Here’s a Starting 5 of notes of interest to basketball bettors looking at the Tuesday night card.

1. Georgia Tech fans just can’t stop whining about Paul Hewitt, but the Yellow Jackets coach has outperformed marketplace expectations with a young talented team, as the Jackets 9-4 mark against the pointspread would attest.   But the past two weeks have seen the Jackets alternate spirited wins against North Carolina and Duke with listless losses against Georgia and Virginia, which is the kind of thing that frustrates fans.

2. Tonight’s Jackets opponent, Clemson, has been a pointpsread warrior themselves.  The Tigers are on a 7-2 pointspread run after failing to cover as a 5-point favorite in a 3-point win over NC State.  Clemson nearly blew an 18-point lead.   Tigers beat Jackets all three times they met last season, but Tech is much improved.

3. Anyone who watched Purdue annihilate a solid West Virginia team a couple of weeks ago would be amazed that the Boilermakers have managed to stumble into a three-game losing streak in Big Ten play.  Why outline Purdue’s problems here when Jeff Washburn, beat writer for the Lafayette Journal and Courier does such a fine job doing so?   Vegas and online sportsbooks have purdue listed as a 3-point favorite in Champaign against the Illini tonight.

4. Miami won 15 of their first 16 games, somehow losing to Boston College up in Chestnut Hill in early December.  The rematch is tonight in Coral Gables, with Miami installed as a 6.5-point favorite at Vegas and online sportsbooks.  Both of these teams are in a slide right now.   The 10-8 Eagles have been underperforming to the pointspread with a 5-9 mark, including 3 straight losses by 16 or more.   Will the Hurricanes bounce back from their consecutive 15+ point losses to Virginia Tech and Virginia or will BC wake up and hang around with a Miami team finally showing some weaknesses?

5. Want to see a couple of mid-majors that will have every opportunity to pull off a couple of upsets in March?   Then watch the best game of the Tuesday board between Northern Iowa and Wichita State.  Wichita State is an early 3-point favorite at Vegas and online sportsbooks.  Both of these teams are worth learning about, so check out the preview in the Wichita Eagle, while the Northern Iowa perspective is available in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.

Good luck on Tuesday night, and be careful.