NCAAB News and Notes Friday 2/13

DARTMOUTH vs. COLUMBIA
Dartmouth is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Columbia
Dartmouth is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Columbia
Columbia is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Columbia is 8-15 SU in its last 23 games

HARVARD vs. CORNELL
Harvard is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Cornell
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Harvard's last 5 games when playing Cornell
Cornell is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games
Cornell is 10-1 SU in its last 11 games

ILLINOIS-CHICAGO vs. BUTLER
Illinois-Chicago is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Butler
Illinois-Chicago is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing Butler
Butler is 2-3-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Butler is 13-1 SU in its last 14 games

PENNSYLVANIA vs. BROWN
Pennsylvania is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Brown
Pennsylvania is 20-5 SU in its last 25 games when playing Brown
Brown is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games
Brown is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games

PRINCETON vs. YALE
Princeton is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Princeton is 4-21 SU in its last 25 games on the road
Yale is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Princeton
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Yale's last 5 games when playing Princeton

SAINT PETER'S vs. RIDER
Saint Peter's is 1-3-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Rider
Saint Peter's is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing Rider
Rider is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Rider is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games

LOYOLA OF CHICAGO vs. VALPARAISO
Loyola of Chicago is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games
Loyola of Chicago is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games
Valparaiso is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing Loyola of Chicago
Valparaiso is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games at home

IONA vs. LOYOLA
Iona is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
Iona is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
Loyola is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against Iona
Loyola is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games when playing at home against Iona

VILLANOVA vs. WEST VIRGINIA
Villanova is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Villanova is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
West Virginia is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Villanova
West Virginia is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Villanova

Tips and Trends

Illinois-Chicago at #15 Butler

UIC: Assistant head coach Mark Coomes will lead the team with head coach Jimmy Collins in Syracuse following the death of his mother. Coomes served in this role when the Flames beat Butler back in 2007 when Collins missed the final 19 games of the season due to an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Leading scorer Josh Mayo may need to step up on the court though, as he is averaging just 9.3 points on 28.8 percent shooting against the Bulldogs.

UIC is 3-10 ATS in its last 13 games overall.
The UNDER is 14-6 in UIC's last 20 road games.

Key Injuries - G Spencer Stewart (foot) is OUT.

PROJECTED SCORE: 54

Butler (-12.5, O/U 126.5): The Bulldogs will be going for their 16th straight home win in conference play and have lost just once in the last four years at Hinkle Fieldhouse. They went 2-1 on a three-game road trip that covered six days and started with a 75-66 loss at Wisconsin-Green Bay back on February 2nd. “This stretch of games - that’s as tough as any stretch I’ve heard of in any league anywhere,” Butler head coach Brad Stevens said. “I’m really proud of our guys.”

Favorite is 14-3 ATS in the last 17 meetings.
The UNDER is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings.

Key Injuries - G Shawn Vanzant (knee) is doubtful.

PROJECTED SCORE: 72 (Side Play of the Day)

#13 Villanova at West Virginia

Villanova: The Wildcats will go for their seven straight victory and score more than 90 points for the fourth time in a row. In fact, they have hit the century mark in back-to-back conference games for the first time in school history following a 102-84 win over Marquette on Tuesday. “Sometimes, you’ve just got to outscore people,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. “We don’t like that, but that’s the only way we’re going to do it tonight.”

Villanova is 8-0 ATS in its last 8 games overall.
The UNDER is 8-2-1 in Villanova's last 11 Friday games.

Key Injuries - NONE

PROJECTED SCORE: 70 (OVER - Total Play of the Day)

West Virginia (-3.5, O/U 138): The Mountaineers will look to slow down Villanova by controlling the pace, although that still hasn't translated to many wins lately. They have dropped four of their last six games with the UNDER going 4-2 during that stretch. West Virginia has allowed just 61 points per game this season but has scored more than 63 only once in the last four games. “Our defense was good enough to win - our offense wasn’t,” Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins said. “Nobody has ever won 0-0. You’ve got to score the ball.”

