College Knowledge
-- Louisville won five of last six games vs UConn; three of last five were decided by 3 or less points. Cardinals won last two visits here by total of three points. Louisville forces turnovers 29% of time; they're 3-0 in true road games, winning by 15-9-42 points. Huskies' losses this year are by 6-4-6 points; the've won six of last seven games, with loss in OT at Marquette. Big East home underdogs are 2-4 vs spread.
-- Kansas won 10 of last 12 games vs Baylor, with both losses in Big X tourney, including 81-72 LY; Bears lost last five visits here, by 20-15-10-6-18 points. Baylor is 4-2 vs top 100 teams; all four of its losses are by 7 or less points- they've won at Kentucky, lost by 7 at Gonzaga. Big X home favorites are 1-6 vs spread. Jayhawks won last 13 games, with six of last eight wins vs top 100 teams.
-- Western Carolina won four of last five games vs Elon, winning four of last five played here, with wins by 12-7-2-7 points. Catamounts are 4-0 in SoCon, with home wins by 6-3 points. Elon lost four of its last six games; their last three losses are all by 10+ points- they're 3-5 on road, with a win at South Carolina. SoCon home teams are 1-5 vs spread in games where number is 5 or less points.
-- Wofford won seven of last eight games with Furman, winning four in a row here, by 3-11-14-7 points; Terriers lost three of last four games; they turn ball over 22.2% of time. Furman lost its last six games, but played fairly well in last two, losing to Charleston by 4, Davidson by 8. Paladins turn ball over 23.5% of time, shoot 28% from arc. SoCon home underdogs are 1-5 vs spread.
-- NC-Greensboro is 6-5 in last 11 games vs Appalachian State, but lost five of last seven visits here, with losses by 5-14-23-8-14 points. ASU won four of last five games, after starting 0-7 vs D-I foes. UNCG is 1-11 vs D-I teams, with only win over #345 Citadel; six of its last seven losses were by 11+ points. SoCon home teams are 1-5 vs spread in games where number is 5 or less points.
-- Davidson won 11 in row, 15 of its last 16 games vs Georgia Southern; Wildcats won last six visits here, by 9-20-21-4-7-17 points- they're 4-0 in league play, winning by 26-7-2-8 points. Eagles lost last three games, scoring 59.7 ppg; they turn ball over 23.5% of time. Davidson is 3-3 on road, winning last two away tilts by 6-8 points. SoCon home underdogs are 1-5 vs spread.
-- Charleston won last four games vs Citadel by average score of 78-59; they won last three visits here, by 6-22-8 points. Cougars turn ball over 24% of time, but won six of last seven games; they're 5-0 on road, with no wins by more than 12 points. Citadel lost last ten games, but lost last two games by total of nine points. SoCon double digit favorites are 2-4 vs spread, 1-0 on road.
-- Weber State won seven of last eight games vs Idaho State, but lost by hoop in last visit here LY; Wildcats had won previous three visits, by 9-2-24 points, with two of those wins in OT. Weber is 5-0 in Big Sky, 3-0 on road, winning by 21-4-7 points. Bengals won last two games, after a 0-11 start vs D-I teams; their conference losses are by 14-3-13 points. Big Sky home underdogs are 4-3 vs spread.
-- Norfolk State is 3-0 in MEAC after going 5-10 in pre-conference tilts; their league wins are by 10-6-5 points- they're 6-3 vs teams outside top 200. Howard turns ball over 24.3% of time; their three D-I wins are vs teams ranked #280-311-295. Norfolk won last six series games, with all six by 8+ points- their last three games overall were decided by 6 or less points.
-- Jackson State is 1-13, 0-5 in SWAC, with three of five losses by 4 or less points; this is their 13th road game out of 15- their conference road losses are by 4-1-27 points. Prairie View lost six of its last seven games; they're 2-1 at home vs D-I teams, with wins by 1-16. State won six of last seven series games. PV turns ball over 21.7% of time, shoots only 26% behind the arc.
Armadillosports.com
NCAAB game of the day: Louisville at UConn
By Covers.com
Louisville at Connecticut (+6)
No. 4 Louisville is on an impressive run and seeks its 11th consecutive victory when it visits Connecticut in Hartford on Monday. The Cardinals are one of three unbeaten teams in Big East play and are off to the program’s best start since opening 16-1 during the 2003-04 campaign. Louisville coach Rick Pitino is expecting a fierce battle with the Huskies, who notched an impressive road victory at Notre Dame on Saturday under first-year coach Kevin Ollie. “They are a terrific team,” Pitino said. “I’m really happy for them because I love their coach. He is a class young man and I knew he would do a great job.” UConn has won two consecutive games and is 8-0 on its home courts.
ABOUT LOUISVILLE (15-1, 3-0 Big East): Sophomore forward Chane Behanan was a surprise participant in the victory over South Florida and grabbed 12 rebounds while scoring seven points. It was feared Behanan would miss three or four games after he sprained his left ankle on Jan. 7 but he missed just one outing. “My whole foot was swollen for three days and there’s still pain,” Behanan said. “But it’s something I could tolerate and won’t let dictate us getting out of the Top 5 in the country. I can handle the pain.” Behanan is third on the Cardinals in scoring (11.1) and second in rebounding (7.4). Junior guard Russ Smith averages a team-best 18.7 points, senior point guard Peyton Siva contributes 11.9 points and a team-best 5.8 assists and junior center Gorgui Dieng checks in at 9.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per outing.
