PrizePicks CBB Top Plays - April 4 NCAA Tournament National Championship
Published: Apr 04, 2022
The 2021-22 college basketball sadly comes to a close on Monday night with the NCAA Tournament National Championship. It's Kansas vs. North Carolina for all the marbles as March Madness and the Final Four wrap up in New Orleans. There are plenty of player props and PrizePicks plays to dive into, let's pick out our favorites for both the Jayhawks and Tar Heels.
Make sure you check out our PrizePicks Discord Channel where you can find more winning plays! Join the Discord by clicking the connect button in your account profile to join the conversation!
New to PrizePicks? Sign up today and receive a deposit match up to $100 - www.fantasyalarm.com/prizepicks
OVER 2.5 3-PT Made
We hit on Brady Manek's three-pointers prop on Saturday and we'll happily go back to the well. The Tar Heels' grad senior has now drained three or more three's in all five NCAA Tournament games and seven of the last eight contests overall. Manek is now shooting 47.5% from deep during the Tournament and should continue to be a key part of UNC's offense in the title game. Though Kansas' defense is tough against the three, Manek will likely be firing away to help the Heels pull off the upset. His perimeter scoring will be even more important tonight if Armando Bacot is limited.
OVER 22.5 Pts+Rebs+Asts
Though Jalen Wilson doesn't grab the national headlines like Ochai Agbaji, Remy Martin or even David McCormack, there's no denying his overall importance to the Jayhawks. Wilson stuffs the stat sheet with points, rebounds and assists and is locked into 30-35 minutes regardless of whether Kansas goes with bigger or smaller lineups. Wilson has at least 11 rebounds in four straight games now and at least 27 PRA in three of the last four. This is now a slight pace boost for Kansas, and Wilson should have more opportunities for points, rebounds or assists.
OVER 16.5 Points
Before the Final Four tipped off, Ochai Agbaji had been weirdly underperforming compared to his own standards. On Saturday, though, the Big 12 Player of the Year exploded for 21 points with six made three-pointers. He was red-hot and didn't back down from the big stage. Even though Agbaji was struggling earlier in the NCAA Tournament, this is still a guy who's averaging 18.9 PPG this season and regularly went for 20+ points during conference play. In a faster-paced matchup vs. UNC, expect Agbaji to stay active offensively – whether he's draining from deep or getting to the free-throw line.
UNDER 15.5 Points
Let's wrap things up with an under play. It's always risky rooting against a guy with Armando Bacot's talent and physical dominance, but this points prop seems a tough too high. The UNC center has gone under 15.5 points in three of the last four games and he had just 11 points on Saturday against Duke's frontcourt. It again might be hard to score inside against Kansas big man David McCormack tonight. Plus, there's the whole deal with Bacot coming off an ankle injury he suffered late against Duke. The ankle sprain could limit Bacot's effectiveness offensively and in the paint overall, and it's easy to imagine him deferring to others scoring-wise here.
Looking for more college basketball content? Check out the CBB DFS Playbook for tonight's NCAA Tournament National Championship game!
Player News
Spencer Torkelson blasted his 16th home run of the season on Tuesday evening, powering the Tigers to a 5-3 victory over the Orioles in Baltimore.
Torkelson did his damage off of Orioles’ starter Cade Povich in the fifth inning, crushing a 419-foot (103.9 mph EV) two-out, two-run shot that increased the Tigers’ advantage to 5-1 and proved to be the difference in the ballgame. The 25-year-old slugger finished the night 1-for-4 and is now hitting .237/.341/.509 with 16 long balls and 47 RBI on the season.
Zach McKinstry went 2-for-4 with a pair of triples and a run scored as the Tigers took the opener of their three-game series against the Orioles in Baltimore.
McKinstry roped a one-out triple into the right field corner off of left-hander Cade Povich in the second inning and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Wenceel Perez. He also tripled to left field in the fifth inning, but the Tigers couldn’t cash him in that time. He’s now tied with Jarren Duran for the MLB lead with seven three-baggers on the season. He continues to excel in a utility role for the Tigers, slashing .276/.361/.438 with three homers, 19 RBI and five stolen bases.
Will Vest picked up his 11th save of the season on Tuesday evening, allowing one run on one hit in his lone inning of work against the Orioles.
Vest came on with a three-run lead to protect and immediately served up a solo homer to Jordan Westburg. That’s as close as the Orioles would get though as the 30-year-old right-hander retired each of the next three hitters in order — including a strikeout of Cedric Mullins to end it. Vest has been a major weapon out of the Tigers’ bullpen this season, posting a 1.89 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and a 34/9 K/BB ratio over 33 1/3 innings to go with 11 saves and five victories.
Sawyer Gipson-Long was terrific in a no-decision against the Orioles on Tuesday evening, piling up five strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings of one-run baseball.
The 27-year-old right-hander scattered three hits on the evening and didn’t walk a batter. He came on after Brant Hurter worked 2 2/3 innings as an opener and Chase Lee got the final out of the third inning, yet it was Lee who was credited with a victory in the contest instead of Gipson-Long who served as the bulk guy out of the bullpen and was extremely effective. Probably a bad call by the official scorer on that one. Gipson-Long generated nine whiffs on 51 pitches in the ballgame — six of those coming on his devastating changeup — while posting an elite CSW of 39 percent. If he’s still hanging around on the waiver wire in shallow formats, he makes for a terrific streaming option for Sunday’s matchup against the Reds.
Brendan Donovan made an early exit from Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays,
Donovan was replaced by Ryan Vilade in left field in the ninth inning after going 0-for-3 with a run scored. There should be an update on his status shortly.
Jordan Westburg returned from the injured list with a bang on Tuesday, blasting a solo home run in a loss to the Tigers.
Westburg victimized Tigers’ closer Will Vest for a 385-foot (101.7 mph EV) solo shot to open the ninth inning, trimming the O’s deficit to two runs at 5-3. That would be as close as they would get. It was also his only hit in three at-bats on the evening. For the season, the 26-year-old infielder is slashing .221/.275/.421 with five homers and seven RBI in his first 102 plate appearances.