Free Picks: Premium Service Plays for Saturday, March 5,2011

Jeff Benton

30 Dime Arizona

15 Dime West Virginia

Joseph D'Amico

Purdue vs. Iowa
Play: Purdue -9

Iowa has just been awful, dropping 6 in a row SU, and going 2-4 ATS. In their L2 contests, the Hawkeyes lost by 13 to Illinois and 19 to Michigan State. Purdue has had the upper hand over Iowa, winning 8 meetings in a row SU, covering 5 of the 8. In their only match up this season, the Boilermakers shredded the Hawkeyes, 75-52. In the L2 meetings between the squads, Purdue has won by a combined 46 points. JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore are combining for 39.1 PPG and 13.3 RPG. The team has just returned Anthony Johnson from injury. The Guard adds to the already potent arsenal. Coming into this game, the Boilermakers have won 7 in a row SU, going 6-1 ATS. Purdue still has a shot at the top regional seed for the Tournament if they keep on pace. They are 6-1 ATS their L7 vs. the Big 10 and 6-1 ATS their L7 as a favorite. Iowa is 1-4 ATS their L5 vs. the Big 10 and 1-4 ATS their L5 overall. Take Purdue.

Chris Jordan

300* Cincinnati
300* Xavier
300* Wizards

The Duke's Sports

Missouri (+3) for 2.5 Units

Missouri still looking for that signature win that will allow the NCAA select committee to give them the at large nod. We believe this will be their day. Missouri is a sweet 17-0 SU @ Columbia and after stumbling on the road at hot Kansas State and Nebraska, the Tigers should be revved up, especially with an extra day of prep. Missouri, which is out to avenge their earlier season defeat, wasn't as bad as the score indicated. The Tigers were hanging around until mistakes and poor shot selection sealed their fate late. We'll look for more poise and composure out of the sharp shooting Tigers who actually play defense on their home floor,which translates into fast transition buckets. The home team in this series has gone 5-2 ATS. Kansas hasn't been lights out in their last two road tilts blown out at Kansas State and failing to cover at Big 12 bottom feeder Oklahoma. Tigers the call.

Jimmy Boyd

5* Mexico State -5.5

4* Alabama -4.5

4* Oklahoma +1

4* Colorado -4.5

Steve Duemig

25 Dime St. John's

10 Dime Michigan

David Malinsky

4* LaSalle over Temple

On Wednesday we cashed an easy 5* ticket behind LaSalle over Fordham, noting how the Explorers had shown some character when their season had seemingly hit a rock bottom in a truly dismal loss at Xavier. They had a players-only meeting at the team hotel that night, and we will repeat the following from SR Ruben Guillandeax as to what it all meant - "We had a heart-to-heart, and we laid it all out on the line with the 12 guys on the team. We committed ourselves to this program, to the school, and to each other, and today I think we took a step in the right direction. We know we're a better team than our record indicates. We just want to end the season showing that to people and make teams afraid of us." Since then there were a pair of routs over Massachusetts and Fordham in which they smashed the pointspread by 33.5 points, and it was all about tenacity – they won the boards by +24 in those games, and allowed just 29.6 percent shooting. That is correct, 29.6. Yes, they were stepping down in class, but they did what they were supposed to do against that class – go hard for the full 40 minutes, which they can do with a deep roster.

We believe that energy and confidence carries over here, and puts them right in the hunt against a vulnerable Temple team that does not have much margin for error. Note that even in getting 10 points and seven rebounds over 35 floor minutes from Scootie Randall and Michael Eric the Owls were in a major tussle before escaping 71-67 at LaSalle earlier, a game in which the Explorers solidly won the boards 33-20, and without Randall and Eric the rotation is perilously thin right now. Fran Dunphy only has seven players to work with, and in Wednesday’s tough O.T. win at Massachusetts, Lavoy Allen, Juan Fernandez and Rahlir Jefferson all played more than the regulation 40 minutes. Last Saturday Allen and Moore each went the full 40 at George Washington. There is a savvy team that will play smart enough to get the “W”, but the explosiveness and depth are not there to build the kind of margin that is being called for against a most under-rated opponent, one that is playing at a much higher level now than the full-season power ratings can show.

Brandon Lang

30 Dime St Peters -2

Bob Valentino

40 Dime Villanova +9

RAS

N Texas -5.5
Weber St -9.5
Cal Fullerton +4.5

Al DeMarco

20 Dime La Salle
5 Dime G Washington
5 Dime Marquette
5 Dime Miss St

Matt Rivers

200,000♦ Michigan
100,000♦ Marquette
50,000♦ North Carolina

ATS Lock Club

6 Units Clemson
6 Units U Mass
5 Units W Mich
5 Units UTEP

Keith Glantz

GOY West Virginia

25* UConn
25* Kansas St
25* Marquette
25* Georgia

Sean Higgs

4* Illinois
4* Virginia Tech
4* Missouri State
4* Northern Arizona
4* Cal Poly SLO