Strike Point Sports
Providence (-5) over Georgetown
The Friars are looking for a strong bounce-back week. Providence lost both its games last week and are losers of three of their last four in the Big East. But Providence can still boast one of the best players in the country in Kris Dunn alongside one of the most improved players in the nation in Ben Bentil. Also consider the Hoyas are a far weaker team away from home, just 4-5 on the year. Georgetown has lost each of its last two away conference games, and this is a great spot for the Friars to earn back some confidence and get in the win column. At home they right the ship from their mini slump and continue what has been for the most part a very impressive winning campaign.
Robert Ferringo
UAB (+1) over Louisiana Tech
In this game I am going with UAB solely because I don't think that Louisiana Tech is any good. They were the conference regular-season champs last year and a legit NCAA Tournament-caliber team. But they couldn't make the tournament then and are much weaker now. UAB has absolutely everyone back from the team that bombed Tech at home (by 20) last year and beat them handily in the conference tournament (by 10). Louisiana Tech has some ugly road losses to bad teams and their home wins are getting less and less impressive. UAB is on a 17-1 overall run and Jerod Haase is doing a fantastic job with what is still a young team. UAB has great balance and a lot of confidence, and after Tech loses to Middle Tennessee Thursday I think UAB is going to drive the dagger home with an upset win on Saturday.
Raphael Esparza
Klay Thompson (+375) to Win the 3-Point Contest
Yes, I now the other 'Splash Brother' will probably take most of the action and even J.J. Redick will get some love, but I'm going with Klay Thompson Saturday night. MVP Stephen Curry was horrible last year in the 3-point contest and I see him struggling again in Toronto. If Klay and get hot early I see him staying hot and taking home the trophy Saturday night. You might want to wait because again I see Curry and Redick getting tons of action and we might see Klay get up to 4-1 or higher.
Bruce Marshall
Marshall -1
WKU knows all about Marshall's KO power after getting blown out at Huntington on Jan. 3. The hurricane-like Herd attack (85 ppg, coached by Dan D'Antoni, Mike's older brother) now up to sixth nationally in scoring after cracking the century mark last week vs. both UTEP and UTSA, with Miami-Fla. transfer F James Kelly really hitting the accelerator, scoring 26 ppg his last three. Kelly proved tough for the Tops to handle when he scored 27 in TY's earlier 94-76 Marshall romp.
Ken Thomson
La.-Lafayette -4
UL Lafayette is one of the hottest teams, winners of nine in a row. They struggled the other night and finally got the lead in the last 8 minutes and beat Arkansas State by 10 points to avenge an earlier defeat. They'll try and do the same with Sun Belt frontrunner UALR. The Trojans were beaten by UL Monroe the other night. The Ragin Cajuns were embarrassed at Little Rock 77-57 earlier this season and it should be payback time. Shawn Long ( 19ppg/13RB ) should lead the way in a game that would pull Lafayette into a tie for first place with Arkansas Little Rock. The Cajuns need to get off to a quicker start than they did on Thursday so they are not playing uphill all day.
Dave Cokin
Butler -3.5
The very bottom of the Big East might not be much with St. John's and DePaul each having very difficult campaigns. But 1-8 this is a very good outfit, and I don't think it's a stretch to suggest there are a number of teams in this conference that could do some damage come March Madness. Two of those squads get together here as Butler plays host to Xavier.
Butler will definitely be in payback mode today. The Bulldogs were beaten up at Xavier back in early January. The Musketeers exploited what on that day was a soft Butler interior and scored a load of easy buckets en route to a convincing 88-69 win. That was the early portion of what turned out to be a really lousy stretch of basketball for Butler. The Bulldogs eventually dropped all the way to 3-6 in league play, and the three wins were against the two aforementioned Big East weaklings.
But things are looking up for Butler. They've now mowed down three straight opponents, and it looks like whatever was ailing the Bulldogs has been remedied. They're now flashing the form they displayed early in the season, when they were looking like a powerhouse. That Butler team earned some very impressive wins, and I'm banking on those Bulldogs to be in action today.
Xavier is obviously anything but a pushover. The Musketeers don't figure to be in a very good mood following a bad game at Creighton. History buffs will, in fact, most likely be all over X here. They've pretty much owned Butler over the years, with an impressive 9-1-1 STS ledger in the last 11 meetings, including 5-1 vs. the line on this court.
