Insider Sports Report
4* ECU
4* Baylor
3* UTEP
Rex Rodgers
4* New York Rangers -130 (NHL GOW)
RINKPLAY SPORTS
5* Eastern Conference Revenge GOW
New Jersey Devils over Philadelphia Flyers
2* Montreal Canadiens over Washington Capitals
Free Nashville Predators and New York Rangers Under 5.5
DAVID MALINSKY
4* SOUTHERN MISS over TULSA
In cashing an easy 4* ticket on Saturday behind Larry Eustachy and his scrappy Golden Eagles, we noted how their style of play brings almost no sex appeal to the marketplace, and as such no real line adjustments despite their outstanding recent run. We can repeat that same mantra to set this one up.
Southern Miss is playing ferocious defense, holding seven straight Conference USA opponents to less than 60 points, and going 6-1 ATS in those games. And while the SU tally was only 4-3, look at the defeats – they fell at U.T.E.P. and U.A.B., and at home vs. Memphis, by a combined 10 points. The polish is not quite there offensively to finish against that class of competition but the defense goes hard for the full 40 minutes regardless, and on a current 4-0 run, including that outright win at Houston on Saturday, the confidence is at a high level all the way around. We can start with Eustachy - “It says a lot about our players. I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface as a team. We’re going to run out of time. All of them can get so much better. The hand they were dealt by the conference (four league road games in the first six) was ridiculous and they handled it well. We can play a lot better than we did at Houston, but we found a way to win.”
The fact that they are only building momentum, and nowhere near a peak, is a mindset that we like to see, and Sai’Quon Stone continues that theme - “We haven’t been successful yet and we haven’t been successful in our coach’s mind. He’s been instilling that into the rest of players and that makes us more hungry. We haven’t done anything yet and we haven’t earned anything.” And part of that surge comes from the physical play of Torye Pelham inside, who had 13 rebounds in only 22 minutes at Houston (from Stone - ”He’s been relentless for us the last four or five weeks”). They are 4-1 SU since he came back from injury, losing only at U.A.B. by a single point.
Southern Miss is only allowing 40.2 percent from the field and 27.6 from 3-point range in CUSA play, winning the battle of the boards by 39, and only allowing 73 assists through eight games. That are the epitome of a “tough out”, and not only do the Eagles hang around the entire way here, but the outright upset is absolutely in range. While they are playing their best basketball of the season, Tulsa has fallen into a funk. When Southern had to open against the CUSA elite the Golden Hurricanes had a softer early ride, but in stepping up in class the past two weeks they fell by 10 at U.A.B. and 14 at U.T.E.P., and they have only managed a 5-11 ATS tally in the role of the favorite this season. They have also not played well at all when forced into a slower pace, going just 1-8-1 ATS in games in which neither they nor their opponents scored more than 75 points. And now there are distraction issues as well, with Saturday night’s nationally televised home game vs. Memphis looming too large on the horizon – it is both “Legends Weekend” and a “Hoops for Haiti” white-out promotion, and for a team that does not get that kind of showcase often it makes the task of getting past this challenge even more difficult.
