Friday's Best NCAAB Bets
St. Joseph's Hawks at Villanova Wildcats (-19, 144)
If St. Joe's wants to be competitive as it takes a step up against a Big East opponent on Friday, it better hit the boards a lot harder than it did in a Wednesday loss to Drexel.
The Hawks were out-rebounded by the Dragons by an amazing 41-19 margin. St. Joe's grabbed just two offensive rebounds to Drexel's 14.
"From the first tape I watched to the pregame talk, it was, 'Rebound and we'll win the game,'" Hawks' head coach Phil Martelli said. "We didn't rebound, we didn't win the game. It was a real lesson on the backboards, by every one of our guys. There were too many no-shows on possessions for us. Some of that was their physicality, and some was from the noise of being in an opposing gym."
St. Joe's will be in another opposing gym on Friday, this time at Villanova. The Wildcats started the season 5-0 but are coming off a Nov. 26 loss to Tennessee, the only fellow Top 25 team they have faced this season. Villanova has a win over UCLA on its resume.
Pick: St. Joe's +19
Kansas St. Wildcats at Washington St. Cougars (1, 146.5)
All is well for Kansas State so far this season. The Wildcats are 6-1 and their only loss is to No. 1 Duke. Star guard Jacob Pullen also set the school record for career three-pointers (241) on Monday against Division II Emporia State.
"When his career is over here, he might rewrite that whole record book the way he's going," coach Frank Martin said.
"I didn't hear which record I broke," added Pullen. "I was just happy about the win. I'll deal with all the records and stuff after the season."
Of course, Pullen is not the only one lighting up the box scores for Kansas State so far. The Wildcats scored more than 70 points in their first three outings and they have scored more than 80 in their past two. Their only time scoring fewer than 70 was a 68-point effort against the Blue Devils.
Pick: Kansas St.
College Basketball Odds: Wildcats at Cougars
By: Adam Markowitz
The Kansas State Wildcats are one of the nation's top choices to be a Final Four team this year. However, with one loss to the undefeated Duke Blue Devils already to their name, they'll look to avoid a second early season defeat against the also spotless Washington State Cougars in Pullman on Friday night.
Jacob Pullen is an All-American candidate this year, but if he plays the same way he did in the biggest game of the year against Duke, the Wildcats are going to be in a lot of trouble Friday night. Pullen only scored four points in that game and was largely shut down by the Blue Devils' defense.
The good news for the senior is that he has scored at least 13 points in the rest of his games, and he still leads the team in scoring with 16.0 PPG. Pullen also has 17 steals and 29 assists to lead K-State.
Rodney McGruder was very, very quiet as a freshman, but he is getting his chance to shine now as a sophomore. If KSU is going to won this road matchup, he should be in store for a very big game. Even though he is only 6-foot-4, McGruder leads the very undersized Wildcats in rebounding at 6.6 RPG, and he is also the team's second leading scorer at 11.3 PPG.
The 'Cats are averaging 77.4 PPG on the campaign, good enough for No. 64 in the nation, but they are shooting an absolutely dreadful 52.5 percent as a team from the charity stripe. Especially on the road, it's key to make your free throws, and if that doesn't happen, it is very difficult to win.
Remember when Washington State tried to come out and slow the game down to a snail's pace? Those days are now long since gone, and the shooters for Wazzou are loving it.
Klay Thompson, who averaged 19.6 PPG a year ago, is up to 22.2 PPG this year, and already has a 35-point performance under his belt against the Portland Pilots. His teammate, Faisal Aden is averaging 20.8 PPG as well as just a freshman.
These two take the mass majority of the shots for the Cougars, and they take those shots well, as each are connecting on over 52 percent of their field goal attempts. Brock Motum is the team's only other double digit per game point scorer, and he is right at 10.0 PPG.
The Cougs are shooting 53.6 percent as a team this year, and they are averaging 81.6 PPG. Again though, free throw shooting is a big time problem, as 65.2 percent as a team just isn't going to cut it for a squad that badly hopes to make a statement here to put on its resume for the NCAA Tournament this year.
Washington State is one of the few teams in the country that has yet to be beaten from an ATS standpoint this year, and it is one of two teams, joining the Boise State Broncos, that is undefeated both SU and ATS coming into play on Friday night.
These two teams have met in NCAA basketball betting action three times before, including last season when the Wildcats absolutely smoked the Cougs 86-69 in the Little Apple. The home team is 3-0 SU and 2-1 ATS, while Kansas State has covered all three spreads. The only other meeting in Pullman was a 58-57 victory for Washington State back in December 2005. Five years later to the date, is when these two will hook up again.
College Basketball Knowledge
UAB is 6-1, losing only at Arizona St (69-66); Blazers are 6-1 against spread, already have road wins at Middle Tennessee/Arkansas/Troy. Georgia is 4-2, losing to Notre Dame in double OT, Temple by 7 down in Orlando tourney. UAB is 2-0 as underdog. Georgia 1-1 as a favorite.
St Joe's is 3-3, losing by 28 to Western Kentucky, 9 at Penn State, 12 at Drexel; Hawks are 3-2 vs spread as underdog. Villanova hasn't played in week since losing to Tennessee by 10 on neutral floor; Wildcats are 3-1 as a favorite this season. Wildcats beat St Joseph's last two seasons by 8-3 points.
First road game for 6-1 Kansas State team that lost by 14 to Duke; they beat Va Tech by 16, Gonzaga by 17. Wildcats are missing graduated PG Clemente as far as chemistry goes. Washington State has all five starters back from LY; they're 5-0 so far this year, but Portland is beat team they played so far, so K-State is major step up in class of opponent.
Marist is terrible, starting season 0-6 after LY's 1-29 debacle; Red Foxes haven't even covered a spread yet- all six of their losses this year are by 20+ points. Niagara lost four starters from LY's 18-15 team- they're 2-4 this year, with only wins by hoop over Mt St Mary's, 4 over Bowling Green. Niagara won last four series games by 19-16-29-8 points.
Iona won last three games after 0-3; double OT win over Richmond is a very good win. Canisius lost last three visits to Iona by 19-11-7 points. Griffins are 3-2 this season, losing 86-67 at Syracuse, winning 55-45 at Binghamton. Gaels lost SU as 19-point favorites in only game as a fave. Canisius covered at Syracuse, their only game as an underdog.
Portland is 6-2, with only losses to Kentucky/Washington State; they're 1-1 on road, losing to Wazzu by 16 in Seattle, winning by 13 at Idaho in game that was day after Kentucky loss. Montana is 3-2, beating same Idaho team 75-33, and Cal-Fullerton by 8. Portland lost four starters rom LY's team. Montana lost three starters from LY's 22-10 team.