But I'm putting more weight on what's happening right now rather than what has taken place in the past. As I frequently mention at this time of the season, I'm a fan of backing avenging home teams that are coming in with positive momentum. I won't give the exact parameters of how I break this down, but teams fitting what I look for in this scenario win far more often than they lose. This angle, if you want to call it that, has popped at roughly a 60% clip going back several seasons, and it's 11-6 so far this year. Butler does indeed qualify as a play and my projections also have them winning the game as far as the math goes.
I wouldn't expect this to be easy by any means, but I see Butler winning this one and with the number where it is. I'm willing to spot the points today with the Bulldogs.
Brad Wilton
It's not that 15-11 Northern Iowa is a bad team, especially when you consider the Panther enters Shockers land riding a 5-game win and cover streak, it's just that the 18-6 Wheat Shockers are playing at a higher-level these days and have the look of a team that could very well be playing late into the month of March.
Wichita State got bounced last Saturday on the road at Illinois State, but they followed that loss up with a convincing romp at Drake, 75-48.
The Shockers have also had their way with the Panthers in recent meetings, as Wichita has already notched a 74-55 win and cover at Cedar Falls back on January 20th. That puts State at 8-2 both straight up and against the spread the last 10 series meetings.
Northern Iowa is only 5-9 against the spread on the road this season, while Wichita State has covered 7 of their 9 lined home games thus far.
Have to lay it with Wichita.
4* WICHITA STATE
Chris Jordan
Since Thanksgiving, I've been giving out games involving West Virginia, and I've told you all along I would do so given how impressed I was with the team. Whether I'm using the Mountaineers are siding against them, I've made money involving Bob Huggins' group.
Today I want you siding with the Mountaineers, who I think will enjoy the return of Jonathan Holton, who had one of his best performances of the season against this same TCU team last month. His return from a four-game suspension gives him a chance to better that effort.
After splitting those games without Holton, the 10th-ranked Mountaineers (19-5, 8-3) are looking for an eighth straight win over the last-place Horned Frogs (11-13, 2-9). The Mountaineers will benefit on the glass with him back in the lineup, especially after they were outrebounded in each of the last two games - a 75-65 loss to sixth-ranked Kansas on Tuesday, which followed an 80-69 victory over then-No. 15 Baylor last Saturday.
West Virginia needs the win to stay atop the Big 12 along with fellow co-leaders Kansas and Oklahoma, who happen to meet in Norman today. TCU has lost 32 of its last 33 games against ranked opponents, including 11 straight during which it has allowed 78.7 points on 51.6 percent shooting. The Horned Frogs have also lost 34 straight matchups on the road, against ranked foes.
Lay the home chalk, as the Mountaineers roll.
1* WEST VIRGINIA
Chris Jordan
For my second complimentary winner on Saturday, I'm laying the small number in Boulder, Colorado, as the Buffaloes are giving up a mere -3 points to the Washington Huskies.
No problem.
The Buffs are currently in a three-way tie in the Pac 12 for fourth place, along with the Huskies and Utah. That means the Buffs have an opportunity to un-knot things in the middle of the standings, and that's a mighty good motivational tool with as we approach the home stretch of the conference season, and higher seeds are much better off in the Pac 12 Tournament.
Now, I know the Huskies handled the Buffs with relative ease in their first meeting, with a 95-83 win in Washington, but the Huskies are in after a 90-82 setback to Utah on Wednesday. They didn't go home, so that might help, as they've been in Boulder since Thursday.
But that altitude in real-time game situation makes a big difference.
The Buffs are in after an inspiring 88-81 double-overtime win against Washington State on Thursday, when they got balanced scoring, something that was needed with leading scorer and rebounder Josh Scott on the bench with an ankle injury.
George King finished with 21 points, Wesley Gordon added 15, Xavier Talton had 13, Josh Fortune finished with 11 and Thomas Akyazili had 10.
So while the team played extra time just two nights ago, the minutes were spread out and this team should be fine for this contest.
5* COLORADO
Gabriel DuPont
Free play for tonight, as I look to improve on my 13-6 runwith complimentary plays: George Washington at ST. BONAVENTURE (-2)
The STORYLINE in this game today - I'm going to play St. Bonaventure in this Atlantic 10 clash, laying a cheap number to George Washington, as the Bonnies will be playing in front of a sold-out Homecoming Weekend crowd. The Bonnies have won four straight games and sit in fourth place in the standings, just one game ahead of George Washington. And it's the first sellout at the Reilly Center since 2012.
