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College Basketball Best, March 5: Illinois vs Purdue, Florida vs Alabama, UNC vs ND

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College Basketball Best, March 5: Illinois vs Purdue, Florida vs Alabama, UNC vs ND


Vaughn Dalzell breaks down his best bets on Illinois vs Purdue, Alabama at Florida, plus UNC hosting Notre Dame.

Purdue at Illinois (-1.5): O/U 163.5

Illinois is 9-3 since Terrence Shannon returned to the lineup, ranking as the second-best offense in the country with nearly 90 points per game.

The Illini’s defense ranks 202nd in that span, but Purdue is barely a top 100 defensive team themselves. The two edges Illinois has going is they rank No. 1 in three-point defensive rate during that 12-game span and they have size to compete on the boards.

Purdue on the road is 6-3 this season and owns a bottom 10 rank when it comes to forcing turnovers (11.3%) and comes in at 209th for three-point defense (35.5%).

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If Illinois can double-team Zach Edey enough on defense and rotate like Northwestern and Nebraska were able to, then Illinois can win.

I played Illinois on the ML at -125 odds on FanDuel and would opt to play this out to -3 if you play spreads.

Pick: Illinois ML (1u)

Alabama at Florida (-1.5): O/U 176.5

The first meeting between these two teams was one of the better games of the year. Alabama won at home, 98-93 in OT, after trailing 72-62 with 8:40 remaining (Alabama had a 24% win expectancy).

The Tide rallied back and scored 61 combined second-half and OT points to beat the Gators. Since February 10, Florida is No. 19 in Barttorvik and Alabama is No. 25 with the 226th-ranked defense.

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Florida ranks 14th and 62nd in offensive and defensive efficiency during that span. The Tide are not forcing tunovers, defensive rebounding at the 302nd-best rate, and allowing 56.2% from two-point range (322nd).

Florida is coming off a road loss, which sets them up well for a home revenge spot on in the final home game. I have no trust in Alabama’s defense and while the Tide don’t lose two straight games often, the Tide also don’t win two consecutive road games often.

I grabbed the Gators’ ML at -125 odds on FanDuel and would go out to -3 if you opt for the spread. This was +1.5 yesterday.

Pick: Florida ML (1.5u)

Notre Dame at North Carolina (-15.5): O/U 138.5

Both Notre Dame and North Carolina have won five of the last six games and the Irish post the 30th-best defense in that span, while UNC is 28th.

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This is the first meeting of the season between the two squads. Historically, Notre Dame has scored 69 or fewer points in five straight trips to Chapel Hill with 65 or less in the past three.

The Irish have scored 28, 31, and 30 first half points in the past three trips and I expect a lower number here. Notre Dame is playing at the 330th-ranked tempo in the country during this 5-1 stretch with the 135th-ranked offense.

Despite winning lately, Notre Dame faces a tough test at North Carolina on Senior Night. UNC has RJ Davis, Armando Bacot, and Cormac Ryan walking tonight, so I expect the Tar Heels to come out aggressive.

I played Notre Dame’s First Half Team Total Under 28.5 at -112 odds on FanDuel and would go down to 27.5 for 1 unit. The Irish have scored 31 or less first half points in four of the past five games versus unimpressive defenses in the ACC.

Pick: Notre Dame 1H Team Total Under 28.5 (1.5u)

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Tulane at South Florida (-7.5): O/U 156.5

This is the first meeting of the season between Tulane and South Florida, but the story of two teams trending in different directions. USF has won 14 straight games, the nation’s longest winning streak, while Tulane lost six consecutive.

Tulane is 2-7 on the road with the 360th and 338th-ranked offensive and defensive rebounding percentages. Tulane is the worst rebounding team in the conference and shoots the two at 48.1% (12 of 14), while ranking 11th in offensive efficiency.

This is the final home game for USF and the Bulls are locked in as the regular-season conference champs. The Bulls have the best defense in the conference and I expect it to be on display.

I played Tulane’s First Half Team Total Under 35.5 at -118 odds on FanDuel and would go down to 34.5. The last three visitors to USF stayed Under this number.

Pick: Tulane 1H Team Total Under 35.5 (1u)

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Season Record: 60-50 (54.5%) +4.68 units

Bet the Edge is your source for the day in sports betting. Get all of Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick’s insight weekdays at 6AM ET right here or wherever you get your podcasts.





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Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN

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Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN


HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — — Terrance Dixon Jr.’s 19 points helped Southern defeat Alabama A&M 88-85 on Thursday.

Dixon shot 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line for the Jaguars (15-16, 11-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Michael Jacobs scored 15 points while going 4 of 11 and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line, and added five rebounds. AJ Barnes shot 3 for 7 (1 for 3 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points, while adding six rebounds.

Koron Davis finished with 23 points for the Bulldogs (17-14, 10-8). James Graham added 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals for Alabama A&M. Kintavious Dozier also had 12 points.

The Jaguars led by 10 points with 59 seconds to go, before the Bulldogs executed a three-point play from Bilal Abdur-Rahim then got a 3-pointer from Dozier in the span of nine seconds, cutting the deficit to four. A free throw battle closed out the result for the Jaguars.

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——

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.



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Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama

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Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama


Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.

The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.

Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).

He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.

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More on Richardson

Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:

Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.



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Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets

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Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets


Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.

The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.

The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.

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Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.

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“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”

Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.

The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.

Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.

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Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.



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