March Madness is an opportunity for anonymous heroes to emerge, and I’m targeting two players to show up big in Thursday’s first round.
The pregame narrative: Nick Townsend is surging as a scorer for the Yale Bulldogs, and I like that to continue in today’s game against an aggressive Texas A&M Aggies squad. I also have a plus-money play on Silas Demary Jr. (Georgia).
Check out the best March Madness prop bets for March 20.
March Madness prop bets
Best bet: Townsend over 12.5 points (-138)
No. 4 Texas A&M is scrappy, but that scrappiness leads to plenty of fouls. With that in mind, I think Townsend should be a force for No. 13 Yale.
Townsend is a 6-foot-7, 250-pound forward who shoots well from the free-throw line (76.3%). He’s also a stat-stuffer in the paint.
- On the season, Townsend is averaging 15.4 points.
- He has 13+ points in 19 of 29 games.
Texas A&M is an elite rebounding team, but none of its rotation players are taller than 6-foot-9. So it’s not like Townsend should be swarmed by much taller bigs.
Look for Townsend to be a focal point for Yale’s offence.
Key stat: After a bit of a slow start, Townsend has gone over 12.5 points in 18 of his past 24 games.
Quick March Madness pick
Demary over 2.5 threes (+145): For a guy who’s only canning 1.8 threes per game, this might seem like a bit of a reach.
But Demary’s 3-point shot volume is way up right now, and I think that could continue for No. 9 Georgia’s matchup against the No. 8 Gonzaga Bulldogs.
Here’s what Demary has accomplished from the 3-point line in his past 10 games:
- 6+ attempts in 9 games
- 2+ makes in 10
- 38.2 3PT% on 7.6 attempts
Demary cashed this prop in five of those 10 matchups, but he was a threat to do it every time.
Gonzaga allows 24.4 attempted 3s per game, which ranks 79th in D-I.
March Madness prop bets made at 10:20 a.m. ET on 03/20/2025.
Jordan enjoys writing data-driven game previews and analysis articles — especially for MLB markets or NFL/NBA props. And as a proud Ohio University grad, he’ll always have a soft spot for college sports (especially if the Bobcats are involved). Previous stops include mlb.com, Sportsnet and The Athletic.