Bryan Leonard
Saturday Afternoon Steamroller
Buffalo at Northern Illinois
Three straight embarrassing losses for the Bulls who have dropped to 3-3 in conference action. They lost at Kent State and Ohio U by a combined 57 points only to return home for a six point defeat at the hands of lowly Ball State. But we expect a bounce back today from a team that has gone 12-10 straight up on the road the past two seasons. They have owned this series winning 7 of the last 8 meetings with the only loss coming by just two points on the road. The last three meetings they have won by a combined 36 points. Northern Illinois sits at 4-2 in conference but they have feasted on the less talented teams. Last game out they hosted a pretty good Ohio U team at home and lost by 15 points. They just don't have enough talent to expect wins over the class of this league, and despite their recent struggles the Bulls are a good basketball team. The Huskies don't have much of a home court advantage posting a 22-23 record here over the past four seasons. Buffalo holds a huge advantage in this game with shooting behind the arc. Look for the Bulls to right the ship as they have more scoring options that this weak shooting Husky club.
PLAY BUFFALO
MR EAST
3 Units Depaul +17
Dwayne Bryant
Bet: Kansas -4
I've been burned by going against K-State twice this season, so hopefully the third time is the charm. Many people remember the Wildcats knocking off then #1 Texas on national TV, and also getting a big conference road win at Baylor. These same people see K-State's national ranking and will jump at the points here. I think that's a mistake.
Texas had been playing rather poorly after they took over the #1 ranking. It sure seemed like the pressure of being #1 was getting to them. And the Wildcats were lying in wait on that Monday night at the Fred Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan. This is a different story. Kansas is poised to take over the #1 ranking with a win in this one, and the Jayhawks will not be intimidated in this road setting. In fact, the Jayhawks are 25-1 in Manhattan since 1984 and has won 38 of 40 meetings overall since the inception of the Big 12.
Kansas has a height advantage in this one, led by 6'11" center Cole Aldrich. That should give the Jayhawks the edge on the glass, where they own a +9.4 road rebound margin per game. And let's not forget power forward Marcus Morris, who has averaged 19 points and 8 boards in his last five games. It should also be noted that Kansas is shooting free throws at a 77.4% clip on the road, while K-State is shooting free throws at just 64.7% at home.
The Jayhawks are 12-3 ATS in their last 15 games as a road favorite of 6.5 points or less, and 9-1 ATS in the last 10 meetings in Manhattan. The Wildcats are just 2-5-2 ATS in their last 9 games as a home underdog of 6.5 points or less.
Bottom line: Kansas State has one of the best teams they've ever had, but it still won't be good enough to derail Kansas. Both teams will be highly motivated in this state rivalry game. With Kansas unphased by the atmosphere in Manhattan, I expect their superior talent to get the job done. The Jayhawks should win the battle on the glass with their size up front, and Sherron Collins and Xavier Henry can match up with Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen in the backcourt. Kansas is ranked #2 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and that impressive balance at both ends of the floor will just be too much for K-State. I see a Jayhawks win by 10, so lay it with Kansas.
Marty Otto
20* Bradley +9
Iowa +13
Georgia +7
Kansas St +4
Underground Sports Connection
100* Baylor
DAVID MALINSKY
4* DETROIT -13.5 over ILLINOIS-CHICAGO
On Thursday night Jimmy Collins and his U.I.C. Flames were in one of those settings in which a team with character steps up. They had just come off of a humiliating home loss against Butler when it appeared that they quit early in the second half in front of their own fans, with not even the 84-55 rout defining how bad it really was (15 different Butler players were on the court for at least two minutes and 13 different players scored, as Brad Stevens tried to not embarrass Collins). And the Flames were up against a Wright State team that is hard-pressed to score, and was also distracted by the look-ahead to a revenge game this afternoon. As such, we got in play and looked for the U.I.C. pride to show. But there was none. That changes the category quickly here. While we often will back a team off of a particularly humiliating defeat, when we see two games in a row in which they basically quit on the court it tells us that there are some legitimate issues going forward, and this game also brings us the right favorite to back to expose them even more.
After losing the second half 47-29 vs. Butler it was even worse on Thursday at Wright State, with the Raiders rolling 45-19 after intermission in a 79-43 blowout. It makes the second half count a shocking 92-48 in the last two games, and when a team shows that little heart to keep competing things can go from bad to worse, especially with the quick turnaround time to this tip-off. Just how bad was the effort on Thursday? Wright State had more offensive rebounds than U.I.C. had defensive caroms. You do not need a spread sheet to track how often that happens in a typical college hoops season.
