Karl Garrett
20 DIMER - STANFORD CARDINAL
10 DIMER - VERMONT CATAMOUNTS
20 DIMER - STANFORD CARDINAL
Not real sure why the 17-16 Wheat Shockers are in this tournament, or why they are hosting this one, but I have no issue backing Stanford in this one tonight.
Both schools with impressive first round wins, but for my money, I will take Johnny Dawkins' tournament "know how" from his days working at Duke under Coach K.
By all accounts this was a down season for the Missouri Valley Conference, and going up against the Pac 10 Cardinal is going to be a test the Shockers will not be able to pass, even at home.
Stanford is starting to pick up their game, winning and covering in 4 of their last 6, and I like them to make it 5 of 7 with the "W" tonight.
10 DIMER - VERMONT CATAMOUNTS
Sure having to travel 'cross country could pose a problem for the Catamounts, but it is not like they are playing a team that is all that impressive in the Beavers.
There is no way a 14-17 school should be playing in any postseason tournament, and even though State dumped Houston 49-45 at home to open the CBI, I don't think they will be able to duplicate that effort tonight.
Vermont came up with a solid outright win at Wisconsin Green Bay in the first round, as they are now 24-8 for the season. The Catamounts have been off-line more often then not this year, but they are 4-1 against the spread in games that have been lined this season.
Go with Vermont to take out the under .500 Beavers.
Dave Cokin
Davidson vs. St. Mary's (CA)
Pick: Davidson +5
Best game of the night in the NIT, with two very solid mid-majors colliding out west. The Mills-Curry matchup should be sensational. All my numbers point to this game being very tight, and it sure doesn't hurt that Davidson has been awesome as an underdog, bringing home the money 11 of the last 12 times they're been assigned points. The Gaels don't figure to make things easy on their guests, but this game has thriller written all over it, and I'm grabbing the number with Davidson.
BobbyClarkeSports
St.Mary's -4
Liberty -3.5
Dr. Canada
Florida Panthers -110
Maddux Sports
3 units on Minnesota & Atlanta Under 195.5
3 units on Liberty -3
3 units on Bradley -3
Dave Malinsky
4* ATLANTA/MINESOTA Under
Full season numbers are lagging way behind where these two are performing in this category right now, and with Mike Woodson in a classic MTG setting (Manage The Game), off of Cleveland, and with San Antonio, Boston and the Lakers immediately on deck, this pace is not going anywhere.
Before that Saturday road loss against the Cavaliers the Hawks had made news on a perfect 7-0 SU and ATS home stand, with Maurice Williams assimilating well into the starting lineup. What went unnoticed, based on tonight?s high Total, was that there was another pattern in play beyond the Hawks just winning ? the pace was slowing, and the defense was gearing up. Those seven games played Under at a 6-1 clip, falling a collective 69 points below the projections, or nearly 10 full points per game. And the only Over came in a setting in which the Hawks could not help but scored in a 119-97 blowout of Sacramento. And since the All Star break it has been an 8-1 tally to the Under on this court, falling a collective 105 points below the projections. There is no reason for that to change here in a game that the Hawks should be able to command the pace throughout
Minnesota provides one of those sleeper counter-sides to MTG settings. When the Timberwolves come to town it is a chance for the home team to get a win without overly taxing themselves, and we can see the patter this way ? in five settings as a road underdog in March it has been a 4-1 Under count, with those games falling 40 points below the projections. At the back end of a cycle that makes this the fifth game in seven days, with a court change every time, Kevin McHale knows that his best chance to compete is to make this as slow of a flow as possible, which further plays to our purposes.
4* CREIGHTON over KENTUCKY
It might not be a stretch to call for this to be one of the most intense crowds we will ever see for an NIT game, with standing room only seats now being sold at the Qwest Center, where they may top out at over 18,00 spectators tonight (Creighton reached 17,954 vs. Wichita State earlier). And that provides exactly the kind of passion and intensity that can drive a key matchup advantage into an easy win for the home team.
Creighton came out flat in the NIT opener vs. Bowling Green, which is what happens to a lot of teams that felt that they were snubbed by the Big Dance (no team had ever had 26 wins, and finished in the RPI top 40, without getting in). But whereas the markets often view such a performance as a team being disinterested, it is in game #2 when the intensity and focus returns, particularly when a name program is coming to town. And Dana Altman?s squad has the ideal tactics to make this one work.
Altman has one of the deepest rotations in the nation, with 10 different players averaging at least 14 minutes per game, and they will press the length of the court for the full 40minutes. Nine of those 10 players have at least a dozen steals, and it helped them to finish #12 in the nation in turnover margin. And in terms of floor play the overall execution brings a lot of extra scoring opportunities to the table ? the finished +63 in assist to turnover ratio, while holding their opponents to -133 in that same category. Enter Kentucky. While Jodie Meeks is special on the perimeter and Patrick Patterson is a load down low, the Wildcats are just abysmal at handling the rock. And we mean abysmal. They finished #322 in the nation in turnovers (correct, #322), and #296 in turnover margin.They gave the ball up 586 times this season, with seven different players turning the ball over at least 53 times. Those just happen to be the only seven players that average double-figure minutes, which also makes this an uphill battle as the Blue Jays throw fresher players at them all evening, with the crowd only making matters more difficult for the Wildcat ball-handlers.
The S.E.C. was nothing special at all this season, and yet Kentucky is being priced as being the significantly better team here, based on what we think the home court is worth. We will back a hungryCreighton team to create easy points off of Wildcat turnovers to build a lead in this one, and the Blue Jays can use their 75.3 percent free throw accuracy to close it out late.
Jimmy Boyd
Denver at Phoenix
Play: Denver +3.5
I know the Nuggets have struggled on the road of late, but I like them to win in Phoenix tonight against a Suns team playing without Amare Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa. Both of those players are so critical to the Suns run and gun style and without Barbosa the second unit really drags. Phoenix is 0-10 ATS after having won 4 of their last 5 games this season, losing in these spots by an average score of 103.3 to 109.8. Phoenix is also 3-15 ATS versus good shooting teams - making >=46% of their shots this season, losing in these spots by an average score of 102.9 to 110.6. Denver gets the nod.
Las Vegas Sport Picks
NBA:
2* Wizards +7.5
2* Nuggets/Suns over 237
3* Magic/Knicks over 213
NCAA:
2* Vermont +1
4* Davidson/St. Mary's over 142
Halfbets
10* Game of the year
Marys CA -4
Raging Bull
NBA:
Memphis Grizzlies +9.5
Timberwolves / Hawks under 195
NCAA:
Bradley -3
Belmont +6
Fairway Jay
Belmont
Eddie Mush
4* Coll of Char +4.5
5* Blazers -8
6* Kentucky +2
8* Hawks -11
C-Stars Sports
1000 Units Top Play Kentucky/Creighton OVER the total
50 Units Memphis/Miami UNDER the total
50 Units Atlanta minus the points over Minnesota
50 Units Minnesota/Atlanta UNDER the total
Sportsbetcapping
7* Creighton -2
SCOTT SPREITZER
CIT GAME OF THE YEAR! 16-7, 70%!
BRADLEY