College Knowledge
-- Auburn split first four games, winning by 4 at Charleston in only true road game; Tigers are shooting 41% inside arc, 28% outside it. Boston College lost its last three games, allowing 80.7 ppg. ACC home favorites are 10-3 against the spread; SEC road underdogs are 4-6.
-- Princeton is 1-2, with three games decided by total of 11 points; they lost to Northeastern by point, to Rutgers by 6, and won at Buffalo by 4. Tigers are shooting just 29.2% from arc. Syracuse beat San Diego State by 13 on a windy ship; Big East home favorites are 8-9 vs spread.
-- Colorado State beat Denver last three years by 4-11-5 points; Rams are more inside-oriented under Eustachy, even with 4 starters back from LY's 20-12 team. Denver lost two of first three games, losing to Cal by 11 at home last game. MWC teams are 4-8-1 if spread is single digits.
-- San Diego is playing 4th game in seven days, but first true road game; they lost by 3-12 points to two teams they played ranked in top 200. UCSB won by 4 at San Diego LY; they're 0-2 vs D-I teams this season, losing badly to LSU/Illinois State. Big West single digit HFs are 4-2.
-- Utah is picked 11th in Pac-12, but home loss to Sacramento State is bad sign; Utes have five freshmen, three transfers, so if they are getting better, it'll take while to show. Idaho State lost first two games, by 8-3 points, scoring 48 points both games. Big Sky road dogs are 8-11.
-- Delaware won two of first three games, upsetting Virginia last game; Hens are expected to challenge Drexel at top of CAA, have all 5 starters back from 18-14 team. Kansas State won its first four games easily with new coach Weber. CAA single digit road dogs are 6-1 vs spread.
-- Pitt was 11-16 in last 27 games LY but started 4-0 this year, rallying to beat Oakland in OT last game, after being down 14 at half. Michigan won first three games, shooting 49% behind arc, but this is their first game in eight days. MSG is Big East country, more familiar to Pitt.
-- 71-year old Brown has SMU at 4-0 after being 13-19 LY; Mustangs' three D-I wins are by 15-3-3 points- they're thin because Brown ran off couple kids from LY. Rider lost by 12 at South Carolina Monday in first road game. MAAC road underdogs are 3-8 against the spread.
-- Home side won last three Wyoming-Northern Colorado games, with Cowboys losing by 14 in last visit here. Wyoming is 4-0 this year vs an amazing collection of stiffs. Bears lost by 11 at Cal Poly in only game vs D-I opponent. Big West teams are 6-3 if spread was 4 or less points.
-- Portland-Portland State didn't play LY, after Pilots won at State by 11 in last meeting, snapping 4-game series skid. Vikings won last two trips crosstown, winning by 4-6 points. State lost by 11 at Oregon in its only game vs D-I team. Portland scored 55.7 ppg in its 1-2 start.
All teams in Maui Classic are playing for third straight day........
-- Mississippi State is a trainwreck, losing last two days by 46-29; this is huge game for Texas team that lost in OT Tuesday, after Chaminade beat them Monday. State only played seven guys, four of whom were on court 32+ minutes. Texas PG Felix played 44:00 yesterday.
-- USC won in OT Tuesday; three guys played 34+ minutes, night after they got crushed by Illinois. Marquette lost at buzzer Monday, but had easy time yesterday vs Miss State. Big East teams are 6-8 vs spread if line is 5 or less points. Pac-12 teams are 8-2 if line is 5 or less points.
-- Illinois-Butler are both coached by former aides to Thad Matta, coach at Ohio State who used to be at Butler. Illinois crushed USC Monday, then had easy win vs host Chaminade last night, while Butler had great, somewhat easy win over North Carolina. Bulldogs beat Marquette first game; can they pull off Big East-ACC-Big Dozen trifecta?
Armadillosports.com
Maui Invitational: NCAAB Betting Cheat Sheet
By Covers.com
Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Texas Longhorns
Texas and Mississippi State will face off at the Maui Invitational on Wednesday in a matchup of winless teams through the first two games of the tournament. The Longhorns likely feel like they deserve better after getting upset by Division II school Chaminade in Monday’s opener, then blowing a late lead in regulation Tuesday and losing to USC in overtime. Mississippi State is probably wondering why it even bothered coming to Hawaii. Because of injuries and suspensions, the Bulldogs brought only eight players on the trip - two are walk-ons - and were subsequently beaten by 46 points by North Carolina in the opener and by 27 against Marquette the following day.
