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Pictured: DJ Burns Jr. (NC State) Photo by Lance King/Getty Images.

NCAAB best bets, pick: 2 predictions for Wednesday’s evening games (March 13)

Originally posted on Action Network
By Action Network Staff | Last updated 3/13/24

The best thing about Champ Week is that there's hoops from 11:30 a.m. ET until well past midnight ET.

We already covered the early/afternoon games here, but now let's target the evening plays before getting into the late-night affairs later today.

Here's NCAAB best bets and picks, including our staff's two predictions for Wednesday's evening games on March 13.

Rutgers vs. Maryland

Wednesday, March 13, 6:30 p.m. ET, Peacock
Under 125.5 (FanDuel)

By D.J. James

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are an anomaly, ranking in the top five defensively but 295th on offense, per KenPom.

The Maryland Terrapins are in pretty similar shape. The Terps boast a top-15 defense and rank 150th offensively.

Neither of these teams can shoot from 3. Both are hitting at a clip below 29%.

The Scarlet Knights are even worse on the interior, shooting less than 44% from 2-point range.

Both teams can get to the free-throw line, but much of Maryland’s success at getting to the strike is predicated on the health of Julian Reese, who’s questionable going into this game. He missed the Terps’ game against Penn State, and Maryland looked absolutely lost without him.

If Reese is hobbled or out, Rutgers has an edge in the post with Clifford Omoruyi (he's pulling down almost nine rebounds per game). Rutgers can also get to the charity stripe, and Maryland fouls relatively often, so this could be a concern for under backers.

That said, the Scarlet Knights defend the arc well, despite allowing a good number of shots from 3. They rank top-15 in Open-3 Rate, per ShotQuality.

Maryland, meanwhile, doesn’t allow many 3s at all and allows opponents to shoot just 31.6% from outside.

No matter what, both of these teams are top-tier defensively and like to slow the game down in the half-court on that end of the floor.

This should drive the game under the total. Take it to 123.

Pick: Under 125.5 (Play to 123)

NC State vs. Syracuse

Wednesday, Mar. 13, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2
NC State +1.5 (DraftKings)

By Mike McNamara

I believe the third time is the charm for the Wolfpack in this one.

Syracuse swept NC State in the regular season, putting up some of its best offensive outputs of the year in both games.

The Orange remain a very mediocre defensive team, and NC State should be able to have a lot of success in transition in this one.

The Pack still scored it plenty in both losses; they just couldn’t get enough stops due in part to some somewhat fluky shooting splits from Cuse in those two games.

I don’t see Syracuse shooting the lights out for a third time in Wednesday’s matchup.

Look for Kevin Keatts’ team to feed DJ Burns Jr. on the block, as the Orange don’t have the strongest interior defenders. When Burns gets doubled, he’s also a good passer and can kick it out to shooters like Casey Morsell and Jayden Taylor.

There will be plenty of points in this one, but I like the Pack to win a shootout and move on to a battle with Duke.