Insider Sports Report
4* Portland St +7½
3* Seton Hall -5½
3* Charlotte Bobcats -3
Craig Davis
40 Dime – WEBER STATE
MR EAST
NCAAB TUESDAY POISON IVY
PENN @ PRINCETON
3 UNITS: UNDER 113
The Princeton Tigers are back as a good team in the Ivy. When they have had their good teams, totals used to be in the 90s, or low 100s, but that has not been the case this season, despite the fact the Tigers have played 13 Ivy league games with the average total points at 107.4ppg. Just 3 of their games have topped the 110 mark this season, and the result has been a 10-3 under mark. The Quakers are 5-1 to the under in Ivy road play with an average of 115ppg being scored. Tigers now 22-6 to the under in their last 28 Ivy games, I'll go with the under here.
Anthony Redd
40 Units Wright State +7
30 Units Montana -1.5
Michael Cannon
20 Units Seton Hall -5.5
10 Units South Florida -6.5
Bobby Maxwell
300 Units Boston Celtics +1
100 Units UConn -4
James Patrick Sports
5* Philadelphia 76ers
3* Toronto Raptors
ASA
NCAAB BIG EAST TOURNEY GAME OF THE YEAR
Connecticut (-) vs. St. Johns
The Huskies were an under achieving team all season long finishing the regular season with just a 17-14 losing their last three games. UConn is MUCH more talented than their record might indicate and those teams can be ultra dangerous come post-season time. The Huskies no their only chance to make the Dance is to make a deep run in the Big East tourney and they might even have to win it. They have the talent and we expect the “drive” to be their also starting against St. Johns on Tuesday afternoon. As we stated UConn lost their final three games by 2 points at home to Louisville, by 8 @ red hot Notre Dame followed up by a 7-point loss @ South Florida. It was the loss at USF that really got head coach Jim Calhoun worked up. He was extremely disappointed in his seniors’ effort in that game. With the Huskies down just 2 at half, they started the second half very poorly with the Bulls ripping off a 12-1 run to start the half and lead 45-32. Calhoun was furious with the lack of effort and benched his 5 starters with 16:00 minutes remaining. Three seniors, Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards would not see the floor again. Calhoun was sending a message benching three players that combine to average 42 PPG on the season. His reserves brought them back to within a bucket before bowing out and dropping the 7-point decision. “The team that you saw at the end will be the team that starts on Tuesday,” said Calhoun. When Dyson, Robinson and Edwards get in the game vs. St. Johns, we look for a huge effort in what could be the final game of their careers if they don’t get the win. The last time Calhoun called out his team for a poor effort was following a 12-point home loss to Cincinnati. After that game, the Huskies ripped off three impressive wins including topping both Villanova (on the road) and West Virginia, two of the best teams in the Big East. Look for similar results on Tuesday. These two met once this season and Connecticut handled St. Johns with ease 75-59. The Husky defense, which is one of the best in the nation, dominated that day holding the Johnnies to just 34% shooting and only 2 made three pointers. Don’t look for St. Johns to finally get hot on offense as they have struggled most of the season hitting just 42% of their shots. While they have a similar record to UConn, they haven’t beaten any elite teams this year. They have feasted on the teams they were “supposed to” beat. Topping an inconsistent Louisville team and beating a then struggling Notre Dame team by a point were St. Johns best two Big East wins. The Huskies have shown they can beat the big boys as we mentioned with wins over Villanova and West Virginia (and Texas). They also took two future #1 seeds to the wire before losing by 3 to Kentucky and by 5 @ Syracuse. If motivated, this team can play with anyone. They are just that here and will dominated St. Johns for the second time this season. Lay this small number.
BIG AL
Roadkill - Rhode Island
Conference Tourney GOY - Weber State
Conf Champ Crusher - Butler Bulldogs
NBA High Roller - LA Clippers
Kyle Bales
Both of these teams are on winning streaks but the competition hasn't been that great. Milwaukee is hot going on a 15-4 run, but of the Bucks first 14 victories in that stretch, 13 came against the bottom nine teams in the East. The Celtics streak has been built against the teams currently occupying then 9th-12th spots in the East. The Celtics have not impressed me at all during this stretch. They play down to their opponents level; losing to the Nets at home and having to battle back to beat Washington at home Sunday night. Boston trailed 79-66 with 6:11 remaining before a 20-4 closing run to secure an 86-83 win. The Bucks however are hungry for that playoff spot. Brandon Jennings said after a 25 point breakout performance against Cleveland, "Main thing is get to playoffs, having the city start believing in us and keep going on from there." Jennings was one of five Bucks starters to score in double figures in that game. Bucks are 20-9 at home and have covered the spread in 11 straight games. This team is out to prove something.
Play: 15* Milwaukee Bucks -1
Charlotte looks to win its third straight over the visiting Heat who turned in one of their worst performances ever in their last game at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Heat managed to score 65 points missing 21 of 23 from 3-point range and shot 28.9 percent overall. But I'm not big on past results and I love how this team is playing right now. Wade is averaging 33.3 points, 12.0 assists and 5.0 boards during the Heat's three-game winning streak. Michael Beasley has stepped up after some encouragement from Wade scoring 14 of 22 points in the fourth quarter of last Saturday's home win and this team is clicking right now. The truth is, is that the Bobcats are not that good of a team. Besides an impressive home win against the Lakers they haven't done much lately and I will ride the hotter team today.
Play: 10* Miami Heat +3.5
St. Bonaventure, winners of 4 of their last 5 games, take on a Duquesne team they just beat at home last Wednesday by 12 points. They are once again favored by -1.5 which seems like a very fishy line to me. The Bonnies had a great performance shooting 56% from the field,nine 3-pointers and 73% from the line but don't expect the same performance today. The Dukes are ranked among Division I's leaders in scoring offense while playing a hectic pace in coach Ron Everhart's first three seasons and responded to the loss by getting it's second 100 point game in less than a month. in Wednesday's matchup, Duquesne and St. Bonaventure committed 20 turnovers apiece and it was just a sloppy game that saw both teams trading fast-break baskets. It also featured the first technical foul of the season on Dukes coach Ron Everhart, as well as junior Damian Saunders shooting two air-balls on free-throw attempts. I think this team will step up today to get the victory.
Play: 5* Duquesne +2
Sportsbetsnow
3 Units St. Johns +4
Tim Trushel
20* UConn Under
Karl Garrett
20 Units Wright State +7
10 Units Dayton Flyers -11.5
Chuck O'Brien
20 Units Butler -7
Bob Balfe
Pacers -1.5 over Sixers
Charlotte -9 over UMass