Vegas Play of the Day: Mizzou at Auburn

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014 | 2 a.m.

We are off to a rough start on the Sun’s new feature. Our Talking Points blog is offering a daily sports betting pick using odds from the South Point.

The three reporters teaming to make the picks have struggled out of the gates, posting an 0-3-1 record.

Here’s the good news for today’s selection: That tie belongs to me.

Missouri minus-3.5 at Auburn: $770 to win $700: Missouri is coming off an upset loss at home Thursday against Georgia where players admit they didn’t play inspired, overlooking an inferior opponent.

That means they will be motivated to make amends for the poor effort at Auburn.

Missouri is ranked No. 21 and one of the SEC’s better teams with a 12-2 record. Don’t be fooled by the loss to Georgia. Missouri has superior talent at most positions and a deeper bench.

Jordan Clarkson will be impossible for Auburn to guard, continuing a season in which he’s averaging nearly 20 points per game. Jabari Brown is shooting 45 percent on 3-pointers for Mizzou.

Auburn will need to keep the score in the high-50s or low-60s to win and isn’t athletic enough to run with Missouri. Auburn struggles to score and is 111th nationally in field goal percentage.

Auburn has an 8-4 record, but has no quality wins and is overmatched against quality competition. It lost by 29 to Iowa State, 19 to Illinois and surrendered 111 points in a loss to Northwestern State. Yes, five-win Northwestern State, which lost this week by double digits to Texas A&M CC.

Standings: Brewer (0-0-1, $10,000), Bern (0-1, $9,670), Keefer (0-2, $9,500)

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21.