The Duke's Sports
Washington (+4') for 2 Units
The big news is the loss of starting PG Bryant (foot) who was an excellent free throw shooter, 3 point marksman, and defender consequently,Mazzulla will be forced to go from twenty some minutes to close to 40. And keep in mind that Mazzulla has a lingering shoulder injury that has limited his effectiveness shooting from the perimeter. And the way Romar likes to use his bench and turn up the tempo late, WV's lack of depth should be a hindrance down the stretch. The Mounties have struggled in this small favorite role at 5-18 ATS. Washington, which is 4-0 ATS on a neutral floor, has finally lived up to its pre-season hype and playing great tournament basketball. In tournament play, the Huskies are shooting a blistering 55% from beyond the arc, and now that Bryan-Amaning is emerging as another inside threat to compliment Poindexter, Thomas and Overton will surely have more freedom to drive open lanes and find open looks at the basket. We'll grab the points with the Huskies here.
Joe Nelson
Pacific at Appalachian State
Pick: Appalachian State -3
Xavier +5
ALATEX
15* Cornell
ATS LOCK CLUB
5 Units Kansas St -4.5
4 Units W VA -4
3 Units Bulls -1.5
WUNDERDOG
POD - Montreal
Montreal -1.5
Carolina
Calgary
Chicago
Larry Ness
10* Sweet 16 TOY
Butler / Syracuse Under 139
The Bulldogs are 30-4 and are seeded fifth in the regional; they've won 22 straight games heading into this tough matchup. Butler has beat big name schools like UCLA, Ohio State and Xavier. One things clear; Butler respects Syracuse; Butler is not intimidated by Syracuse. "If you want to be really good, you don't ever look at the seed or the number next to a team's name," 3rd-year coach Brad Stevens said at a news conference Wednesday at EnergySolutions Arena. Butler reached the regional semifinals after opening the tournament with wins over Conference USA regular-season champion UTEP (77-59) and Ohio Valley champion Murray State… (54-52); two dominating defensive performances(note: the total has gone "under" the number in five of Butler's last seven overall). Syracuse has been getting it done without big man Arinze Onaku it crushed Vermont 79-56 and then cruised by Gonzaga 87-95. It's a delicate balancing act for the Orange on the defensive end without Onaku they have to be careful not to let teams start clicking from the perimeter or they'll get beat; expect Jim Boeheim to switch up his defensive looks throughout the game (note: Syracuse has seen the total go "under" the posted number in 10 of 16 when playing against a team with a winning record after 15 or more games). I look for Syracuse to try and control the tempo of this game and to swarm to the ball on the defensive end; that said expect Butler to execute its game plan as well; as a result, play on the "under".
Bob Balfe
Heat/Bulls Under 190
Syracuse -6.5 over Butler
Xavier +5.5 over K-St.
Steve Budin
25 Dime - Kansas State
Jeff Benton
20 Dime: CORNELL
10 Dime: WEST VIRGINIA
Cornell
Cornell didn’t just upset two of the most experienced, disciplined squads in the country last weekend – the Big Red picked them both completely apart. Facing a Temple team that was ranked in the Top 5 nationally in scoring defense (under 56 ppg), field goal defense and three-point defense, Cornell shot 56.2 percent from the field and scored 78 points in a 13-point rout that wasn’t even THAT close. Then two days later, taking on a Wisconsin team that was fourth in the nation in scoring defense (right behind Temple at barely 56 ppg allowed), Cornell shot an incredible 61.1 percent (8-for-15 from three-point range) and scored 43 points in the first half, 44 in the second half and rolled to an 18-point victory.
What I’m trying to say is this: If you STILL don’t believe Cornell is for real, then you don’t know basketball. If you do know basketball, then you share my belief that Cornell is the kind of intelligent, disciplined, unselfish team that can drive a young, athletic and inexperienced squad like Kentucky crazy. Remember, as gifted as the Wildcats are, they still tend to drift away from the team concept from time to time and play individually instead of as a collective unit – a trap you’ll NEVER see Cornell fall into.
True, Kentucky’s youth and inexperience didn’t matter a lick last weekend, as they destroyed East Tennessee State and Wake Forest by 29 and 30 points respectively. But you can throw out ETSU (a No. 16 seed). As for Wake, it moronically decided to play Kentucky’s up-tempo game and before the Demon Deacons could blink, they were buried in a hole they couldn’t climb out of. No chance Cornell makes the same mistake. The Big Red will play THEIR game, not Kentucky’s. And I truly believe that style is going to frustrate the young Wildcats into making mistakes they didn’t have a chance to make last week.
This isn’t just a wild prediction on my part, folks. Just look at what Cornell did against Temple and Wisconsin (two teams with more talent than the Big Red). And look at what Cornell did back on Jan. 6, when they went to No. 1 Kansas and played the Jayhawks dead even for 37 minutes before eventually falling 71-66 as a 20-point road underdog. In that game, Cornell outshot Kansas 43.6 percent to 36.7 percent; had six more made field goals and finished even on the boards (33-33). If not for Kansas getting a ton of hometown calls (it had 36 free-throw attempts to just 14 for Cornell), the Big Red would’ve pulled off the upset, no question about it.