ABOUT TEXAS (2-2): Finding a cause for the Longhorns’ failures this tournament are a little tough to pin down. They scored the game’s first eight points against Chaminade and then went on cruise control. By the time they got serious, it was too late. It would help if Texas took better care of the basketball. They have 32 turnovers through the first two games. The Longhorns have also allowed 22 offensive rebounds, an area they controlled in their first two victories this season.
ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (1-3): There have been a few bright spots for the Bulldogs during the trip. Roquez Johnson, a 6-7 sophomore guard, has established himself as a go-to offensive player. He scored 12 points against North Carolina and 16 more against Marquette, combining for 15 rebounds in those games. Fred Thomas, a freshman guard who wasn't cleared by the NCAA until August, scored a team-high 17 points against Marquette, making 4-of-8 from 3-point range.
Marquette Golden Eagles vs. USC Trojans
USC and Marquette bring a sense of comfort into their consolation game at the Maui Invitational on Wednesday. They both lost their openers Monday in surprisingly different ways, then came back with betters efforts Tuesday in their victories. The Trojans are still waiting for guards Jio Fontan and J.T. Terrell to get their shots untracked. Fontan, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, is shooting 8-for-33 on the season (24.2) percent. Terrell is only slightly better at 14-for-48 (29.1). Marquette has received some break-out play from junior guard Vander Blue, who has combined for 39 points in the first two games.
ABOUT USC (3-1): The player who should give the Golden Eagles the biggest trouble is 7-foot junior center Dewayne Dedmon, another player coming off a serious knee injury last season. He flashed his game-changing abilities in an overtime victory Tuesday against Texas. He blocked a shot in the final minute of regulation that resulted in a fast-break dunk by Terrell that tied the score and allowed the game to reach overtime. He then converted a three-point play late in the extra period to give his team the lead for good.
ABOUT MARQUETTE (3-1): The Golden Eagles have a player similar to Dedmon in 6-8 junior forward Davante Gardner. He has scored in double digits in every game this season, getting 15 points and 12 rebounds in the victory Tuesday against Mississippi State. Chris Otule, a 6-11 senior, has been slow to bounce back from a season-ending knee injury last season, but gives the Golden Eagles additional size to help match up with USC.
North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Chaminade Silveswords
Chaminade gets another chance to play giant-killer when the Silverswords meet No. 9 North Carolina in the third-place game at the Maui Invitational. Chaminade, a Division II program, opened the tournament with a surprising win against Texas, 30 years after stunning top-ranked Virginia on its home floor in Honolulu. The Tar Heels figure to be chapped after losing their semifinal against Butler, 82-71. They grabbed just one offensive rebound in the first half and didn’t get to the free-throw line until 13:13 remained in the game.
ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA (4-1): Getting off to a better start should be paramount for North Carolina. They fell behind by eight points four minutes into the game against Butler and scored just 18 points in the first half, their lowest first-half total since 1996. The nudge needs to come from their starting group, which didn’t have a player score more than 13 points against Butler or shoot better than 50 percent from the field. James Michael McAdoo, considered the best player for North Carolina, finished with an unimpressive 10 points and seven turnovers.
ABOUT CHAMINADE (2-2): The Silverswords could do no wrong in their opening-round upset against Texas, shooting 34-for-39 from the foul line, 10-for-30 from 3-point range and collecting 14 offensive rebounds against the taller Longhorns. As is the case following most upsets, Chaminade came crashing back to earth against Illinois, making just 6 of 12 from the free-throw line, committing 14 turnovers and getting heavily outrebounded by the guard-driven Fighting Illini. If the Silverswords are to win two games in this tournament for the first time in 29 years, they’ll need to be even better than they were against Texas.
Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Butler Bulldogs
Two schools located just 120 miles apart will meet on an island 4,500 miles away when Butler plays Illinois on Wednesday night in the final of the Maui Invitational. Butler, hailing from Indianapolis, Ind., reached the championship game by knocking off No. 9 North Carolina in Tuesday’s semifinal, 82-71, a win that seemed much easier than its last-second victory the day before against Marquette. Illinois breezed through USC in the opening round and then took care of business against tournament host and Cinderella story Chaminade in the second round.
