Brett Atkins
My free play tonight is in college basketball, as I play Buffalo plus the points vs. Canisius in a neutral-court contest in downtown Buffalo. The Bulls are catching points from their crosstown rival, and though the Golden Griffins have some sharp-shooting vets on their team, I don't think they're ready for what Buffalo brings to the court.
The Bulls are shooting for their fifth straight victory as they make the 14.1-mile trek downtown to the First Niagara Center for their clash with Big 4-rival Canisius. Both teams, in fact, are in after wins, but the Bulls recently defeated St. Bonaventure, 78-73, impressively and I like what I've seen from UB thus far.
A young team, no doubt, but the Bulls are playing inspired ball, while also being led and mentored by senior Javon McCrea, who leads the Bulls in scoring and rebounding. Freshman Shannon Evans has scored in double figures in back-to-back games
Canisius leads the all-time series 26-15, but Buffalo has won seven of the last nine meetings. Buffalo comes into this one having covered seven straight against winning teams, while Canisius is mired in a 2-5 ATS slide on neutral courts. Play the underdog in this one.
5♦ BUFFALO
Joe Gavazzi
LA Clippers -6
Always looking to favor the far superior Western Conference teams when they visit the lowly East (take a look at the standings) this is an especially good spot. Under 1st year HC Stevens, the newly integrated Celtics have struggled mightily against winning teams in their 10-13 start. And Clippers are glad to add to that misery as they make this an "A game" for HC Rivers in his return to Boston Gardens. Always like playing the better team when they have a reason to play.
Jeff Scott Sports
3 UNIT PLAYS
Wisconsin/ Wisc- Milwaukee Under 134: This has traditionally been a low scoring series as the last 9 games between these teams averaging just 115.9 ppg, with 8 of those 9 games scoring 127 points or less. Wisconsin was in some higher scoring games earlier in the year, but lately they are starting to look like their teams in years past, as their last 5 games have averaged just 123.2 ppg and their defense is in high gear right now, allowing just 57.8 ppg over that stretch. Milwaukee has been in some high scoring games this year, but they are playing at Wisconsin, where the Badgers should get the pace where they want. Defensively, Milwaukee does allow 71 ppg, but on just 43.8% shooting overall, including 28.7% from long range and that is key when playing a Wisconsin team that lives from beyond the arc. The Under is 11-5-1 in Wisconsin's last 17 vs the Horizon League, while the Under is 8-2 in Milwaukee's last 10 vs the Big 10. 71-54 sounds about right for this one.
Davidson -5.5 over Niagara: The Davidson Wildcats are off to a 4-5 start, but they ave played a tough schedule that has included Virginia, Georgia, Duke, Clemson, Charlotte and New Mexico. They did win just two of those games (Georgia, Charlotte), but this team has been battled tested and that should serve them well in this game vs a weak Niagara team. The Purple Aces have had a rough start to the year as they are just 2-8 out the gate and that is vs a very weak schedule as Seton Hall is the only big named team that they have faced. The Defense has been horrible for his year as they have allowed 86.5 ppg on just over 50% shooting and again that was vs a very weak schedule. Davidson has allowed 81 ppg, but it is understandable when you look at the teams they have faced. Davidson is by far the better team here and should win this one by 10 or more.
2 UNIT PLAY
Colorado State/ Denver Over 132: Yes I can pick an OVER from time to time. LOL. The Over is 12-3-1 in Colorado State's last 16 lined games and their games this year have averaged a healthy 151.3 ppg, including 145 ppg in their home games this year. Denver games have averaged 132.4 ppg overall and 130.2 ppg in their last 5 games. The pioneers don't shoot very well, but CSU does allow teams to shoot for 45.8%. Denver is weak at the defensive end, allowing 50% shooting and 69.5 ppg, while CSU scores 75.4 ppg overall and 78 ppg at home, plus they hit their FTs at a 74% clip for the year. I have been taking advantage of some over-inflated OU lines of late, but this one is just too low, so I will go with the Over here.
