-4 weeks say South Alabama, but the expectations based on regression in shooting percentages say Louisiana.
PASS.
Over/Under
The Over is 3-0-1 in USA’s last 4 neutral-site games. The Jaguars have been a much better shooting squad over the last month and a half as their free-throw rate and 3-point shooting accuracy have been on the rise.
ULL excels in getting those 1s and 3s. The Cajuns’ defense is likely being overrated by many with too much of a recency bias.
The season schedules for both teams are heavily tilting toward stronger defenses played.
BACK THE OVER 138.5 (-115).
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