Matt Fargo
New Orleans Hornets vs. Phoenix Suns
Play: Phoenix Suns -1.5
I played and won with Phoenix on Friday as it was a wire-to-wire cover for the Suns. It has definitely been a tough transition this season for the Suns with the turnover of their roster as they are now three games under .500 for the season and are three games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference standings. Every game is becoming big at this point and holding serve on their home court is extremely important in this tough Western Conference. New Orleans is coming off a loss last night in Sacramento which snapped its 10-game winning streak. That run included five road wins and while many will jump on the Hornets to bounce back, I feel this is a bad spot. While the losses have not been very often this season, the losses have come in bunches. Only once this season have the Hornets followed a first loss with a bounceback win as they are 1-7 in this situation on the season including seven consecutive losses. Phoenix came out with a mental toughness and exceptional energy against the Celtics on Friday. Most importantly, the Suns did not step off the gas and they need to come into Sunday with that same intensity. They are 10-9-1 ATS following a win and 8-16-1 ATS following a loss so they have done a good job of riding that momentum. The win Friday snapped a three-game skid which came on the heels of a five-game winning streak and with seven of nine at home after this, this could be the start of another winning run. The Suns fall into a spectacular situation as well. Play on teams with a winning percentage between .400 and .490 where the line is between +3 and -3 after beating the spread by more than 18 points in their previous game and now playing a winning team. This situation is 34-10 ATS (77.3 percent) since 1996. New Orleans is just 7-15 ATS this season against teams allowing 46 percent shooting or worse while Phoenix is 26-12 ATS in its last 38 games in the second half of the season against teams with a winning record. 3* Phoenix Suns
LT Profits
Virginia Tech -9
The Virginia Tech Hokies are coming off of a bad road loss to the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets, but they are a much better team at home and we look foe their superior defense to make the difference as they bounce back with a double-digit win over the Miami Hurricanes in this NCAA Basketball matchup.
The Hokes ate 13-6 straight up overall and they were on a 4-0 run against the NCAA Basketball odds before losing to the Yellowjackets on Tuesday. They have also gone 7-2 in this building this year while winning their home games by an impressive average of +16.6 points per contest.
Now Virginia Tech may not grade out as sell offensively on the Pomeroy Ratings as Miami here, with the Hokies ranking 72nd in the country in offensive efficiency at 1.08 points per possession and the Hurricanes ranking 32nd with a PPP of 1.13. However, Virginia Tech has a huge edge on the defensive side, ranking an impressive 14th in defensive efficiency at 0.82 while the Canes rank just 136th with a defensive PPP of 1.00 in NCAA Basketball betting.
Also, Miami has not played well on the road this season, going 1-5 straight up in their true road games, and the only road win came in a game that was non-lined on the NCAA Basketball betting odds vs. a totally outclassed Florida Gulf Coast team. The Hurricanes are shooting a miserable 39.1 percent from the field on the road and things do not figure to improve here vs. a great Hokies’ defense that is limiting opponents to a miniscule 37.4 percent shooting at home.
Look fro a Virginia Tech home romp Sunday evening.
Black Widow
1* on Washington -4
The Washington State Cougars don't really have a quality win on their resume this season. They aren't about to pick one up against Washington Sunday as the Huskies are clearly the superior team. Washington is 4-0 in four meetings with the Cougars over the past two seasons. They have held Washington State star Tray Thompson in check. Thompson shot just 6-of-18 in two meetings in his freshman season in 2008-09, and 4-of-29 in two meetings in his sophomore campaign in 2009-10. The Huskies are 15-4 this season and scoring 87.1 points/game, and they have won 7 of their last 8 Pac-10 road games. This veteran squad is very tough to tame with all of the playmakers they have up and down the line-up. Isaiah Thomas leads the team in scoring (16.9) and assists (5.8) and he has averaged 20.4 points and 7.3 assists in their last seven conference road wins. Washington State is 0-7 ATS (-7.7 Units) versus good shooting teams - making >=45% of their shots after 15+ games over the last 2 seasons. The Cougars are 0-7 ATS (-7.7 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 77+ points/game after 15+ games over the last 3 seasons. WSU is also 0-7 ATS (-7.7 Units) versus very good teams - outscoring their opponents by 8+ points/game after 15+ games over the last 2 seasons. Simply put, the Cougars cannot keep up with the Huskies on the scoreboard. Take Washington and lay the points.
Bob Wingerter
Maryland Terrapins vs. Georgia Tech
Play: Georgia Tech +2
Two hot ACC teams square off in Atlanta on Sunday night when Maryland visits Georgia Tech. The Terrapins are coming off a dominant 66-42 victory at Virginia on Thursday in which they proved they can win without a huge game from 6-10 forward Jordan Williams. The Yellow Jackets remained perfect at home in conference play with a 72-57 dismantling of Virginia Tech on Tuesday. Maryland and Georgia Tech are 3-3 - tied for fifth in the ACC - after starting 0-2.
Georgia Tech junior guard Iman Shumpert is a legitimate ACC Player of the Year candidate after his triple-double in the win over the Hokies. In addition to putting up 22 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and seven steals, Shumpert shut down Virginia Tech star Malcolm Delaney. The Yellow Jackets are playing terrific defense at home in ACC play - they held North Carolina and Wake Forest to less than 30 percent shooting and Virginia Tech to less than 40 percent.