College Basketball Knowledge
James Madison forced 19 turnovers (+4), beat Ball State 73-68 at home LY; young Dukes are 6-3 despite turning ball over 23.5% of time- they're 4-1 vs teams outside top 200, with three wins by 7 or less points. Ball State is bottom 15 team in terms of experience; they're 2-4 vs schedule #302; four of their last five games were decided by 7 or less points.
NC State won 65-58 at Tennessee LY after leading by 17 at half; not lot of those Vols are still in Knosville- this is Tennessee's first true road tilts after going 1-3 in neutral court games, losing by 16-15-8 points. State got upset at home by Wofford Sunday; they're 2-2 vs top 100 teams, with its best win over #70 Boise State. Wolfpack has #10 eFG% in country.
Central Florida is 4-4 vs #339 schedule, losing last three games by 23-11-13 points; two of three teams that beat them are outside top 200. UCF is turning ball over 21% of time- they're 0-2 vs top 150 teams, losing by 26-23 points. Detroit is 4-4 vs #79 schedule, losing two of three on the road; Titans are 2-0 vs teams outside top 200, winning by 13-14 points.
Georgia State won its last three games with Old Dominion by 15-20-6 points; Panthers outscored ODU 15-5 over last 4:09 LY in 79-73 win in which they outscored Monarchs 32-13 from foul line. State won its last five games; they're 1-2 vs top 100 teams; #45 Green Bay is best team they beat. ODU is 6-1 with three top 100 wins, loss to #88 Illinois St.
Northwestern is 6-3 but has only one win vs a top 200 team, over #173 North Florida; Wildcats are #313 in experience- they've played schedule #305. Central Michigan is 6-1 against easiest schedule in country; they're making 41.4% from arc, but best team they've played is Youngstown St., #196 team. Chippewas lost only true road game by 11 at Bradley.
San Diego State is struggling on offense, scoring 53 ppg in last four tilts, with losses to Arizona/Washington, both top 50 teams. Aztecs do have three top 50 wins; their only true road game was 49-36 loss to Huskies in Seattle. Cincinnati lost two of last three games, losing at Nebraska in two OTs Saturday. Bearcats turn it over 21% of time, make 30% from arc.
LMU is 2-6 vs D-I teams, allowing 76 ppg in last three games, losses by 8-16-2 points; they lost by 24-16 in two games with Pac-12 foes. Lions turn ball over 21.3% of time, make just 45.2% inside arc. Stanford is 5-2, 4-0 at home, with three wins by 11+ points. Best team LMU has beaten is #246 Riverside; Dunlap is NBA-level coach without his players yet.
Young UNLV is 5-2 vs D-I teams, holding foes to 38.7% inside arc; PG Doolin played against Portland when he was in WCC with USF. Pilots won both their true road games by five points, at San Jose/Sacramento; Portland is 1-2 vs top 150 teams, with Murray State best team they've beaten (64-61). Rebels had first true road win Saturday at South Dakota.
Northeastern is 6-2 despite playing only two home games; Huskies turn ball over 23.4% of the time- they're 3-0 vs teams ranked outside top 200, with wins by 6-24-9 points. Cal Poly won 78-71 at USF Monday; this is Mustangs' third game in five nights. Poly has game with Gonzaga on deck they turn ball over least of any team, but make just 25.4% from arc.
Hard to tell much about Pittsburgh team that beat Niagara of MAAC by 33, lost to Hawai'i; Panthers have no hard games until ACC play starts Jan 3rd. Manhattan is 2-6 with no top 300 wins; Jaspers turn ball over 23.1% of time, make just 27.5% from arc, but they force turnovers 27.6% of time, #4 in nation. Jaspers are 0-2 vs top 100, losing by 9-14 points.
UT-Martin is 6-2 under former Wyoming coach Schroyer; they're top 10 team in experience that doesn't sub much, played schedule #263- they're 0-2 vs top 125 teams, losing by 16-11 points to Nebraska/Marquette. Illinois State is 5-3 but lost two of three at home; they're 2-0 vs teams not in top 200, beating Weber State by 9, UAB by 4.
Baylor is 8-1 with five top 100 wins, with only loss 62-54 to Illinois on a neutral floor; Bears are stronger than usual on perimeter, with #18 eFG% in country (41.5%)- teams shoot just 24.5% from arc against Bears. New Mexico State is 4-6; three of its last four losses are by 3 or less points. Aggies are 0-6 in true road games- they turn ball over 21.3% of time.
Auburn is 3-5, scoring 53 ppg in losing last three games; Tigers lost by 4 to Coastal Carolina, a Winthrop rival- they turn ball over 21.7% of time, shoot 31.6% from arc and don't have enough Pearl-style players. Eagles won at Clemson, then lost four of last five D-I games, losing to couple teams ranked #285 or lower- 15.8% of their shots are getting blocked.
Armadillosports.com
Wednesday College Hoops Pick - San Diego St visits Cincinnati
By: Craig Williams
Sportingnews.com
San Diego State (7-2 SU, 4-4 ATS), ranked No. 19 in the nation, heads east to face Cincinnati (6-2 SU, 2-3 ATS) on Wednesday night (9 p.m. ET, ESPN 2).
This will be the Aztecs' second true road game of the season. They dropped their contest at Washington, 49-36 as 2-point favorites. Overall, they're 7-3 SU and 6-4 ATS in their last 10 road games, according to oddshark.com.
Cincinnati has lost two of its last three -- at Nebraska as a 5-point dog and vs. Ole Miss as 1.5-point favorites.
Point spread: Pick 'em, Total: 110 Line movement: Cincinnati opened as a 1-point favorite at most Las Vegas sports books, with early money on SDSU prompting a move to a pick 'em. The total opened 107 offshore and then 109 in Las Vegas. Visit our odds page for updated point spreads and totals.
The Bearcats stayed UNDER in their only game with a posted total, even though it went into overtime (a 56-55 loss at Nebraska, with a total of 121.5). Meanwhile, the Aztecs are 5-2 to the UNDER. Both teams are content to sacrifice a high-scoring offensive attack in favor of a stout defense. Both San Diego State (55 ppg, 14th in the nation) and Cincinnati (52.8 ppg, eighth) rank in the top 15 in points allowed per game.
The Linemakers lean: The Bearcats have won six of their last eight, but in their one game as underdogs, at Nebraska, they managed to lose (though they still covered). We have the Aztecs rated almost 2 points over Cincy, and if you give Cincy 3 points for home edge, the line is fine. But we expect San Diego State to come out on top. We've already seen the Aztecs come up big in quite a few big games this season. The road game here won't be a big deal. Our play is the Aztecs to win by 2 points or more.