NCAAM Prop Bets: Best Auburn vs. Texas A&M, BYU vs. Iowa State Player Props

Another busy night in college hoops tips off at 6 p.m. (all times Eastern) tonight with Coastal Carolina vs. Southern Miss in the first round of the Sun Belt Championship.

But with all due respect to the Sun Belt, the two best games of the night don’t start until 9 p.m. That’s when No. 1 Auburn visits No. 22 Texas A&M on ESPN and No. 23 Brigham Young travels to Ames, Iowa, to take on No. 10 Iowa State in a key Big 12 matchup on ESPN2.

Auburn has already clinched the SEC regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. Still, there’s plenty at stake for not only the Tigers, but also the reeling Aggies, who are looking to snap a four-game losing streak.

BYU vs. ISU is also a must-see, as both teams could still finish anywhere between second and fifth place in the Big 12, depending on the outcomes of their final two regular-season games.

Auburn vs. Texas A&M Betting Odds

BYU vs. Iowa State Betting Odds

Best Player Prop Bet for Auburn vs. TA&M

A&M G Zhuric Phelps: 15+ Points (+102 at FanDuel) — 0.75 units

Auburn’s balanced roster is enviable, and the depth of coach Bruce Pearl’s team is a big reason it’s the current favorite to win it all.

For prop-betting purposes, though, we don’t love teams boasting five guys who all average at least 10 points per game. While star big man Johni Broome has been a consistent offensive force — he has scored at least 15 points in all but one game when he has logged at least 25 minutes this year — there’s little value in Broome’s points props.

For Texas A&M, former SMU Mustang guard Zhuric Phelps’ consistency throughout the Aggies’ current tailspin stands out. Phelps’ high in points over the last five games is a modest 16 points in last Saturday’s 89-70 loss to Florida.

But we like him to get 15 points tonight because of his impressive floor. Phelps has scored at least 12 points in seven of A&M’s last nine games, including each of the last five.

On the year, Phelps has scored at least 15 points 12 times, and he poured in a total of 45 points on a total of 40 field-goal attempts in his team’s last three games.

Phelps is only shooting 27.9 percent from 3-point land on the year, but his four 3PA per game over A&M’s last six games is encouraging — and so is the fact that he earned seven free-throw attempts against UF last Saturday.

The fact that Auburn has given up at least 70 points to three of its last four opponents also bodes well for a solid offensive night by Phelps on A&M’s Senior Night at Reed Arena.

Best Player Prop Bets for BYU vs. Iowa State

BYU F Richie Saunders: o16.5 Points (-108 at FD) — 0.5 units

Saunders has steadily improved throughout his three years as a Cougar. This season, he’s been one of the deadliest shooters in the country.

After knocking down a respectable 33 percent of his 3-pointers as a freshman and 36 percent as a sophomore, the 6-foot-5 star wing has leveled up as a junior. He’s shooting a remarkable 44 percent on 5.4 3PAs per game this year.

His hot shooting has helped him reach 20 points nine times this season, including in three of his last four games.

Saunders is coming off an unimpressive game statistically in BYU’s last outing. In Saturday’s 77-56 win over West Virginia, he shot an efficient 5-for-9 from the floor in a 13-point, 2-rebound, 1-assist effort.

Tonight, he faces an Iowa State team that he played well against in 2023-24. Saunders scored 20 on the Cyclones in one of last year’s BYU-ISU meetings and 12 in the other while shooting a combined 12-for-21 from the floor (3-for-9 from 3). Iowa State and BYU have not yet played each other this season.

Richie Saunders Made Threes: 3+ (+150 at bet365) — 0.5 units

One other Saunders prop we like tonight is his 3+ made three-pointers prop at bet365, which is listed at the tantalizing price of +150. This season, Saunders has 12 games with at least three made 3-pointers, including eight in Big 12 action and three in BYU’s last four games.

The Cyclones will prioritize making someone besides Saunders beat them. But that’s easier said than done, as BYU averages nearly 29 3PA per game thanks to a rotation full of willing, accurate shooters from outside. Saunders is one of five Cougars who shoots at least 35 percent from downtown on at least three 3PA per game.

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