ABOUT ILLINOIS (4-0): The Fighting Illini continue to win with solid guard play. Brandon Paul is averaging 21.5 points, 3.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds after finishing in the top two in all three categories last season. Fellow senior D.J. Richardson is the team’s sharpshooter, connecting on 31.8 percent of his 3-pointers this season. They’ve been supported by sophomore Tracy Abrams, who has nearly quadrupled his scoring average from last season (4.3 to 15.3). Joseph Bertrand, the team’s fourth-leading scorer last season, made sure he wasn’t forgotten, scoring a team-high 14 points in the win against Chaminade.
ABOUT BUTLER (3-1): The Bulldogs seem to have gotten over their 15-point loss to Xavier last week. Rotnei Clarke and Khyle Marshall, held to seven points apiece in the loss, put those performances behind them in a hurry once they reached Maui. Marshall, a 6-6 junior forward, scored a career-high 24 points in the win against Marquette and came back with 10 points and 11 rebounds against North Carolina. Clarke, 6-0 senior guard who played three seasons at Arkansas before transferring, scored 20 points and hit the last second 3-pointer to beat Marquette, then put up 17 points against the Tar Heels.
College Basketball Odds, Picks and Trends: Pre-Season NIT semifinals
By: The Linemakers
Sportingnews.com
Here’s a look at point spreads, totals, trends and leans for Tuesday’s college basketball card, leading off with the Pre-Season NIT Tip Off semifinals at Madison Square Garden.
Delaware faces Kansas State at 7:00 p.m. ET, and Pittsburgh and Michigan square off in the nightcap at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Delaware vs. Kansas State (-8.5). This veteran Delaware team won 18 games last year and returns four starters. They are deep and experienced with good guards and won’t be intimidated by the size of Kansas State, a squad that isn't exactly the best shooting team in the country. Delaware could make this one interesting.
Pittsburgh vs. Michigan (-3). This is the first real test for both teams. Michigan won its first three games by an average of 35 points a game, and Pittsburgh is winning its games by an average of 25.5 per game. Pittsburgh is very familiar with playing at Madison Square Garden – the Pirates are 28-14 there since 2000-01. Michigan is led by guards Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., but watch out for true freshman Glen Robinson III of Michigan and big man Steven Adams of Pittsburgh. Edge here goes to the Panthers plus the points.
Here's a look at trends for some of today’s games involving top 25 teams. Lines are from the LVH SuperBook as of 10:00 a.m. PT. Check out our live odds screen for all of today's college basketball point spreads.
Pittsburgh vs. No. 4 Michigan, 9:30 p.m. ET
Line: Michigan -3, Total: 124.5
Trends:
Panthers are 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall.
Panthers are 1-4 ATS in their last five non-conference games.
Wolverines are 32-14-1 ATS in their last 47 games overall.
Wolverines are 16-7-1 ATS in their last 24 non-conference games.
Over is 5-1 in Panthers’ last six overall.
Over is 5-1 in Panthers’ last six vs. Big Ten.
Over is 6-1 in Wolverines' last seven overall.
Over is 6-1-1 in Wolverines' last eight neutral-site games.
Princeton vs. No. 6 Syracuse, 7:00 p.m. ET
Line: Syracuse -13.5, Total: N/A
Trends:
Tigers are 10-3 ATS in their last 13 games overall.
Tigers are 42-19 ATS in their last 61 road games.
Orange are 11-4 ATS in their last 15 Wednesday games.
Orange are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 vs. Ivy League.
Orange are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games overall.
Over is 24-9-1 in Tigers' last 34 road games.
Under is 11-4 in Orange's last 15 home games.
Morehead State vs. No. 8 Kentucky, 7:00 p.m. ET
Line: Kentucky -23, Total: N/A
Trends:
Eagles are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 Wednesday games.
Eagles are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games overall.
Eagles are 5-2 ATS in their last seven vs. Southeastern.
Eagles are 5-11 ATS in their last 16 road games.
Eagles are 1-5 ATS in their last six non-conference games.
Wildcats are 8-20-1 ATS in their last 29 home games.
Wildcats are 4-14-1 ATS in their last 19 non-conference games.