Sports Unlimited
7* Buffalo -5.5
RAS
DePaul/Rutgers Over 132.5
3G Sports
10* GOY ARKANSAS
5* Kentucky
5* Minnesota
4* Nevada
4* Bradley
Greg Roberts
6* Vir Tech
5* Kansas St
4* Tex A&M
4* BYU
The Hoops Guru Guaranteed Selections
NBA QUADRUPLE PLAY WINNER
Golden St -3.5
Underdog
Oregon St
RAS
MN/Illinois Under 134.5
MR EAST
NCAAB SATURDAY SYSTEM SIZZLER
DELAWARE @ TOWSON ST.
3 UNITS: UNDER 144
The Delaware Blue Hens have struggled all season, and lately those struggles have become worse. The Hens laying an egg in their last 5, and own just 2 wins in their last 14. This is a team that has had 5 overtime games, which skew the numbers. The Blue Hens have topped the 70 point mark 4 times this season, but without overtime that number reduces to 0, in their 29 games! They have played 17 conference games, and without overtime just 1 reached over the 144 point total posted for this one. Towson has topped the 72 mark just 2 times in 17 conference games, so the liklihood of this getting to the mid-140s is very small. Backed additionally by a 106-47 under system the under gets the call here
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
8* Villanova/Syracuse Under 158.5
First place in the Big East is the prize for the winner of Saturday night’s showdown at the Carrier Dome, where the fourth-ranked Orange can clinch the regular-season conference title if they can knock off the No. 7 Wildcats in front of the largest on-campus crowd in college basketball history; for a number of different reasons I believe the value in this contest is on the "under"
Villanova dropped three of five after climbing to No. 2 in the AP Poll earlier this month, but ended that stretch and avoided a three-game losing streak Wednesday with a 74-49 home victory over South Florida. Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points one night after he and fellow senior Reggie Redding organized a team meeting.
Reynolds was held to 10 points each time in two meetings last season with Syracuse. Villanova shot above 50 percent in winning both, though, including an 89-86 victory in upstate New York on Feb. 22, 2009 - the Wildcats’ second straight win at the Carrier Dome.
Very important to note that Villanova has seen the total go "under" the posted number in five of six games this year vs. good offensive teams that score 77 plus points per contest; meaning that when faced with stiff competition, the Wildcats "step it up" on the defensive end.
On the other side of the court: Iowa State transfer Wesley Johnson (team-high 15.8 points per game) carried Jim Boeheim’s club to a 13-0 start, and during Syracuse’s last five games senior guard Andy Rautins (18.8 points, 21 of 42 from 3-point range) has emerged as the catalyst.
“I think we did a good job playing Providence, but I think we’ve got to play better (against) ‘Nova,” F Rick Jackson said. “I think guys are just looking forward to playing ‘Nova, but we realized that we had to come in here and handle business. We’re going to go in there pumped on Saturday, and it’s just going to be an outright fight.”
Keep in mind that the total has gone "under" the posted number in six of Syracuse's last eight overall and in four of its last five in front of the home town crowd.
Bottom line: Public perception is that this will be a high-scoring affair but I see it going the other way; I expect both teams to come out with defensive intensity and to actually create offense through their defense; when taking into account these strong "under" trends that each exhibits in this position, and the rest of these factors, the sharp money in this one is indeed on the UNDER!
Lenny Del Genio
Wichita State -7
Note the time change for this game, which was originally set to start at 8:00 ET, so get your bet in early. The Shockers of Wichita State have not lost a home game this year, going a perfect 16-0 and if you look back to last season have won 24 straight times on this floor. Their last loss, you ask? To tonight's opponent, Southern Illinois, who actually swept them in regular season with a four-point win in Carbondale. However, that was a better Saluki team than this year's edition, which has gone just 6-11 in Missouri Valley play and is ahead of only lowly Evansville in the conference standings. Not only has SIU lost its traditional home dominance this year, but they don't travel well either, posting a 5-8 SU mark in "true" road games. Meanwhile, Wichita State is in a tough spot. They are 22-8 overall, but just 11-6 in conference, meaning that their at-large status for the NCAA Tournament is not good. Were they to win out and at least reach the finals MVC Conference Tourney, they could change that. They've already beaten the Salukis once this season on the road and as alluded to above have major payback from last year's home loss. In fact, they've failed to cover five straight meetings with SIU and 10 of the last 12 here at home. Talk about your "just due," the Shockers are currently riding an overall six-game ATS losing skid. Off BB road losses, they're looking for somebody to blow out and SIU is the perfect opponent to do so. Wichita State is our 25* Missouri Valley Conference Game of the Year.
