Wunderdog
Tampa Bay @ Philadelphia
Pick: Under 5.5
Tampa Bay has a strong defense, #14 in goals allowed and the Lightning are 43-21 against a team with a losing record. The offense has struggled of late, managing just 10 goals total the last five games. Tampa Bay is 9-3 UNDER the total when playing the third game of a 3-in-4 days situation, plus they are 4-0 UNDER the total against a team with a losing record. They face one here in Philadelphia, who are #16 in goals scored and #23 in goals allowed. At least the Flyers have started to focus on better defense, surrendering only six goals combined in the last four contests.
Harry Bondi
MARQUETTE (-3) over Arizona State
Marquette has won 30 of its last 36 games straight-up on this floor, so any time we can get them at such a cheap price, we're on board. Arizona State, which is playing just its second road game of the season, has historically struggled against the Big East, covering just one of its last six, and while the Sun Devils are off to an impressive 6-3 start, Marquette has covered all four of its games against winning teams this season. Lay the short number.
Kyle Hunter
North Carolina at Greensboro
Play: Over 148
The North Carolina Tar Heels are very good at imposing their will as far as the pace of the game. UNC Greensboro is going to get demolished on the glass in this one. The Tar Heels have been one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, and offensive putbacks will be huge for them in this game. The Spartans get a rare chance at home to play a big name school from their own state, and they should be hyped up for this one too. I think that leads to them playing pretty quick and likely getting ahead of themselves and turning it over for some easy buckets for the Tar Heels. North Carolina hangs a big number on the Spartans in this one.
Jeff Scott Sports
3 UNIT PLAY
Alabama / Wichita State Over 142.5: You heard me right... The Over. Both of these teams can score as they both average 78 ppg. Alabama has become more of an up tempo team this year, while their defense has been very bad so far, allowing 71.4 ppg 0n 45.2% shooting overall and 36.5% from long range. The Wichita defense may only allow 50.9 ppg, but they do rank 148th in defensive FG% and 290th in 3 point defense. The Tide are number 1 in the nation in FT shooting, and while Wichita State is very bad in that department, that might set up for more fouling at the end of the game by Bama, which will also give themselves more scoring chances at the end of the game. Should be a game played in the upper 140s.
River City Sharps
Buffalo -8
Bobby Hurley has his Buffalo Bulls playing some solid basketball, even in defeat, as we saw earlier this year in their competitive loss to number one Kentucky. Bruiser Flint brings a young and very inexperienced team into Buffalo tonight as Drexel will try and improve on their 2-6 record. The Bulls are an impressive 7-1 ATS in their last eight home games vs teams with losing road records and Drexel is just 2-8 ATS in their last 10 non-conference games. We have this one pegged at Buffalo by double digits, so value here tonight with the home team.
ASA
Jazz / Pelicans Over 197.5
We’re siding with our highly acclaimed Math Model which projects an OVER in the Utah Jazz at New Orleans Pelicans game. Anthony Davis is listed as probable for this game and we expect another big offensive output from him and the Pelicans tonight against the Jazz. These two teams met in Utah earlier this season and Davis put up a monster game with 43-points and 14 rebounds. He should have his way again against a soft interior defense of the Jazz. Both of these teams are in the bottom 6 in the NBA in terms of defensive efficiency ratings allowing 1.086 or more points per possession and both are bottom five in field goal percentage defense allowing 47% percent or worse. Offensively the Pelicans are 5th in the NBA in offensive efficiency ratings while Utah is just below average at 17th. New Orleans averages 110PPG at home this season and they’ll get to that number tonight against a Jazz D that gives up an average of 102PPG on the road. Utah hasn’t put up huge offensive numbers of late but should tonight versus a subpar Pelican defense.
Andrew Lange
Arizona State at Marquette
Play: Under 61.5 1st Half
I’ve had Marquette pegged as an "under" squad. With only eight available players, the Golden Eagles have been forced to slow down the tempo as well as play zone. Their last game vs. Wisconsin featured only 108 possessions and 87 points. Probably won't see that type of extreme tonight but first-year head coach Steve Wojechowski knows that muddying up the game gives his short-handed squad their best chance to win. Also note that guard Deonte Burton left the team and they added 6-11 center Luke Fisher who originally played at Indiana. The Golden Eagles are in desperate need of size in the paint so the recent “transaction” is really addition by subtraction defensively. Arizona State has been playing at a relatively moderate pace but they've been ultra-efficient thus far hitting nearly 41% of their 3's and 53% of their 2's. Not sure however how long they'll be able to keep that up, especially on the road vs. a capable defense. In their last road game at Texas A&M there were only 120 possessions but 143 points. That is an outlier-type performance and if the Sun Devils are going to play games at that slow of a pace, then more often than not, their games scores will be in the 120's rather than the 132 we see tonight. We'll look to play this game under the total of 61.5 for the first half.
OC Dooley
Oral Roberts / Oklahoma Under 143
The oddsmakers had no choice but to inflate tonight’s total since visiting Oral Roberts has scored at least 80 points in consecutive contests while host Oklahoma lit up the scoreboard in an 87-68 victory at home during the weekend. For the that follow the Sooners their star player Buddy Hield remains mired in a shooting slump and shot a dreadful 4-for-17 from the field last time on the floor. My research indicates that Oklahoma is 19-8 UNDER the total long term when off consecutive “margin” victories of at least 15 points. Due to a “make up” situation Oral Roberts actually had to last night creating a rare NCAA hoops back-to-back scenario which I feel will have an adverse affect on their overall output in this ESPNU national telecast