West Virginia is 3-1 SU & ATS in the last 4 meetings.
The OVER is 6-2 in West Virginia's last 8 Friday games.

Key Injuries - G Joe Mazzulla (shoulder) is OUT.

PROJECTED SCORE: 73

NCAAB Today

Notes on today's games.

Columbia won three of last four games vs Dartmouth; underdog covered last three series games in this gym. Big Green won last three games, all by three or less points, also all at home- they won only Ivy road game, in OT at Harvard. Columbia won its last two home games, over Yale by 11, over Brown by 6. Ivy League home favorites are just 4-8 vs spread.

Princeton leads Ivy League with 4-0 mark, winning road games 59-54 at Dartmouth, 77-71 at Harvard; they lost last four games vs Yale, scoring just 50.3 ppg. Underdog is 4-1 vs spread in last five series games in this gym. Yale lost three of last four games, but all four were on road. Tigers ended Cornell's long Ivy win streak last week, beating Big Red by 20.

Harvard upset Boston College Jan 7, then started Ivy League 2-4, with a pair of one-point wins- all four losses were at home. Crimson won 63-62 in only road game, at Dartmouth- underdog is 8-1 in last nine games with Cornell, which is 5-1 in Ivy, 3-0 at home, winning by 11-32-28 points. Cornell took 39 FTs in last game, after taking 33 in previous three.

Butler is playing first home game this month; they're 3-2 as home fave in Horizon games, winning at Hinkle by 16-4-9-30-8 points- they won at Illinois-Chicago 59-52 in first meeting (-2) after trailing 28-17 at the half. Flames lost five of last six games, are 0-3-1 as road favorite, losing away games by 10-10-26-1-11 points. Horizon home favorites are 23-14.

Brown is 0-6 in Ivy play, with last two losses by total of three points- their last five games were all on road. Bears lost 70-62 to Yale in its only Ivy home game so far- they swept Penn LY, 66-61/75-43, after 0-6 skid against the Quakers. Penn lost its last three games, by 3-11-15 points, as Quakers made just 10-39 behind the arc in two home losses last week.

Valparaiso (+6) lost 71-56 at Loyola Jan 17; Crusaders lost four in row, seven of last eight games, but are 2-0 in Horizon this season as favorite at home- this would be Coach Drew's 600th win. Ramblers lost five in a row, all by 11+ points- they're 2-5 as Horizon road dog, losing on road by 14-26-21-14-19 points.

Home side won five of last six Villanova-West Virginia games, with the Wildcats losing last two visits here, by 7-11 pts. Villanova won its last five games, covered its last seven- they held seven of last nine foes under 40% from floor. West Virginia is 3-2 at home in Big East, losing 61-55 vs UConn, 79-67 to Pitt- they're 2-2 as a Big East home favorite.

Rider won last five games vs St Peter's, by 8-1-9-12-11 points; the first meeting this year was 78-67 Rider win (-5) in Jersey City, in game they led by 22 at half. Broncs won five of last six games, are 2-3 as home fave in MAAC games, winning by 3-11-1-13-2 points at home. Peacocks are 6-2 as MAAC road dog, losing away games by 20-6-13-2-1-18 points.

Home side won six of last eight Iona-Loyola games, with Gaels losing its last two visits here, 75-66/63-51. Iona lost four of last five games- they shot 18.6% from floor in last game; Loyola lost last three games, scoring just 59.7 ppg, but they held last three foes to 1-26 from arc. Gaels' four road losses are by a total of just six points (dogs 6-0 in their road tilts).

Friday's best NCAAB bets

Illinois-Chicago Flames at Butler Bulldogs (-12.5)

UIC scoring leader Josh Mayo had another rough outing against Butler on Jan. 17, going 3-of-12 from the field for seven points. Mayo - averaging 16.4 points - is shooting 28.8 percent and scoring 9.3 points per game in his career versus the Bulldogs.

