{"id":11728,"date":"2010-12-21T00:05:58","date_gmt":"2010-12-21T05:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/?p=11728"},"modified":"2010-12-21T00:05:58","modified_gmt":"2010-12-21T05:05:58","slug":"free-ncaa-basketball-picks-unlv-runnin-rebels-vs-kansas-state-wildcats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/free-ncaa-basketball-picks-unlv-runnin-rebels-vs-kansas-state-wildcats-11728\/","title":{"rendered":"Free NCAA Basketball Picks: UNLV Runnin’ Rebels vs Kansas State Wildcats"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNLV Runnin\u2019 Rebels vs Kansas State Wildcats
\nTuesday, 12\/21\/10, 9:00 PM EDT, TV:\u00a0 ESPN2
\nOpening Point Spread:\u00a0 Kansas State -5
\nCurrent Betting Line:\u00a0 Kansas State -4.5
\nOpening Total:\u00a0 138
\nCurrent Total:\u00a0 138<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Kansas State Wildcats are 4.5-point favorites in hosting the UNLV Runnin' Rebels at the Sprint Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UNLV dropped two consecutive games after starting the season a perfect 9-0 and stopped the losing streak with a 72-50 home win over Southern Utah on Saturday.\u00a0 \u201cAny time you lose a couple you want to bounce back and not only win a game but play better,\u201d said coach Lon Kruger.\u00a0 \u201cI thought we were pretty sharp defensively and moved the ball offensively.\u201d\u00a0 The key to the victory over the Thunderbirds was leading 37-18 in the first half and shooting 50 percent from the floor after the break. The Runnin\u2019 Rebels have three players averaging in double figures in scoring and six more averaging at least 4.8 points per game.\u00a0 UNLV is averaging 75.6 points per game on offense and limiting opponents to 61.2.\u00a0 The squad is 8-5 ATS as an underdog over the past three years and currently getting points on the college basketball lines page.<\/p>\n

The Runnin\u2019 Rebels will be meeting the Wildcats for the sixth time on Tuesday night and lead the series 3-2, but lost the last meeting 95-80 last year at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on December 12, 2009.\u00a0 This year\u2019s version of Kansas State will be the highest-ranked team that UNLV will have faced during the regular season since losing to then-No. 6 Louisville at the Thomas & Mack Center on November 21, 2007.\u00a0 The team will rely heavily on its shooting against one of the best defensive units in the country, coming in 10th in the country in field goal percentage at 49.9.<\/p>\n

Kansas State is set to play its second ranked foe in as many games on Tuesday and is coming off a 57-44 loss to Florida on Saturday.\u00a0 The Wildcats suffered from one of their worst offensive performances in nearly five years by shooting just 27.3 percent, including 6-of-27 from the field in the second half.\u00a0 \u201cWe were executing and getting shots and doing the things we talked about trying to do and the ball didn\u2019t go in the basket,\u201d said coach Frank Martin.\u00a0 \u201cAnd then it broke our spirit.\u201d\u00a0 The program is 6-3 at the Sprint Center, including a 4-1 mark during the regular season.\u00a0 Earlier this year, the Wildcats split two games in the arena, defeating Gonzaga, 81-64, before losing to Duke, 82-68.\u00a0 The team is 26-17 ATS as a favorite the past three years.<\/p>\n

The Wildcats had their 14-game winning streak in December snapped against the Gators, but will now look to extend their 28-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents at home.\u00a0 This neutral-court event will count as a home game due the the athletic department controlling the game operations and all ticketing.\u00a0 Kansas State boasts a 31-1 mark in all non-conference home games under Martin.<\/p>\n

Bettors will be interested in the Runnin\u2019 Rebels being 3-7 ATS against the Big 12, while the Wildcats are 11-5-1 ATS in non-conference contests.<\/p>\n

The college basketball handicappers at Maddux Sports are enjoying an incredible season and can\u2019t wait for you to join them with a season pass today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNLV Runnin\u2019 Rebels vs Kansas State Wildcats Tuesday, 12\/21\/10, 9:00 PM EDT, TV:\u00a0 ESPN2 Opening Point Spread:\u00a0 Kansas State -5 Current Betting Line:\u00a0 Kansas State -4.5 Opening Total:\u00a0 138 Current Total:\u00a0 138 UNLV dropped two consecutive games after starting the season a perfect 9-0 and stopped the losing streak with a 72-50 home win over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":9814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1444],"tags":[738,3946,2807,4137,3959,3113],"class_list":["post-11728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-basketball","category-headlines","tag-big-12","tag-frank-martin","tag-kansas-state-wildcats","tag-lon-kruger","tag-sprint-center","tag-unlv-runnin-rebels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11729,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11728\/revisions\/11729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}