The Monmouth Hawks (0-1) and the No. 18 Virginia Cavaliers (1-0) meet Friday at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET (ACC Network). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Monmouth vs. Virginia odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Monmouth was paddled 79-52 in the season opener at Seton Hall, failing to come close to covering the 19.5-point number. The Hawks were an abysmal 30% (17 of 57) from the field, including just 10% (2 of 20) from behind the 3-point arc. Monmouth also committed a whopping 23 turnovers.
Virginia eased by North Carolina Central 73-61, but it didn’t come close to a cashing as 24.5-point favorites as the Over connected. The Cavaliers struggled a bit with their shot, too, hitting just 43% (20 of 47) from the field, although UVA was an impressive 44% (11 of 25) from downtown, while turning it over just 7 times.
Rankings courtesy of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
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Monmouth at Virginia odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:45 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Off the board
- Against the spread (ATS): Monmouth +23.5 (-105) | North Carolina -23.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 127.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Monmouth at Virginia picks and predictions
Prediction
Virginia 69, Monmouth 53
Moneyline
There was no money line at the time of publishing, but it wouldn’t be worth pursuing anyway.
Against the spread
MONMOUTH +23.5 (-105) should be able to shoot the ball better than it did in the opener at Seton Hall, although Virginia -23.5 (-115) is obviously famous for its low-scoring games and defense. That makes the Hawks that much more attractive, because UVA won’t run and gun, and Monmouth should be able to keep it within 20 as long as the shooting struggles do not get worse than the opener.
Over/Under
UNDER 127.5 (-115) is a strong play in Virginia games usually. The Cavaliers are very deliberate on offense, and tenacious on defense. That’s generally a great recipe for Under results.
The Under is 23-8 in the last 31 games overall for Monmouth dating back to last season, and 21-7 in the last 28 games, so UVA isn’t the only team known for Under results here.
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