He had 19 points in the Flames' 73-67 overtime win over then-No. 12 Butler on Jan. 10, 2007, UIC's last victory over a ranked team.

Mayo is coming off one of his better shooting performances of the season. He hit 8-of-14 and scored 22 points Tuesday to help the Flames beat Detroit 64-53 and snap a five-game skid.

UIC will likely have to shoot better than its 40.7 percent season average on Friday if it hopes to defeat a Butler team that's ranked fourth in the nation in field goal defense (37.4).

Senior Scott VanderMeer just missed his ninth double-double of the season with 10 points and nine rebounds against the Titans. He's averaging 7.0 points and 5.7 boards in three games at Butler.

Associate head coach Mark Coomes will lead the Flames on Friday with Jimmy Collins in Syracuse, N.Y., for his mother's funeral. Coomes led UIC to the victory over Butler in 2007, when Collins missed the final 19 games of the season with an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Butler leads the all-time series 26-11.

Pick: Butler -12.5

Villanova Wildcats at West Virginia Mountaineers (-3.5)

Villanova has generally been nothing more than a middle-of-the-pack offensive team during coach Jay Wright's tenure.

Suddenly, though, the Wildcats are looking like an offensive juggernaut.

Thirteenth-ranked Villanova has topped 90 points in three consecutive games, and it'll look to keep rolling Friday night at West Virginia as it tries for a seventh straight win.

Wright's first season with the Wildcats (20-4, 8-3 Big East) was 2001-02, and since then they're sixth among current conference teams in scoring, averaging 72.7 points.

Villanova never scored more than 81 last season in a conference game and was averaging 73.5 in its first eight league contests this season before going on a tear over the last three.

Scottie Reynolds began the run by scoring 31 in a 94-91 win at Providence on Feb. 4, then Dante Cunningham put up 31 in a 102-85 victory against then-No. 20 Syracuse last Saturday. Reynolds led the way again Tuesday against No. 10 Marquette, finishing with 27 in a 102-84 win.

The Wildcats, seventh in the league in scoring this season, reached the 100-point mark in consecutive Big East games for the first time in school history.

Pick: Villanova +3.5

(13) Villanova (20-4, 13-7 ATS) at West Virginia (16-8, 9-12 ATS)

Villanova shoots for its seventh straight victory when it travels to West Virginia Coliseum in Morgantown to take on the Mountaineers in a Big East showdown.

Villanova is the hottest team in the Big East, winning six straight and going 8-0 ATS in its last eight following Tuesday’s 102-84 rout of Marquette as a five-point home chalk. Villanova has scored exactly 102 points in each of its last two games and is averaging 87.2 points per game on 51 percent shooting over its last five outings.

West Virginia has lost three of its last four (2-2 ATS), including Monday’s 70-59 setback at Pitt, coming up short as an 8½-point pup. The Mountaineers get the job done at home on defense, allowing just 56 ppg on 39.1 percent shooting in Morgantown. Bob Huggins’ squad is 10-2 in front of the home fans, but just 4-5 ATS.

Villanova won last year’s only meeting, between these schools, cruising 78-56 as a 1½-point home underdog. West Virginia is 3-1 ATS in the last four meetings and the home team is 5-2 ATS in the last seven in this short-lived rivalry.

The Wildcats are riding positive ATS streaks of 8-0 in Big East action, 5-2 on the road, 6-0 after a straight-up win and 7-0 ATS against teams with a winning record. The Mountaineers are 4-1 ATS in their last five Friday games, but otherwise they’re on ATS slides of 4-10 as a favorite, 2-5 after a straight-up loss and 0-4 at home against teams with a winning road mark.

For Villanova, the over is 6-2 in its last eight overall and 9-3 in its last 12 Big East contests, but the Wildcats are on “under” streaks of 21-6-1 as a ‘dog, 13-4-1 as a road ‘dog, 8-2-1 on Fridays and 6-2 after scoring more than 90 points in their previous game. West Virginia is riding “under” streaks of 4-1 overall, 5-1 following a straight-up loss, 4-1 in Big East play and 7-3 after a non-cover.

