Perhaps Marques Warrick is a name we should have our eyes on for one potential Cinderella. The junior guard has been carrying the Northern Kentucky Norse all season long and needs to keep it going against the No. 1 seed, Houston Cougars, on Thursday night. Bettors looking for an edge in the Northern Kentucky-Houston matchup can benefit from one Marques Warrick player prop.
Marques Warrick Prop Stands Out in Northern Kentucky-Houston
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When keying in on the Northern Kentucky-Houston matchup, OddsShopper models have over 15.5 Marques Warrick points (-128 on FanDuel Sportsbook) rated as the top play. The projections give this play a 58% chance of hitting, making for an ROI of 5%. Those looking for other top plays for the NCAA Tournament can try a free seven-day trial of OddsShopper Premium!
Warrick led all players on the Northern Kentucky team with 19.1 points per game during the season, earning him All-Horizon Second-Team honors. He enters the NCAA Tournament on a hot streak as well. Warrick averaged over 20 points in the Horizon League Tournament, putting up 18 points despite a 3-for-12 shooting performance in the win over Cleveland State in the championship game.
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Houston will be looking to get top scorer Marcus Sasser back in action. Sasser missed the AAC Conference Tournament championship with a groin injury suffered earlier in the tournament. Sasser, the AAC Conference Player of the Year, is set to be a game-time decision for the first round.
“He did some things today. Broke a sweat, did some shooting drills. He didn’t go full speed. That’s the update,” head coach Kelvin Sampson said Wednesday, per The Chronicle. He went on to add “if it had been up to Marcus, he might have tried to play Sunday [in the AAC championship]. Sometimes as a coach you have to save them from themselves, but I’m not going to jeopardize he or our team. Marcus and I have a kind of relationship where he’ll do what I ask him to do.”
With Sasser’s availability up in the air, the Cougars still hold the heavy advantage over the Norse and have all the makings of a team that could make a deep run in the tournament. Houston ranks 11th in the nation in offensive efficiency and fourth in defensive efficiency. They entered the tournament as the betting favorites to win the championship.
For Northern Kentucky to have any shot of keeping this game close, they are going to need Marques Warrick to go off in a big way. Look for him to get plenty of shots off throughout this first-round matchup, making the over 15.5 points a valuable wager.
Best Northern Kentucky-Houston Bet: Marques Warrick Over 15.5 Points (-128 on FanDuel Sportsbook)