The X-FACTOR in making this choice on this game - My x-factor in this game is the Bonnies' Big Three! Senior forward Dion Wright, senior guard Marcus Posley and sophomore guard Jaylen Adams happens to be the second-highest scoring trio in the conference, behind Davidson. These three studs combine to average 53.4 points per game and all rank in the top 16 in Atlantic 10 scoring, with Posley (19.1) third, Adams (18.1) eighth and Wright (16.3) 16th.
BOTTOM LINE is - Wright is the workhorse in my opinion. He's continued to be one of the most effective and productive players in the Atlantic 10. He leads all A-10 players with 11 double-doubles and is the second-leading rebounder (9.3). He will have the best game of the Big Three today, as the Bonnies roll to the easy win and cover.
2* ST. BONAVENTURE
Jeff Benton
Your Saturday freebie is the Cal Golden Bears to name it against the Oregon State Beavers.
After their rousing 20-point Thursday night burial of Oregon, the Cal Golden Bears are now 15-0 straight up at home, and 10-5 against the spread in those home contests.
Have to lay it again with Cuonzo Martin's team, as they face the poor-traveling Beavers of Oregon State who somehow managed to win by double-digits at Stanford Thursday for their third straight conference win.
The fact remains the Beavers are just 5-16 against the spread their last 21 away from Corvallis.
California is out to avenge their January 9th loss at Oregon State, as Cal's 5-game series win streak was halted that night.
Expect a big-time payback as the Golden Bears are simply a different animal at home where they have covered in 7 of their last 8 at the Haas Pavilion.
This one is decided by double-digits.
Cal in a rout.
5* CALIFORNIA
Jeff Benton
Saturday night freebie is La Salle plus the points against St. Joe's.
It has been a season of misery for Dr. John Giannini and his La Salle Explorers, as La Salle has now lost 9 in a row, including the first go-round with St. Joseph's, 69-48 as the +10 1/2 point underdogs in that stretch.
The Hawks are thinking Big Dance, and they have lost just once in their last 10 games! Now 20-4 on the year, strong chance Phil Martelli's crew has done enough to merit at-large consideration for a shot in the main tourney next month.
No doubt La Salle's losing skid hits 10 in a row, but the Explorers did hang inside of the bloated impost earlier this week at Davidson, and today's impost is even more bloated then earlier this week!
At the end of the day, this is still a Big Five rivalry game, and that is enough motivation to keep La Salle from totally getting crushed at the hands of their in-city brother.
Hawks with the comfortable win, but this price is way too high for the cover, back the Explorers plus the boat-load of points.
1* LA SALLE
Scott Delaney
Real quick with this one, I'm not getting too much into this SoCon clash, as it comes down to one thing. I like the home chalk here, as I think Furman is laying an awfully cheap number to Mercer.
See, while Mercer is 18-8 on the year, a better record than Furman's 16-11 mark, the Bears are 4-7 on the road and they've lost two in a row. They're not playing their best basketball right now.
Furman, however, is a stellar 12-1 at home and it has won two straight games. Furman will be in revenge for this one, too, as Mercer won the first game, 69-65, back on Jan. 14.
Take the home team here.
2* FURMAN
TONY GEORGE
Tennessee vs. Missouri
Play: Tennessee -3
If you thought the Tiger football program went in the tank this year, the Hoops program, off a horrific year last year is in worse shape. The Tigers have dropped 9 straight games, and quite frankly this number should be 6 or higher. Mizzou has lost to Tennessee by 35 points the last 2 times they played, and that was last year and despite the Vols having only 1 road win in conference action, they can get one here. No depth, lack of scoring, not all that well coached, and no home floor advantage as attendance at The Zou which was once an unreal venue to play in, is like a ghost town now.
Vols rolled Auburn by 16 in their last game while Mizzou got pounded by Vandy, and I just do not see a Missouri team being able to keep pace with the Vols today who held Auburn to 45 points in their last game.
CHIP CHIRIMBES
Kansas State vs. Oklahoma State
Play: Kansas State +1
Both squads look as though they are going to fall short of an NCAA bid as Kansas State has lost three of their last five games and Oklahoma State has dropped three straight and five of their last six. The Wildcats have won four of the last six in the series including an 89-73 home win but the Cowboys have won 14 of the past 15 in Stillwater and yet they are favored by less then a field goal.