MLB Best Bets – Free (Wednesday 7/24)
Josh Gross
Multiple times each week, FTN Bets’ resident college basketball junkie, Brad Evans, will attempt to posterize the ‘books with his favorite selections, whether sides, totals, teasers or parlays. As always, fade or follow Brad’s picks — fading is encouraged — that’s up to you.
The play — 2-leg alt-line parlay: Gonzaga -35, Wisconsin -5 (DraftKings)
Leg 1: Northern Arizona (3-3 ATS) at Gonzaga (4-3)
After forcing the Virginia Cavaliers to fall on their swords in an utter 98-75 dismantling over the weekend, the ‘Zags turn their attention to the “mighty” Lumberjacks, a club incapable of chopping down the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. This season, Northern Arizona ranks 300-plus in five different defensive categories, including D efficiency (No. 333). Almost equally inept scoring the basketball, netting a putrid 0.95 points per possession, they’re outclassed in every category. Gonzaga’s second team, which earned plenty of run in consecutive matchups against Northwestern State, would alone probably blast them by 25-plus. Arizona trashed NAU by 43 points in November. Against the nation’s No. 1 offense, a harder spanking seems inevitable. Drew Timme, Jalen Suggs and Corey Kispert are simply too damn efficient.
Leg 2: Maryland (4-4 ATS) at Wisconsin (6-3)
A buffet of ice-cold Leinie’s, tubed meats and buckets are on the menu in Madison Monday night. Greg Gard’s sets and execution are Monet-level masterpieces. The Badgers consistently make the extra pass, find an open man and splash through the cylinder. As a club, they scored 1.137 points per possession, top-10 in the country. Deadliest from outside, they feature four sharpshooters – Micah Potter, D’Mitrik Trice, Nate Reuvers and Brad Davison – who each shoot at least 41.5 percent from distance. Effective at the free-throw line (77.0%) and stringent on defense (0.873 pts/poss allowed), they are a fierce bunch. Maryland’s No. 246 standing in three-point percentage D presents an exceptional matchup edge. Toss in the Terps’ struggles at the charity stripe (68.7%) and Bucky covers the teased line going away.
Odds: +110