ABOUT CONNECTICUT (12-3, 2-1 Big East): Junior forward Tyler Olander delivered a stunning performance with a career-high 16 points in the win over Notre Dame. Olander entered the contest with a 4.6 scoring average and hit 8-of-9 shots in the best effort of his career. “It’s definitely very rewarding,” said Olander, now averaging 5.3 points. “Things weren’t really working out for me at the beginning of the season. I stuck with it and kept working hard and got into the gym. It feels good to finally have hard work paying off.” Junior guard Shabazz Napier leads the Huskies with a 17.5 scoring average. Sophomore guard Ryan Boatright (16.1), sophomore forward DeAndre Daniels (11 points) and freshman guard Omar Calhoun (10.1) also average in double digits.
TRENDS:
* Cardinals are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 road games.
* Huskies are 6-1 ATS in their last seven vs. Big East foes.
* Cardinals are 6-1 ATS in their last seven Monday games.
* Cardinals are 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings.
TIP-INS:
1. Louisville leads the series 7-6 and routed UConn 80-59 in last season’s lone meeting.
2. Siva had 17 points in Saturday’s win over South Florida to become the 64th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. He has 1,004.
3. UConn is shooting just 32.5 percent from 3-point range with Napier (40.3) the only player shooting better than 40 percent.
College Basketball: Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Louisville Cardinals at Connecticut
Destroying South Florida Bulls 64-38 at the KFC Yum! Center in it's most recent action the Cardinals netting 77.1 points/game while holding opponents to 56.3 per/game on just 39.1% shooting including 29.5% from outside are rolling along at 15-1 (9-7 ATS) including 3-0 (2-1 ATS) in true road games. Aren't many teams hotter than Louisville at the moment and they should easily take care of business in this Big East Conference match up against Connecticut (12-3, 5-6 ATS). UCONN Huskies are scoring 72.5 PPG but have yet to meet a team like Rick Pitino's club that loves to tighten defensive screws. Louisville are the play here, Cardinals have a 5-1 ATS stretch going vs Huskies, 4-0-1 ATS streak L5 on UCONN's back yard, 9-2 ATS streak in road games and Huskies enter 1-5 ATS held to 60 or less points.
Games to Watch
By David Schwab
VegasInsider.com
No. 3 Louisville Cardinals vs. Connecticut Huskies
Louisville finds itself near the top of the Big East with last Wednesday's victory over Seton Hall along with a 64-38 rout of South Florida this past Saturday as an 18½-point home favorite. The Cardinals are now 15-1 straight-up overall and 3-0 in conference play. They are 9-7 against the spread this season and a profitable 5-2 ATS on the road. Louisville's Russ Smith is averaging 18.7 points a game with Peyton Siva chipping-in 11.9 points and a team-high 5.8 assists.
Kevin Ollie has done an excellent job at coaching the surprising Huskies to a 12-3 SU start that includes an impressive 65-58 upset of No.17 Notre Dame as 8½-point road underdogs this past Saturday. Connecticut is 5-6 ATS and the total has gone OVER in two of its last three games. Another main reason for this team's early success can be attributed to the stellar play of Shabazz Napier (17.5 points and 4.0 assists) and Ryan Boatright (16.1 points and 4.5 rebounds).
College Basketball Lines and Leans
By: The Linemakers
Sportingnews.com
There are two top 25 college basketball games Monday night – No. 3 Louisville at UConn, and No. 6 Kansas hosting Baylor. The point spreads listed below are from the LVH SuperBook as of about 8:45 a.m. PT.
The Linemakers have leans on both matchups.
Louisville (-7, 132.5) at UConn
UConn, after losing some key pieces from last season's squad, is a surprising and sneaky team. The Huskies have just three losses on the year, and all were against good competition – Marquette, N.C. State and New Mexico – and all were by six points or less. With a good effort from the Huskies, they’ll have a good chance to cover at home against Louisville. UConn should be in this game the whole way.
Trends:
• Cardinals are 4-0-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Connecticut.
• Cardinals are 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings.
• Over is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in Connecticut.
• Cardinals are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 Monday games.
• Cardinals are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 vs. Big East.
• Under is 9-2 in Cardinals' last 11 vs. Big East.
• Over is 7-2 in Cardinals' last 9 Monday games.
• Under is 7-3 in Cardinals' last 10 road games.
Baylor at Kansas (-10.5, 142.5)
Baylor seems to play well in big games (wins against Kentucky and Texas, for example), and this trip to Lawrence certainly qualifies. Kansas, on the other hand, will be motivated, at least partly because they were ousted from last year’s Big 12 tournament by Baylor. Kansas is good year in and year out, and while this year’s squad, led by guard Ben McLemore and big man Jeff Withey, may not be vintage Jayhawks, it's a quality group. Still, we like the opportunity to take the Bears and double-digit points in this spot.
Trends:
• Bears are 7-1 ATS in the last 8 meetings in Kansas.
• Over is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings in Kansas.
• Over is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
• Underdog is 6-2 ATS in the last 8 meetings.
• Road team is 13-1 ATS in the last 14 meetings.
Looking ahead to Tuesday
Tennessee at Kentucky
We’re expecting Kentucky to be about a 12.5-point favorite, with a total of about 128. The Wildcats are just 5-7 ATS this season, and every time we think they’ve made a step forward, they come back with a poor performance. While the young group will improve as the season goes on, they’re not there yet. Tennessee is offensively-challenged but is well-coached under Cuonzo Martin and plays great defense. We’re leaning toward to the dog and the points Tuesday night.