NCAA Men’s Basketball Previews, Picks and Predictions for Tuesday, Feb. 15

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NCAA Men’s Basketball Previews, Picks and Predictions for Tuesday, Feb. 15
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There are plenty of marquee matchups in the Power 5 conferences tonight in college basketball and here is our betting advice on three big games.

Oklahoma Sooners vs No. 20 Texas Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns are 18-7 straight-up (SU) for the season and 11-14 against the spread. For their last 10, the Longhorns are 6-4 SU and 4-6 ATS.

The Oklahoma Sooners are 14-11 straight up and 12-13 ATS on the season. In home games, the Sooners are 9-4 straight up and 6-7 against the spread.

The line on this game, being played at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman at 7 p.m. ET, opened with Oklahoma installed as a one-point home underdog and with a total of 124 points. In early betting action, the Over-Under line has moved 125.5 points. Of the bets placed so far, 60% of them back the Sooners and 40% back the Longhorns.

My predictive models are on the Longhorns to win. The Sooners are a money-burning 5-13 ATS when facing free throw shooting teams making at least 72% in games played in each of the past two seasons.

No. 19 Michigan State vs Penn State

This marquee Big 10 is set to tip off at 6:30 ET at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park. Despite being nine 9-12 SU, Penn State has one of the best defensive units in the nation.

They are a 3-point home underdog against the 19th ranked Spartans.

I like the home dog Nittany Lions in this matchup. The Spartans are just 12-22 ATS in road games when facing good ballhandling teams that commit an average of 14 or fewer turnovers per game in games played over the past three seasons. They are also 5-14 ATS after five consecutive games of forcing opponents to commit 14 or fewer turnovers over the past two seasons.

Penn State is 6-0 in home games after playing a game as an underdog this season. My sports betting play is to take the Lions and grab the points.

No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats vs. No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers

Thompson Boling Arena in Knoxville will be rocking at this 9 p.m. ET tip when the Tennessee Volunteers host the Kentucky Wildcats in a monumental SEC matchup.

West Virginia transfer Oscar Tshiebwe was expected to fortify the Kentucky defense with his elite rebounding abilities.

Instead, he is having a breakout season offensively. He has more than doubled his scoring average from a year ago and is surrounded with a growing sentiment that he may be the front-runner to win the Player of the Year award.

I like the Volunteers in this matchup favored by a single point.

Kentucky is 2-9 against the spread when facing good defensive teams that allow 42% or worse shooting, after the midpoint (Game 16) in each of the past two seasons.

The Volunteers are 8-1 ATS after a game in which they failed to cover the spread this season. Expect a huge effort tonight from the Volunteers and a win of more than three points.