Detroit is primed to take advantage here. Because Robert McCallum has the most physical team in the Horizon, with plenty of depth to go hard for the full 40 minutes, the Titans are already 4-0 ATS in the “second leg” of these weekend conference sets, and they go after this one with a major chip on their shoulder after getting upset 60-56 by the Flames in Chicago earlier. It was the kind of defeat that stings, with Detroit turning the ball over 22 times and getting out-scored 25-9 at the free throw line, as key inside cog Eli Holman was limited to nine minutes because of foul trouble. The fouls were not the only fluke of the evening, but also the fact that Robo Kreps scored 31 of the 60 U.I.C. points. That all changes here. A stifling Detroit defense that is allowing only 37.7 percent shooting in league play, including 28.6 from beyond the arc, will bring the intensity to choke off the pop-gun attack of the visitors, and after 12 players saw action in Thursday’s 83-63 rout of Loyola, a game in which the teamwork was sparkling (21 assists vs. only six TO’s, with five different players having at least three assists), they bring the energy and confidence to break this wide open.
NHL PRO PICKS
NY Islanders +174
Montreal +164
Carolina +150
Columbus +146
Atlanta +130
NY Rangers +130
KB Hoops
5* Vanderbilt +9.5 **POD**
4* Marquette +5
4* Louisville +7
4* Duke -2
4* Portland U -6
3* Missouri -7.5
4* Charlotte Bobcats -1
Dr. Bob
3* Baylor +9
3* USC -1
2* Duke -2
Executive
600% UConn -5
300% UMass +3
300% Creighton +1
300% Fresno St +5
300% New Orleans +6'
Primetime Sports Advisors
15 Units Temple OVER 127
15 Units USC -1.5
15 Units Wyoming +1
15 Units Ark State -1
15 Units E.Washington PK
Seabass
300* Kansas St
100* Louisville
100* Arkansas St
100* NY Knicks
50* Drexel
50* Missouri
50* Air Force
Cal Sports
4* BYU
4* UCLA
4* Ariz St
3* UConn
3* George Wash.
3* SJST
Marc Lawrence
Georgetown +2
When the Hoyas host the Blue Devils at the Verizon Center this afternoon they will be looking to avenge a loss 76-67 loss suffered last year at Duke. That sets the table for this game as we note Georgetown is 120-11 SU at home in non-conference play since 1991, including 24-1 SU and 8-2 ATS when playing off a loss. Looking at this season, the Hoyas are 9-1 at home, allowing an average 61.2 ppg while never surrendering more than 73 points in any one game. The Blue Devils are averaging 67.5 ppg away (1-3 ATS) this season and just 51-118-4 ATS in games in which they score 73 or fewer points. Duke has covered only five of its last 20 games against .789 or greater Big East opposition, including 0-4 ATS when playing off back-to-back SU and ATS wins. The Devils are also 0-4 ATS off back-to-back SU and ATS wins in Big East games in which they won their previous game by double-digits. That fits perfectly into Georgetown's 4-0 ATS mark when playing with three or more days of rest against ACC opposition off a double-digit win, and its 7-0 ATS mark in ACC action as a pick or dog of less than nine points. Look for the Hoyas to get their revenge here today. We recommend a 3-unit play in Georgetown.
Lenny Del Genio
Georgetown PK
This is a HUGE revenge game for the Hoyas. Stop us when you've heard this one before. In last year's meeting the Dukies benefited from (gasp) let us say beneficial home officiating as Georgetown stud Greg Monroe was given what has auspiciously been dubbed a "phantom technical foul" for no apparent reason while on the bench, his fourth foul overall with 15:30 remaining. It was a key turning point in the 76-67 Duke victory and to this day no one has been able to explain why ref John Cahill "Tee'd him up." Now, the Hoyas get the Blue Devils in their place for a battle of top ten teams. Duke has yet to prove they can win on the road this season, going just 1-3 in "true" road games with the lone victory coming last Saturday at Clemson. In their three previous roadies, they missed the spread by a combined 46 points! The Hoyas will be angry here off a stunning loss to Syracuse. "Stunning" not in the sense that they lost to the Orange, but stunning in that they jumped out to a 14-0 lead three minutes into the game only to be outscored by 31 the rest of the way. Duke does not employ the 2-3 zone that Syracuse used so well to bother John Thompson III's team. Georgetown is a perfect 3-0 SU off their previous three defeats this season and with this line as a pick, that's all we need. They are also 63-38 ATS L101 non-conference games. President Barack Obama is rumored to be in attendance here. He'll make sure justice is served. Take Georgetown.