Scott Spreitzer
I'm playing Connecticut on Wednesday night. The Irish have been playing much better basketball with Luke Harangody sidelined by a knee injury. But they have also been in favorable spots in their last two games. I had Notre Dame on these pages when they whipped Pittsburgh. The win over Georgetown was made easier due to the fact that Hoya leading scorer Austin Freeman only played 23 minutes due to a case of the flu. Freeman finished with only 5 points and was a liability on the defensive end, also. The Irish couldn't miss, making over 57% of their shots. That's been the biggest difference the last two games...Notre Dame has just been shooting "lights-out." But the public has jumped on the Irish following the two wins, and with UConn losing by a basket last time out to Louisville, we have serious value on the visitor. The Huskies also offer the Irish something their last two opponents couldn't. UConn brings big-time size in the backcourt at both ends with Jerome Dyson, and extreme quickness with Kemba Walker. The Huskies also own too many offensive "outs" for the depth-shy Irish. Four players average between 11 ppg and 18.4 ppg. But most importantly, the Irish jump-shooters will struggle against the two backcourt studs I mentioned above. And when those long distance jumpers carom away from the basket, the Huskies will get their chance to run, and run some more. UConn has won four straight in the series, including an 82-70 win on January 10. The Huskies held the Irish to 40% shooting, and absolutely crushed Notre Dame on the boards. Meanwhile, five players scored between 11 and 22 points for the Huskies. Notre Dame has not been a momentum team from a spread perspective. Despite winning their last two, they're on a 16-34-1 ATS slide the last 51 times following an ATS win. UConn has covered six of their last seven as a dog and they're 10-4 ATS the last 14 times against teams with a winning mark above .600. I firmly believe Notre Dame's hot shooting and fortunate results come to an end tonight. I'm playing Connecticut, my Big East Road Warrior Wipeout Game of the Year.
Roz Juarbe
Santa Barbara is highly motivated, a half-game ahead of Pacific for first place in the Big West. They are 10-2 at home and face an Irvine team that is 2-10 on the road. There is a sense of urgency with the home team, as they just lost a game to Cal Poly and this is the final regular season game. Sophomore Orlando Johnson, who lifted UC Santa Barbara to a pair of road victories last week, has been named Big West Conference Player of the Week. It was the second time in three weeks that Johnson has earned the honor. The 6-5 guard averaged 20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game as the Gauchos knocked off Cal State Fullerton (73-65) and Fresno State (64-60) to extend their road winning streak to four. It's also a revenge game, as Irvine beat UCSB by a basket back in early January. Irvine is on a 2-8-1 ATS run playing no defense, barely beating Cal Davis and the Marist Red Foxes. A great spot for the fired up home team. My Game of the Year, Santa Barbara
Charlie
500* St. Louis +4
500* Clippers +4
500* Suns/Clippers Over 211
30* Kansas -9
20* Xavier -21
20* Charlotte +7'
10* New Orleans -2
Atlanta -9 Free Play
Marc Lawrence
New York -4
4 Units Florida St
Teddy June
St Louis
Maryland
SPORTS UNLIMITED
5* OKLAHOMA ST
4* DUQUESNE
4* INDIANA
Helmut
Rice Over 146.5
South Carolina -3.5
CAL SPORTS
4* UAB
4* Conn
3* Kan St
3* Iowa
3* Col State Under
3* Grizzlies
PPP
5% Notre Dame
5% Phoenix Suns
4% Alabama Birmingham
4% South Carolina
4% Georgia
4% Utah
4% Maryland
Joyce Sterling
10* TCU +15.5
Seabass
100* Steam Maryland
Executive
350% Notre Dame -1.5
300% Temple -2.5
300% Memphis +3.5
Aapaches
22-cleve,over
14-wash.
22-minn
17-suns
16-uab
24-ala
25-ark
22-g-wash
22-auburn,over.
14-rice,24-tcu,24-tcu,under.16-oklahoma-st.14-colo,st,under.
Steven Budin
25 DIME - Maryland
Alatex
20* Maryland
UConn +2
TCU +16
Tex A&M -6