Brad Wilton
Wednesday comp play release is St. John's plus the double-digits at Butler.
First things first, the Johnnies were the 76-73 winner in the first meeting between the teams back in late December in New York as the +8 1/2 home dog.
While the Bulldogs are seeking in-season revenge, not so sure they can stretch the margin tonight, as Butler comes into this home game with losses in 3 of their last 4 games. The Bulldogs are also just 2-4 against the spread their last 6 games overall.
The Red Storm have stormed to covers in 5 straight -- all as the underdog!
Can't call for a regular season sweep by Chris Mullin's team, but think plus the generous double-digits the Red Storm will keep it closer than expected.
Take the points!
1* ST. JOHN'S
Jack Brayman
Let's take the offensive powerful Houston Rockets laying the points at home against the Miami Heat. I would normally question this number, with the Heat coming on strong of late, but seeing how they played at home the other night against the Orlando Magic, losing outright, I want to lay the points in this one.
The Rockets can match last season's win total of 41 with a win in this one, and can also tie the 1993-94 Rockets for the best record in franchise history through 58 games.
Houston is slowly creeping up on everyone in the Western Conference, not to mention the NBA, and could prove to be a thorn in Golden State's side come playoff time.
The Rockets won their past three home games against the Heat, and roll in with a 21-6 mark in H-town, where they're averaging 116 points there. Over their last five games, Houston is averaging 119.4 points per contest.
Ultimately, however, I'm thinking this is going to be revenge for the Rockets, as Miami's 109-103 win against Houston began a 13-game winning streak.
The Heat have lost their last two contests, while the home team has covered the last four meetings.
Take Houston.
4* ROCKETS
BLACK WIDOW
Hornets vs. Raptors
Play: Raptors -6½
Bets on home favorites of 3.5 to 9.5 points when revenging a loss where they scored less than 85 points, when coming off an upset loss of 10 points or more as a road favorite are 23-4 ATS since 1996. I look for the Raptors to make easy work of the reeling Hornets, who have gone 1-10 SU in their last 11 games and 1-10-1 ATS in their last 12 games.
DAVE PRICE
Creighton vs. Seton Hall
Play: Seton Hall +2
Seton Hall is in need of a signature victory to boost its NCAA Tournament chances. The opportunity is here tonight against #20 Creighton, which is 21-4 on the season. I look for the Pirates to seize this opportunity and beat a Bluejays squad that just hasn't played all that well since losing Mo Watson Jr to a season-ending injury. They are 3-3 in their last 6 games without him with 2 of their victories coming against lowly DePaul. Seton Hall is 9-1 at home this season with an average margin of victory of 14.5 points per game. The Pirates are 15-5 ATS in their last 20 games following a ATS loss. The Pirates are 16-6 ATS in their last 22 games as an underdog.
MIKE ANTHONY
Maryland vs. Northwestern
Play: Maryland +2
Maryland has been excellent on the road throughout Big Ten play and that's what has enabled the Terps to sit right near the top of the conference standings. Even though Maryland came up short in their last outing on the road the Terps still have wins on the road against teams like Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio State, and Iowa. It's impressive what Maryland has been able to do on the road given how young they are. Northwestern is young and coming off a big upset win against the Badgers on Sunday, but playing without their leading scorer makes the Wildcats a bit more beatable.
Harry Bondi
OKLAHOMA CITY -7.5 over NY Knicks
This is the last game before the All Star break for both teams, but they have two different mindsets coming into tonight. The Knicks are off an upset win against San Antonio and will be a bit fat and happy tonight as they relish that victory and look ahead to an eight-day vacation. The Thunder, meanwhile, will be laser-focused tonight, considering they are off two disappointing efforts in losses to Golden State and Washington. You can bet they don’t want to go into the extended break with a three-game losing streak. What’s more, OKC is 17-8 (68%) ATS this season against teams with a losing record and they have covered 17 of their 28 home games this season, including a 4-1 ATS mark when listed as a favorite of between 6 and 9 points. Lay the home favorite.
Mike Rose
Indiana at Minnesota
Play: Indiana +5
So the Gophers have run off three straight wins to bounce back from the five straight losses incurred in the middle of their Big Ten Schedule. This team’s all the way back, right? I’m not buying it! Minny should have fallen at home to Iowa but got bailed out after sending the game to OT in the last second. Rutgers had numerous opportunities to scalp them over the weekend, but pathetic 3 point and free throw shooting prevented that from happening. I get that Indy enters this one struggling losing three straight with the only win in their L/6 a 3 OT win over Penn State, but there’s simply too much talent on its roster. It’s only a matter of time until it starts clicking once again. Remember, Indiana has wins over Kansas and North Carolina. Minnesota’s best is an OT win at home over Purdue. Minnesota can no doubt take this one as fragile as Indiana’s psyche is right now, but the Hoosiers possess the better overall talent in my book so I have no choice but to pay to make Minnesota prove me wrong.
Buster Sports
Duke vs. Virginia
Play: Duke +4.5
The Duke Blue Devils are starting to resemble the team that was ranked number 1 in the nation in what seems to be a long time ago. They have really found their stride of late as they have now won 5 straight games. Coach K is back behind the bench and the injuries that have plagued them most of the year are behind them. They run into a Virginia squad that seems to be going in the opposite direction. Virginia has lost 3 out of their last 5 games and are coming off of a double OT loss to their in-state rivals Virginia Tech. Virginia are a 4 1/2 point favorite at the time of this writing and with the underdog being 4-0 in the last 4 meetings between the clubs we will be taking the points with the road dog tonight.
Mike Rose
St. John's vs. Butler
Play: St. John's 10
Oddsmakers hanging this number on Butler is pretty funny considering each of its last eight games have been decided by single digits. On top of that, the Johnnies have recently been money in the bank covering each of their L/5 games and mustering three wins in the process. Butler has had all kinds of issues scoring the basketball over its L/6 games with it averaging just 68.7 PPG; down nearly 7.0 PPG from its season average. Youngsters Shamorie Ponds and Bashir Ahmed are starting to come into their own. Those two paired with Marcus LoVett combine to form quite the guard trio. While Butler is great at holding onto the ball, St. John’s has been great at forcing turnovers. It holds the edge in that department along with 3 point shooting, while the Bulldogs bigs will likely hold the advantage on the glass. Still, this is too many points for a slumping Butler team to be laying with both teams looking to improve their seeding for the upcoming Big East tourney.
The Real Animal
East Carolina +6
I'll take my alma mater Temple as a road underdog (Memphis) but I'll go-against them as a highway chalk. Tonight should be a perfect example of why they aren't making the field of 64 this year. Just too erratic. This is the type of game they could lose outright. You can't trust them to win the 'expected games'. Remember they lost to Tulsa at home and the Golden Hurricane can't compete on the road (as we witnessed again last night). They lost at UCF by 24. They got destroyed by SMU at home by 16. Never in it. East Carolina plays terrific defense at home at yielding 58.4 points per game. Temple, off the Memphis road win, and hosting UCONN, a revenge game, on Saturday, will look past East Carolina. The Pirates have covered 5/7 recently and many of them against far-superior teams than Temple. NOTE: ECU beat Temple last year here 64-61 as a 5 1/2-point underdog and it could easily happen again.