ATS ADVANTAGE: VILLANOVA

Gametimepicks.com

CBB Streaks & Notes!!
Sportspic.com

Villanova at West Virginia

Red-Hot cash grabbing Nova (20-4, 13-7) keep winning and covering. Wldcats off a 102-84 victory over Marquette have won six straight and have sent backers to the window in eight straight games. Meanwhile, Mountaineers off a 70-59 loss at Pittsburgh it's 4th defeat in six games (3-3 ATS) try right the ship in Morgantown where they're 10-2 (4-5 ATS). Mountaineers winning their last two in front of the home crowd by an average of 25 points per game have been pegged 3.5 to 4 point favorites depending on locale. It is well to note Mountaineers have won and cashed 3-of-4 at home vs Nova and are 20-7 vs the vegas-number as a home favorite of 0.5-6.5.

Friday Research
By Indiancowboy

Ivy:

Penn vs. Brown

Penn and Brown are both essentially top 275 teams that face off against each other today. Note, that Brown drilled this team by a score of 75-43 at home last year so Penn by no means has forgotten that. These two teams have not met this year and the public is split on this game. Ironically enough both teams are 3-9 ATS this year. Penn has lost 3 in a row including losing on the road at Dartmouth by 3 points who is a team outside the top 300, losing to Columbia by 11 and Cornell by 15 at home who is a top 100. Penn on the road this year that did defeat Harvard today on the road who is a top 275 team to their credit but has not beat a quality team on the road. Once again though Penn does have the revenge angle. Brown has lost 6 games in a row including a 1 point loss to Harvard on the road, a 2 point loss to Dartmouth on the road in OT, a 5 point loss to Columbia on the road, but this team did beat top 275 Qunnipac and Hartford at home. Frankly, I think the public is right, this game can go either way.

Princeton vs. Yale

Princeton is a top 175 team that hits the road. Keep in mind that Princeton has won 7 games in a row and has turned it around well after a slow start to the year. This team beat NC Greensboro who is outside the top 300, beat Lehigh who is a to 220 team, beat Dartmouth by 5 on the road, beat Harvard by 6 on the road, beat Cornell by 20 at home and beat Columbia by 28 at home as well. Princeton has not beat this team over the last 4 times they have played so they do have a good bit of revenge. Note, that Yale is favored slightly, above 58% of the public favors the home team Yale here, and they do come home after a tough loss on the road by 3 points against Dartmouth, they did beat Harvard by 21 points on the road (which is probably what led to their let down loss), so they are looking to bounce-back here. Having said that, Yale, did beat Holy a top 175 team in Holy Cross at home a while back. I actually think Princeton is the better team and does have revenge, I wouldn't be surprised to see them win SU, but Yale of course does come off a loss and does have the home cooking.

Dartmouth vs. Columbia

After losing a tight game to Princeton by just a few points at home (the game prior showing improvement by winning outright at Harvard), this team beat Penn, Yale and Brown at home. Now, this team hits the highway to face Columbia. Don't forget, typically I like Dartmouth but they come off a 28 point dubbing to the hands of Princeton on the road as they were embarrassed and now look to bounce-back here. Plus, Dartmouth beat this team 63-47 on the road last year as an 11.5 point dog that shocked every body. So, Columbia does have plenty of incentive to bounce-back here. The question begs that Dartmouth did great at home in conference play - how do they do on the road with a Columbia team on the bounce-back and revenge?

Harvard vs. Cornell

Harvard comes off barely defeating Brown at home by 1 point and now faces Cornell on the road. Note, that these two have not met this year and Harvard despite being 10-10 on the year is one of the worst ATS teams in the nation at 2-9 ATS. Somehow, this team is 4-5 SU on the road. Harvard comes off 4 straight home losses including to Dartmouth at home in OT, Penn at home, Princeton at home and Yale at home in which they lost by around 20points. Cornell beat this team by 33 last year at home and 1 point on the road so Harvard has a bit of revenge from that. But, Cornell is rolling. They come off a 15 point road win against Penn, defeated Yale 28 at home, defeated Brown by 32 and there is no reason why Cornell doesn't want to hammer their nemesis once more at home today. Lean on Cornell.