NHL Predictions
Los Angeles Kings -125
The Los Angeles Kings were in Montreal last night and won 6-0 to improve to 20-7-4 on the season and 10-3-2 on the road. The win was their 4th straight and they've out scored opponents 15-4 over that span. The Maple Leafs are coming off a 5-2 loss at home Sunday night against the Bruins, where they once again gave up a high number of shots (39). Toronto is dead last in the NHL in shots against at 37.1/game. Although they had some success early, the scoring chances given up plus some key injuries are starting to catch up to the Leafs who are now 16-12-3 on the year and 10-6 at home. Toronto has won just twice in their last 8 games overall. Tonight's starter for Los Angeles is expected to be Martin Jones, who has been outstanding in his young NHL career going 3-0-0 with a 0.65 GAA and coming off two straight shutouts. The Leafs will give Jonathan Bernier an opportunity to beat his old club, and Bernier is 9-8-2 with a 2.49 GAA. Bernier is in a slump himself as he has a SV% below .900 in 4 of his last 5 appearances. Note that the Kings are 6-1 in their last 7 vs Eastern Conference opponents and 6-1 in their last 7 road games. The Leafs are just 1-4 in their last 5 vs Western Conference opponents and 17-38 in their last 55 vs a team with a winning % above .600. I said this about San Jose when they were in Toronto not long ago and we cashed a regulation bet, but Western Conference teams (especially those with a good number of Canadian players) love to visit Toronto. The last time Los Angeles was in Toronto they put 42 shots on net in a shootout victory, and I expect a good effort from the Kings tonight. Take Los Angeles to win in Toronto.
The Duke's Sports
Princeton -3
Rutgers program remains in tatters with Eddie Jordan running the show. Knights have yet to beat a Division IA program this season and should keep that streak alive tonight hosting Princeton. The Tigers are well disciplined -- pass the ball well, limit turnovers and play tight defense -- the complete antithesis of Rutgers which give up 76 ppg and that's against shoddy competition at this stage of the season! The Tigers have balanced scoring so leading scorer T.J. Bray (hand) limited minutes shouldn't affect them. Princeton also has pretty good depth with Koon (12.1 ppg) off the bench. The Tigers are a sweet 41-18 ATS on the road and with the road team at 5-1 ATS in this series, we'll ride the Tigers.
Andre Gomes
Philadelphia / Minnesota Over 209
Yesterday I took Minnesota to win at Detroit for an easy win, as the Wolves with their uptempo game completely explored Detroit's lack of speed in the front with 10-13 FG on cuts for a nhice 1.57 PPP! The Wolves also created nice look on the outside and Kevin Love was the key for that with 4-6 3pts! Minnesota is a great offensive team to watch whenever they are efficient from long range and last night was the case! Minnesota will now host Philadelphia and so, this game will involve a lot of running. After all, we are talking about two of the fastest paced teams in the league. Philadelphia's defense won't be able to stop Minnesota down low, on transition and on 3pts shooting! I took the Over on the Sixers' last game and I lost big, but it wasn't because suddenly the Sixers started to defend well. In fact, it was because the Clippers couldn't hit a single outside shot with a terrible 1-10 on corner treys!
Philadelphia is indeed struggling to be effective on long range with a combined of 12-64 (19%) 3pts on their last three games! However, they have a good transition game and know how to attack the rim well, two areas where Minnesota's defense struggles, as they are #25 in the league with 15.2 fast break points allowed per game and #27 in points in the paint allowed with 45.7! So, this is also a good spot for a decent offensive game from Philadelphia! Minnesota is coming from a nice win and they will score so easily today that they will relax on defense, turning this game into a very high scoring contest.
Harry Bondi
Off another FREE WINNER last night on Indiana over Miami in the NBA tonight we turn to college basketball and back the Wisconsin Badgers who annually crush their instate rivals Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Wisconsin has won the last 11 meetings between the two squads by an average of 18.2 points. The last two years have been even worse as the Badgers have won by 21 both years. Wisconsin needs an easy one and gets it tonight lay the points.
OC Dooley
Philadelphia Flyers +160
For those hockey fans who watch the weekly Wednesday presentation on NBC Sports Network cable you know that it is designated as “rivalry” night. These two teams have a special rivalry as it was the Blackhawks who defeated the Flyers in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. However since then it is Philadelphia who has WON both meetings with Chicago and I am looking for that trend to continue this evening especially since Flyers GOALTENDER Ray Emery most likely will be facing his former teammates as a year ago he went a dazzling “17-1” while donning a Blackhawks uniform. While on the subject of goaltending Chicago’s lead net-minder Corey Crawford (lower body) is OUT for the next three weeks and the teams ORIGINAL reserve goalie Nikolai Khabibulin (groin) is also sidelined. Host Chicago is also a bit fatigued as 8 of the most recent 11 games have been “away” from the United Center which recently was booked for the annual “circus” which forces both the Blackhawks and NBA Bulls into extended road swings