Dwayne Bryant
Memphis -2.5
This line opened at a pick, but has gone 2.5 points to Memphis already. It wasn't public money that moved this line 2.5 points already. But that's not what this play is about.
Memphis comes into this one off a 4-point home loss to Charlotte last night. The Grizzlies have fallen into a pattern recently. On 2/16, Memphis hosted Phoenix and lost. They followed that with a road win at Toronto. They came back home and lost to Miami. They then went back on the road and beat the Nets. Again they returned home, only to lose to the Lakers. They go back on the road and beat Washington. That brings us to last night's return home and subsequent loss to Charlotte. So we have home loss, road win, home loss, road win, home loss, road win, and home loss. So what comes next tonight? I think we have a pretty good idea.
The Knicks are coming off an OT win in D.C. last night. That snapped an 8-game losing streak for New York. It should also be noted that it has been nearly two months since the Knicks won back-to-back games. You can expect Tracy McGrady to be less than effective tonight with this being the Knicks' second game of a back-to-back. The Knicks also have a showdown with the Cavaliers up next, which probably has their attention moreso than tonight's opponent.
Bottom line: The Knicks haven't been able to put together consecutive wins in quite some time and Memphis has been following a very clear pattern for almost two weeks now. Memphis is the better team and we're basically not asking them to do much more than beat an inferior team. I like my chances. Lay the small number with Memphis.
Pat Hawkins
Villanova at Syracuse
Pick: Villanova +5.5
This game has been hyped for the last two months as the top teams in the Big east finally square off in the regular season game of the year. Tons of talent will be on display, the guard play will be super, this game will be a story of runs as both team will explode, who makes the run at the end?? Nova has the fire power and won't be stopped by the average Syracuse defense, Nova has the defense that can step up, this gives them a leg up in this showdown.
RAS
Delaware/Towson Over 143
DAVID MALINSKY
4* NEW MEXICO STATE over BOISE STATE
Yes, we are in play again here, we just had to wait and let the markets do their thing. After cashing easy tickets behind these Aggies at home over San Jose State and Idaho since Troy Gillenwater became eligible, the latter bringing home a 6* payback on Wednesday, we can go to the windows again with what may be the single most under-valued team in the nation right now. And we get to back them on a night in which they are going to bring a special effort behind senior Jonathan Gibson, who plays on this court for the final time, with 125 games in a State uniform already under his belt.
This will be redundant, but let’s go back to the key – a short-handed Aggie team suffered some truly awful defeats early in the season, including identical counts of 100-68 at both U.C.L.A. and Saint Mary’s. All those games do is clog databases with misleading information, because the results carry no real meaning. Key inside cogs Wendell McKines and Gillenwater missed a combined 31 games, but since the latter became eligible they are on a 5-1 run, with his inside presence (he is averaging 13.8 ppg in only 22.5 minutes) now adding balance to that superb guard combo of Gibson and Jonathan Young (they are combining to averaging 39.0 per game). Now they are back to 18-9, and a candidate for one of the post-season tourneys if they can not win the W.A.C., and the momentum and sentiment of Senior Night can produce something special here.
Boise does not get in the way much. The Broncos had the kind of upset at Louisiana Tech on Thursday night that bad teams often have trouble following up on this late in the season, especially with the trip from Ruston to Las Cruces anything but a direct jaunt. A soft defense was exploited for 88 points in an earlier home loss to the Aggies, who scored at will even without Gillenwater available, one of five conference games in which they have allowed the opposition to shoot better than 50 percent from the field, a dubious feat that even U.C.-Davis managed in Boise last Saturday. The host brings the kind of explosiveness to exploit them fully here, which makes this result just a matter of time.
Sports Unlimited
7* Buffalo
5* DePaul
4* Texas