Now here we are 2½ months later, and Cornell has won 17 of 18 games since the loss to Kansas (including the last nine in a row). They just won the first two NCAA Tournament games in school history (crushing a No. 4 seed and a No. 5 seed). They’re playing with a perfect combination of confidence and swagger. And, despite last week’s results, they can still go to the “disrespect” card, as the oddsmakers have made the Big Red the biggest underdog in the Sweet 16.
Bottom line: I acknowledge Kentucky has the better athletes (obviously), but as we saw on multiple occasions last week, better athletes don’t always win. See Cornell vs. Temple and Wisconsin; see St. Mary’s vs. Richmond and Villanova; see Ohio vs. Georgetown; see Northern Iowa vs. Kansas. I’m telling you, this is the matchup Kentucky coach John Calipari feared. And I truly believe the WORST thing that could’ve happened to Kentucky was to destroy its first two Tournament opponents, giving them a false sense of security. And if the Wildcats come into this game overconfident, they’ll be going home tonight.
Either way, Cornell (4-0 ATS last four overall; 38-17-1 ATS last 56 as an underdog) will at least make this a close contest throughout.
West Virginia
Not too concerned that the Mountaineers will be without starting point guard Darryl Bryant – and neither are many others apparently, as the pointspread for this game against Washington barely moved after it was revealed that Bryant suffered a broken foot in practice on Tuesday. Not saying Bryant is a scrub, but he didn’t even start Saturday’s second-round game against Missouri. He ended up playing 16 minutes and finished with four points and one assist. This after playing just 22 minutes and scoring four points (three assists) in a 27-point opening-round victory over Morgan State.
And in the final two games of the Big East tournament, Bryant played a total of 26 points and contributed a total of zero points with two assists and four rebounds. Go back six contests, and Bryant has scored a grant total of 14 points in 124 minutes of action. And guess what? The Mountaineers won all six games (part of an ongoing eight-game winning streak).
So, yeah, you could say the media is overreacting to Bryant’s injury. Not me. I’d rather focus on more important aspects of this game, namely that West Virginia is arguably the toughest, most physical team Washington has seen all season. And – inarguably – 6-foot-7 forward Da’Sean Butler is the best player the Huskies have seen to date.
Granted, Washington has an explosive offense, one that’s put up at least 79 points in four straight games and six of the last seven (all wins). Then again, look at what West Virginia’s defense has done over the last five games: allowing 53.8 ppg (all five scored less than 60), 34 percent shooting overall and 27.7 percent shooting from three-point range.
Also, the Mountaineers are a perfect 9-0 at neutral sites this year, winning by exactly 11 ppg (69-58) and holding the opposition to 37.6 percent shooting. They’re also on a 10-2-1 ATS run the Big Dance, while Washington has failed to cover in five of its last seven as an underdog.
KELSO
5 Units Blazers -3.5
5 Units Mavs/Blazers UNDER 192.5
5 Unit Parlay
15 Units Washington +4.5
5 Units Butler +6
5 Units Xavier +5
5 Units Cornell +8.5
TEDDY JUNE
10* Butler
10* Xavier
TOTALS 4 U
Guarantee - Bulls Over
Clippers Under
Portland Over
FANTASY SPORTS GAMETIME
1000* Washington
O.C. Dooley
2 Units Clippers / Rockets UNDER 209
This total has seen some inflation from the opening figure of 208 points due to the fact that Houston loss a very high scoring 122-104 verdict last night against what normally is a conservative Oklahoma City offense. Even though last night’s game was very high scoring one of Houston’s best offensive threats Aaron Brooks (3-for-11 from the field) was held to just 11 points on the scoreboard. In addition that 5 different reserves that the Rockets used off the bench (2-for-10) collectively shot only 29% from the field. I bring up Houston reserves because this team is starting to run out of healthy personnel as Jordan Hill (ankle), Jared Jefferies (achillies) and Shane Battier (knee) also did NOT play on Wednesday. Of course Houston has played all season without injured star center Yao Ming while former All Star Tracy McGrady was eventually traded due to health issues. It has been another disastrous season for the Clippers whose offensive has been held BELOW 90 points “five” different times in the most recent ten outings. In the stretch run many a reserve want to have increased playing time but the Clippers interim coach is stressing DEFENSIVE intensity in order to earn extra time on the court. Certainly the oddsmakers are catching up to the Clippers in the totals category as they are 2-0 UNDER the past couple of games which was on the heels of a 13-5 run where this wretched squad played “above” the spot. In this Clippers/Rockets series the losing side has been held to “double digits” on the scoreboard ELEVEN consecutive times. Houston long term is 17-6 UNDER when off 3 consecutive contests that were played on the road
Stan Lisowski
4'* App State
3* Cornell
3* Xavier