RAS
2 Units Cal State Fullerton +3.5
Red Dog Sports
5* Duke/UNC Under 156
Sportsbetsnow
2 Units Miami FL -1
2 Units Syracuse -10.5
Tony Taylor
3* Celtics/Hornets Over 192
MR EAST
NCAAB WEDNESDAY ODDSMAKER ERROR
UCONN @ SYRACUSE
3 UNITS: SYRACUSE -11
This is a Syracuse team that has consistently played better than any team in the country, bar none. The Cuse has a lot of weapons, and for once some depth to go along with key contributing players. Syracuse is 23-1 vs the nations 12th toughest schedule, and playing the RPI top 50 they have 4 wins in 6 games by 12 or more, but Uconn isn't even in the top 50, and when you go beneath the top 50, the Cuse is winning by huge margins. Syracuse has won 19 games by 12 or more, and at home it is 13 of 15. The Huskies may look like a good team, but they are far from it. They beat Texas, and looked impressive, but the Horns have slid well under their #1 ranking with 5 losses in 6 games, so how good was that win? That was also at home, the Huskies have taken the donut on the road, and the last 2 were ugly vs Louisville and Providence. Their halfcourt offense consists of Walker or Dyson breaking down their man with the help of a ball screen up high, but Syracuse plays a zone, meaning further trouble for the Huskies. They have no consistent outside scoring threat, and they will be hammered off the glass here. Jim Calhoun admitted teams that shoot well, espcially from 3 give his team trouble, and Syracuse leads the nation making 53.1% of their shots. They also bury 7 from deep a game at 39%. This is a bad spot for the Huskies, and many feel like this team has a shot at the NCAA Tournament, but that argument will be closed after this one. Syracuse in a blowout.
BRANDON LANG
20 DIME - DREXEL DRAGONS
Why not?
Bruiser Flint has his Drexel Dragons playing their best ball of the entire year right now and I don't see them laying an egg at Hofstra.
They have won 5 of their last 6 S, and are a perfect 6-0 ATS and for the most part it's been in very convincing fashion.
After a 71-48 road loss at Old Dominion as a 13 1/2 point underdog, they came home to hammer James Madison by 21 as an 8 point home favorite.
They then took care of this same Hofstra team 75-62 in a game that wasn't as close at the 13 point final would lead you to believe.
Drexel jumped out to an 18 point halftime lead, pushed the lead to 30 with just over 12 minutes to go and was still up 20 with 47 seconds to go before Hofstra scored the last 7 points of the game for the 13 point final margin.
Off that impressive win they went into Northeastern as a 10 point dog and won outright by 13 and then battled back from 10 points down in the 2nd half to get to cover over William/Mary losing by 3 catching 3 1/2.
I went against Drexel in that Bill and Mary game and when I saw they were coming home to play Towson State, I used them as a 5 dimer and it was one of the biggest blowouts of the year 97-55 as a 14 point home favorite.
They followed that up with a 13 point home win over George Mason as a 6 1/2 point favorite which leads us into this ballgame tonight.
As for Hofstra, since that blowout loss to Drexel they have won 3 of their last 4 but the 3 wins were against a pair of 7-17 teams in NC Wilmington and Delaware and a 10-14 James Madison.
Truth be told, a 3-6 SU run and 2-5-1 ATS run their last 8 gives me no confidence they should be laying points to any of the top tiered teams in the CAA, which I feel Drexel is proving they are up there with VCU, Northeastern and ODU.
In coming with a 30 dimer on Drake Saturday night at Illinois State one of the factors that put me over the top was how dominant Drake had been at home in their earlier meeting on January 17th.
Drake hammered Illinois State from wire to wire, jumping out to a 20 point halftime lead and coasting the rest of the way, much the same way Drexel did in their first meeting with this Hofstra team.
As with my Saturday 30 dime winner on Drake, I couldn't understand why Illinois State was favored by 10 and for the life of me I can't understand why Hofstra is favored by 1 1/2 over Drexel tonight.
I'm rolling with Bruiser Flint and red hot Drexel to make it a 7th straight cover tonight.
FREE PICK - MIAMI-FLORIDA HURRICANE
Jimmy Boyd
4* Boston Celtics -4
5* New Mexico +5.5
3* Furman +7.5
Big Al
3* NJ Nets (Underdog Of The Year)
3* Minnesota
4* North Carolina (ACC Underdog Of The Year)
3* Furman
3* Missouri State 3* (Roadkill Blowout)
Hot Shot Sports
3* Charlotte Bobcats
California Sports
3* Cal-Irvine -2.5
ATS LOCK CLUB
6 Units Arkansas -6
5 Units UNLV -5
5 Units Southern Miss + 9
4 Units Missouri State -5