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March Madness National Championship Best Bets: UConn Huskies vs Purdue Boilermakers

NBC Sports
·2 min read
1

Vaughn Dalzell breaks down how he's betting on the National Championship between the UConn Huskies and Purdue Boilermakers.

Purdue vs UConn (-6.5): O/U 144.5

Zach Edey O/U 24.5 Points vs. UConn

The National Championship is here and the UConn Huskies attempt to repeat as the Purdue Boilermakers have made the title run despite most people counting them out.

UConn is 11-0 ATS and on the ML in the last two NCAA Tournaments and won every game by double-digits. There is no reason to back off the Huskies spread now, so I played the -6.5 at -112 odds and would go to -7.

As far as player props, people are talking about how Zach Edey will be too much for Donovan Clingan, who had three games of four-plus blocks in the tournament, but I believe it will be the opposite.

Edey's points prop is set at 24.5, which is his average (24.9 PPG) and there were no dominant centers like Trayce Jackson-Davis of Indiana last year to oppose Edey in the Big Ten this season. Clingan and the multiple 7-footers on UConn will give Edey different matchups and force him to pass more than most will expect.

The Boilermakers shot 40.6% from three (2nd) this season and went 10-of-25 (40%) against NC State after a 3-of-15 (20%) effort from deep versus Tennessee. Purdue will need to knock down triples just to hang in with UConn, which I am not confident in against a UConn team that's more athletic and matches up in size.

I played UConn -6.5 at -112 odds on FanDuel and Zach Edey's Under 24.5 points at -145 odds on BetMGM. I'd shop around. FanDuel lists Edey at 22.5 points (-102 to the Under), which is playable.

I am riding UConn to win the Natty at -105 odds for 2 units and Clingan for Most Outstanding Player at +340 at 1.5 units. If both win, that's +7.1 units and Clingan is the current favorite on FanDuel (+170) and MGM (+180).

Pick: UConn -6.5 (2u), Zach Edey Under 24.5 Points (Risk 2u)

Season Record: 94-98 (48.9%) -10.23u

CBB Futures In My Pocket:

2u: UConn to win the National Championship (-105)
1.5u: Donovan Clingan to win Most Oustanding Player (+340)

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