The Elite 8 will be here in just over 24 hours. But before that, we have one more day of Sweet 16 action to enjoy.
With the last four games of this round taking place Friday, there are fewer bets available overall — but there's still plenty of player prop action across the board.
For Friday's games, we're focused on two players: Providence's Jared Bynum and UCLA's Jules Bernard. We're expecting plenty of points and 3-pointers from the duo.
Below, we'll use the Action Labs Player Prop Tool to compare our NCAAB projections to the props posted at a variety of sportsbooks.
Jared Bynum Over 11.5 Points (-120)
Jared Bynum has also played a crucial role in Providence’s success over the last dozen games. The 5-foot-10 point guard has averaged 13 points this season but really elevated his game up down the stretch of the season, bumping that number up to 17 per game.
Bynum is one of the top 3-point shooters on Providence’s roster who has converted on 42% of his 103 attempts this season. That could be crucial, as Creighton exposed Kansas from behind the arc by hitting 12-of-28 (43%) from downtown. He also finds himself at the charity stripe often and hits 75% from the line.
Providence’s point guard averaged just eight shot attempts in the first 16 games this season. He’s now become a pivotal part of the Friars’ offense, putting up 12 shot attempts per game over the last 12 games.
Bynum has gone over this total in nine of his last 12 matchups, and I anticipate that trend to continue against a suspect Kansas defense.
Jules Bernard Over 1.5 3-Pointers (-145)
By Doug Ziefel
This is the same matchup that I attacked last week with Adam Flagler, and we're going to go right back to it here.
This year, the Tar Heels defense has been beaten from behind the arc. They rank 208th in 3-point percentage allowed, and their opponents have attacked them from deep.
We’ve seen 68 3s taken against North Carolina over two games. While only 17 of them were made, we're not worried about a lot of them being made in this matchup. We just need two from one man.
That man is UCLA’s Jules Bernard. Bernard is the Bruins’ highest-volume 3-point shooter, and he has displayed that through the tournament's first two rounds. He has gone 5-of-11 from deep so far and has gone over this total in 17-of-34 games this season, including three of the last four.
Game script-wise, Bernard could also be the man who answers North Carolina's 3s, as the Heels have plenty of players who will knock them down as well.
Bernard should have the volume to go well over this number.