Metro Atlantic:

St. Peter vs. Rider

I usually like the Peacocks catching the points, but the only deal here is the fact that Rider has been playing great basketball. After all, they beat Siena at home, who is the conference leader in a huge upset, and sit at 9-4 in conference play. Note, that St. Peter does have revenge from an earlier season loss ina semi-home game. St. Peter comes off a big road win so they could be in for a bit of a let down, but again on Friday night, typically the dogs rule the day and this is likely the case here.

Villanova at West Va.
By Brian Edwards

With the NBA All-Star break upon us, bettors finally get a quality college basketball game to watch on a Friday night. West Virginia (16-8 straight up, 9-12 against the spread) will play host to Villanova tonight in a crucial Big East contest.

The crucial aspect of this contest applies more to the Mountaineers than the Wildcats. Bob Huggins’ team is currently in a ninth-place tie with Seton Hall in the Big East, as both schools are toting 5-6 records in league play.

To be clear, I think WVU would be in the NCAA Tournament if the season ended today. In fact, ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi currently has the ‘Neers as an eighth seed in his latest “Bracketology” installment. But there’s no doubt that things can change and no team ever wants to go into Selection Sunday with a below .500 mark in conference play.

Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened West Virginia as a three-point favorite with a total of 143. As of late this morning, most sports books had the Mountaineers as four-point ‘chalk’ with the total adjusted to 138. Gamblers can back the Wildcats to win outright for a plus-165 return (risk $100 to win $165).

Villanova (20-4 SU, 13-7 ATS) is on fire with six consecutive wins. Even better, the Wildcats have taken the money in eight straight games, including Tuesday’s 102-84 clubbing of Marquette as five-point home favorites. Scottie Reynolds led five double-figure scorers with a team-high 27 points. Corey Fisher added 21 points, draining 4-of-5 attempts from 3-point land.

Jay Wright’s team is in fifth place in the Big East with an 8-3 record, but it is just one game out of second place. Pitt, Marquette and Louisville each have 9-2 marks in league play.

’Nova is led in scoring and rebounding by Dante Cunningham, who averages 17.0 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per contest. Reynolds is scoring at a 15.4 PPG clip. The Wildcats have eclipsed the 100-point plateau in back-to-back Big East games for the first time in school history (they beat the ‘Cuse 102-85 in their previous outing).

After beating the Golden Eagles, Wright told the Associated Press, "Sometimes, you've just got to outscore people. We don't like that, but that's the only way we were going to do it [Tuesday night]."

WVU has lost four of its last six games, including Monday’s 70-59 loss at Pitt as an eight-point underdog. Alex Ruoff had a team-high 17 points before fouling out in the losing effort.

The Mountaineers have won 10 of their 12 home games, but they are just 4-5 ATS in Morgantown. WVU has won back-to-back home games both SU and ATS, trouncing both Providence (86-59) and St. John’s (79-56).

The ‘Neers are 1-2 ATS in three home games as single-digit favorites. Meanwhile, ’Nova has been an underdog four times this year, going 1-3 SU and 2-2 ATS.

The ‘under’ is on a 4-1 run for West Va., which has seen it go 12-9 overall, 5-4 in its home games. The ‘under’ is 11-9 overall for the Wildcats, but they have watched the 'over' go 6-2 in their last eight contests.

WVU has won three of the last four head-to-head meetings between these Big East rivals both SU and ATS.

Villanova could be without senior swingman Dwayne Anderson, who is “questionable” with a hyperextended left knee. Anderson recently keyed ‘Nova’s win over Providence with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

ESPN will provide television coverage at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

vegasinsider.com.