College Basketball Prop Bets for Friday 2/9/24

College basketball season is in full swing, and FanDuel Sportsbook offers prop bets for key games to dive deeper in the action.

For bettors, numberFire's Matchup Heat Map helps identify favorable game environments, while KenPom and Sports-Reference offer a wide range of team-level statistics. Then, we can turn to Bart Torvik and RealGM for advanced player stats and splits.

Let's check out FanDuel Sportsbook's college basketball odds and dive into our wealth of statistical data to find today's best prop bets.

Please note lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published.

College Basketball Prop Bets

No. 18 Dayton at VCU

Nate Santos Over 10.5 Points (+102)

Dayton forward Nate Santos scored 21 points in the Flyers' most recent outing, yet his points prop is set at 10.5. I like Santos to stay hot here and score at least 11 points.

Santos is Dayton's second-leading scorer, averaging 11.7 points per game on the year. Though he ran cold to kick off the Atlantic 10 season, the 6'7" junior has been heating up in recent games. He's exceeded 11 points in three of the last five games, averaging 12.8 points over that span.

The Flyers have relied on Santos to be more aggressive on the road. He's averaging 8.2 shot attempts per game in total, but that's ticked up to 9.6 in true road games.

Santos also tends to step up when opposing defenses key in on leading scorer Daron Holmes. In Santos' three highest-scoring games of the year, Holmes attempted 9, 6, and 9 shots. That's noticeably lower than the 13.4 he's put up in conference play.

The logic adds up -- when teams gameplan around your leading scorer, you need your No. 2 option to step up. That's what I anticipate tonight when Dayton takes on a strong VCU defense.

The Rams rank 72nd nationally in defense, according to numberFire's metrics. They've given up the third-fewest points per game in conference play and rank third in the A-10 in opponent field goal percentage.

However, VCU has allowed 38.7% of opposing shot attempts to come at the rim, which is the fourth-highest mark in the conference. That bodes well for Santos as he's been attacking the hoop with regularity in recent games. Over his last seven games, 45% of his shot attempts have come at the rim -- up from the 29% mark he'd posted before this recent stretch.

VCU's defense yields a high rate of interior shots, and Nate Santos can take advantage. Coming off one of his best games of the season, I like Santos to go over 10.5 points tonight.

San Jose State at Colorado State

Patrick Cartier Over 11.5 Points (-130)

Colorado State has the highest implied total (80) of the night, so it makes sense to back one of their points props.

I'll turn to big man Patrick Cartier, an 11.9 point-per-game scorer whose points prop is set at 11.5.

Cartier has cleared this total just twice in his last eight games. However, he scored at least 12 points in 11 of his first 13 games to start the year, so it's not like this is an unachievable total.

The biggest thing Cartier has going for him tonight is that San Jose State has a Charmin Ultra Soft interior defense. They've allowed the highest rate of at-rim shot attempts in the Mountain West and they're outside the top 225 nationally in two-point defense.

That should be music to Patrick Cartier's ears. The 6'8" senior has attempted 56% of his shots at the rim this season, shooting over 70% on such attempts.

Cartier doesn't do all his work inside, either. He averages 1.2 threes per game in total and has posted a scorching 52% three-point field goal percentage at Moby Arena.

While San Jose State doesn't give up many threes, they've allowed Mountain West foes to shoot 43% from deep -- the highest mark in the conference.

The main concern with Cartier is foul trouble. He's played fewer than 20 minutes in two of the last five games, picking up nine fouls in those two outings. Thankfully, San Jose State ranks 355th in free throw rate, so I'm not expecting that to be an issue.

In what should be a blowout for the home Rams, Patrick Cartier should feast against a lackluster San Jose State defense. I like him to go over his 11.5-point prop.

Looking for more college basketball betting opportunities? Head over to FanDuel Sportsbook to check out all of the upcoming college basketball odds.

Sign up for FanDuel Sportsbook and FanDuel Daily Fantasy today!

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.