College basketball best bets for Wednesday, 2/22: Providence keeps things close

Providence Friars guard Devin Carter (22) pumps up fans during the second half against the Villanova Wildcats at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
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Caleb Wilfinger

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We are now less than 3 weeks out from Selection Sunday, as the 2022 college basketball regular season is hitting its peak. Tuesday’s slate was a wild one and we should have more great action in store throughout the week.

While Wednesday’s lines were released on Tuesday evening at most sportsbooks, there are still some good value bets of which to take advantage. Let’s take a look at my best bets for Wednesday, but make sure you also check out our college basketball picks for the day’s biggest games.

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Providence Friars +7.5 over UConn Huskies (-110)

Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing

Ed Cooley continues to get the most out of this Providence team. The Friars are having another season where they surpass all expectations, but unlike the 2021-22 campaign, this team isn’t fraudulent in the slightest. Sure, Providence excels in close games, but that’s a product of great coaching on the part of Cooley. The Friars’ offense is much smoother than last season, ranking inside the top 20 in offensive efficiency per KenPom, and they’ve really picked it up of late, scoring an average of 81.2 points per game over their last 5 contests.

Now, they’ll walk into Connecticut to take on a UConn team that appears to have figured it out, having won 4 of its last 5 games. However, UConn is still just 6-7 straight up since starting the season with a record of 14-0, while Providence is 15-4 since starting off 5-3. The Huskies have gone through some growing pains and appear to be on the other side, but this is simply too big of a number for this UConn team. Even on the road, I like Providence’s chances to play yet another close game, and possibly be right there with a chance to win it outright down the stretch.

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Kentucky Wildcats -2.5 (-110) over Florida Gators

Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing

Don’t look now, but Kentucky has played some of its best basketball of the season of late. The Wildcats controlled the game wire-to-wire against Tennessee at home on Saturday, and now they’ll hit the road for a date with a wounded Florida team. The Gators hardly have much to play for at this point in the season, and it won’t get any easier with big man Colin Castleton out for the year after suffering a broken hand last week against Ole Miss.

Castleton was averaging 16 points per game, to go along with 7.7 rebounds and had led the Gators in scoring in 8 consecutive outings prior to getting injured against the Rebels. Castleton owned the matchup against Oscar Tshiebwe when these 2 teams squared off at Rupp Arena on February 4, but Kentucky still managed to pull out a 72-67 victory. With Tshiebwe tallying only 4 points and the Wildcats still winning that game, just imagine what the double-double machine is going to do when Castleton isn’t on the floor. With these teams trending in opposite directions, I’ll ride with the Wildcats and lay the short number.

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