Stephen Nover
Charlotte Bobcats @ Houston Rockets
PICK: Charlotte Bobcats
REASON FOR PICK: Normally I would rather play on a streaking team than fade one. It's certainly tough to step in against the Rockets and their scary 20-game winning streak.
But if you're looking to lay another big number with Houston in this spot at least be warned that this is a look-ahead situation for the Rockets. The Rockets host the Lakers on Sunday.
Keep in mind, too, Yao Ming is out for the season and Carl Landry is doubtful. Also, the Bobcats have been playing their best ball and top scorer Gerald Wallace is back from a concussion.
The Bobcats had won and covered five straight games before turning in an obligatory clunker against Dallas in their last game. Wallace should have his timing down better after returning against Dallas having being out for eight games. The Bobcats have covered three of their past four road contests.
Sure, it's difficult to fade the Rockets right now. Just be warned that this isn't the greatest of situations for them to be laying double-digits.
Matt Fargo
Pittsburgh @ Marquette
PICK: Marquette
REASON FOR PICK: I used Marquette as the comp play last night and I will do so again tonight. The Golden Eagles pulled away late for the 2nd straight night and come into this one with some good momentum. On Wednesday, Marquette overcame a horrid 34.4 percent shooting night by holding Seton Hall to 33.9 percent, and by pulling down a season-high 56 rebounds, including 25 on the offensive end. Last night, the Golden Eagles outrebounded one of the top rebounding teams 35-31 and shot a healthy 51.6 percent from the floor.
Pittsburgh is coming off a very impressive win over Louisville, a team many thought was going to take home this Championship. It took overtime and took a lot of energy out of the Panthers. They played great defensively for a second straight night as they held the Cardinals to 37.5 percent shooting including 21.1 percent from long range. Louisville did itself no favors by hitting only 61.1 percent from the free throw line.
Marquette won the lone meeting between the two teams this season and it won it going away. The Panthers shot just 37.3 percent from field including a putrid 1-11 from three-point land and that triggered a three-game losing skid for Pittsburgh. Marquette has now own eight of its last 10 games with one of those defeats coming in overtime so this is a team playing with a lot of momentum and confidence as it continues to strive for the season-long goal of bringing home a Big East Championship.
It was the Marquette defense that completely caused Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody into early foul trouble and then sending him off his rhythm. While the Golden Eagles were pegged to not be able to matchup with the Irish inside, they did just that and will be able to do the same here. A lot of the success of the rebounding is due to the guards as Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews are averaging 4.8 and 4.2 rpg respectively. After missing the Big East last season, McNeal is making up for it, averaging 24.5 ppg.
Marquette is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games and also on a 10-2 ATS run in its last 12 games when favored by fewer than seven points. Pittsburgh is a disappointing 0-6 ATS when coming off a win against the number. Pittsburgh has won back-to-back games against winning teams three times this season and all three times, failed to win that third straight game, losing those games by an average of 14 ppg. The Golden Eagles are playing too good right now and they get one step closer to the title. play Marquette Golden Eagles 1 Unit
Wunderdog
Utah at Boston
Pick: Boston -7
We have backed the Jazz on the road lately and gotten burned. They have shown us that even when they should have something to prove, they don't do it. Now they face a Celtics team that can seal the Atlantic Division title with a win tonight and is blowing out opponents. The Celtics have won ten straight and covered in five straight, including lines of -11, -11 and -18. How good is this team? The last time they had a double-digit win streak like this was in 1985-86 when they won their last NBA championship. This season they are 29-4 in this building, winning by 13 points on average. Utah's defense has allowed their last four opponents to score 105+. This season the Jazz are 3-12 ATS after allowing 100+ in two straight games. Boston is 12-3 ATS after a 20+ point win this season. Celts cruise here.
Black Magic Sports
1 Unit on Georgetown -3
The Georgetown Hoyas are laying just 3 points tonight as the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament. West Virginia has to be running out of steam and now it will hit them hard when they play their 3rd game in 3 days against the best team in the Big East conference. Georgetown is 16-4 ATSversus good defensive teams - allowing <=64 points/game after 15+ games over the last 2 seasons. The Hoyas are the best defensive team in the nation. Georgetown is 8-1 ATS in road games off a win by 10 points or more over a conference rival over the last 2 seasons. The Hoyas made easy pickens of Villanova Thursday and will be the fresher team tonight. WVU wasted a lot of energy in holding off the Connecticut Huskies last night. Cash in with Georgetown as the favorite.
Black Widow Sports
1* on Dallas Mavericks -12
The Dallas Mavericks have benefited from a favorable schedule lately and that trend continues Friday when the Indiana Pacers visit. The Mavericks have consecutive blowout wins over New Jersey, New York and Charlotte by an average of 24.6 points. The Mavericks blow out the poor teams and really struggle with the best teams in this league. The Indiana Pacers don’t stand a chance at staying within 12 points of the Mavericks tonight. Indiana is 0-8 ATS off a home win scoring 110 or more points this season. Indiana is 1-11 ATS in all games following a home win this season. Take Dallas and lay the points.
Info Plays
3* on Xavier -6
Xavier will punish St. Joe’s after losing to this squad the last time these teams met up. St. Joe’s will not be beating the best team in the Atlantic-10 in back-to-back games. This is too tall of a feat to ask. Xavier has won 11 of their last 12 games overall and have not forgotten this loss they suffered just over a week ago today. Xavier is 11-3 ATS in all neutral court games over the last 3 seasons. Xavier is 44-26 ATS revenging a loss vs opponent since 1997. They excel in this tournament format. Bet Xavier in the Atlantic-10 Tournament.
King Creole
UTEP vs Tulsa
Analysis: BOTH Teams are off DOG wins yesterday in Round One action of the Conference USA Tourney. It's pretty rare for a #7 seed to be favored in a Semi-Final game.... and the database tells us to go the other way.
Since 1990, SEMI-FINAL favorites who are seeded at #5 or worse are 7-18 ATS when playing of BB SU wins (Tulsa).... 2-12 ATS when playing off a SU underdog win.... and 1-7 AT taking on any hot opponent playing off 2+ SU wins in a row (like UTEP).
I also checked into the very rare situation of BOTH teams playing each other after BOTH have won outright as an underdog. In ALL Conference Tournament action, favorites are 18-32-2 ATS when BOTH Teams are playing off a SU underdog win. The numbers downgrade to 1-6-1 ATS if the favorite (in this case TULSA) is 3-0 SU and ATS in their last 3 games.... and also won their last game by DOUBLE DIGITS (like Tulsa).
Play UTEP
Ron Meyer
Chalkboard.....Virginia Tech
Coaches Consensus.....Utah State
Live Dog.....Ohio State
Playbook.....Tulsa
A-Play
Private Players Club.....West Virginia
Major Shocker.....Texas A+M
Heavy Hitter.....Illinois
Vegas Hotline.....NC Charlotte
Chip Shot.....Miami Florida
Double Play.....Minnesota (NBA)
Pure Profit
Consensus.....Wisconsin
High Roller.....BYU
Power Play.....CS Fullerton
Diamond.....Purdue
Back Room.....Vanderbilt
Money Move.....76ers
Larry Ness
Insider- Va Tech
Marc Lawrence
Triple dime conference tournament game of the year
Mississipi St.
Stan Sharpe
Double Dime
Xavier
Dave Malinsky
6* top of the ticket
Purdue
PPP/Gavozzi night card 3/14
5*Miss St
5*Kentucky
4*Clemson
4*Purdue
3*Xavier
3*GTown
NBA
3*Houston
3*Dallas