ODU at Northern Iowa
By Brian Edwards
BracketBuster weekend begins tonight with a pair of games. Also, bettors have four Ivy League matchups to wager on ahead of Saturday’s monster card.
In what looks like the second-best BracketBuster matchup behind only Siena at Butler, Northern Iowa (23-3 straight up, 16-9 against the spread) will play host to Old Dominion. Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened the Panthers as 3 ½-point favorites. As of early this morning, most books had the number at three with a total of 112.
Tip-off is scheduled for Friday night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2.
Ben Jacobson’s squad has been the class of the Missouri Valley Conference this year, posting a 14-2 record in league play. No. Iowa saw its six-game winning streak snapped in Saturday’s 68-59 loss at Bradley as a six-point road favorite.
However, the Panthers responded by trouncing Creighton 70-52 Tuesday as 8 ½-point home favorites. Johnny Moran and Ali Farokhmanesh scored 17 points apiece against the Bluejays.
Since losing 70-58 at VCU on Feb. 6, Old Dominion (21-7 SU, 10-14 ATS) has won three straight games, going 2-1 versus the number. The Monarchs are coming off Tuesday’s 78-67 win over Towson as 23-point home favorites.
Frank Hassell had 15 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in the non-cover against Pat Kennedy’s team. ODU’s Kent Bazemore added 14 points, five boards and five assists.
Blaine Taylor’s squad has been a road underdog five times this year, compiling a 1-4 record both SU and ATS. The Monarchs won outright at Georgetown as nine-point road underdogs back on Dec. 19, but they haven’t covered in road trips to VCU, Northeastern, Dayton and Richmond.
No. Iowa is unbeaten in 12 home games, posting an 8-4 spread record. When laying single digits at home, the Panthers are 3-1 ATS.
The ‘under’ has cashed at a lucrative 17-5 overall clip for Northern Iowa, going 10-2 in its home games. Although the ‘over’ has hit each of its last two games, Old Dominion has also seen the ‘under’ hit at steady 15-8 overall pace.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
No. Iowa has an RPI ranking of 23, while ODU’s RPI is 41.
No. Iowa’s three losses: vs. Depaul in the Virgin Islands, at Wichita St. and at Bradley. The Panthers’ best wins are vs. Siena (82-65) and vs. Wichita St. (55-52). They also won at Iowa St., vs. Boston College on a neutral court and trounced Iowa by 17.
ODU is 6-6 against RIP Top 100 teams. The Monarchs have four wins over teams with RIP of 51 or better. Their worst loss is at George Mason, and the Patriots are 16-11 overall and 11-5 in the Colonial.
Pittsburgh had no letdown its first time out since beating West Va. in triple overtime last Friday night. The Panthers won 58-51 at Marquette as six-point underdogs, hooking up money-line backers with a plus-220 return (paid $220 on $100 wagers). The 109 points fell ‘under’ the 132-point total.
Loyola-Marymount pulled a stunner last night, beating Gonzaga 74-66 as a 12-point home underdog. Bettors taking LMU on the money line brought home a plus-550 return at Sportsbook.com (paid $550 on $100 wagers). The Lions haven’t tasted any semblance of success since Paul Westhead’s run-and-gun teams of the late 1980s – which featured the late Hank Gathers, Bo Kimble, Jeff Fryer, Per Stumer and Tom “The Human Bruise” Peabody. It was LMU’s first over a ranked team since March of 1990 when the Lions rallied to beat an Alabama team that had Robert Horry, Melvin Cheatum and David Benoit in the Sweet 16 round. On that same night, the eventual national champs, UNLV, got its toughest test of the tournament from a Ball St. team coaching by Rick Majerus. The Runnin Rebels won a 69-67 decision over the Cardinals, and they eventually routed LMU in the Elight Eight and took out Ga. Tech in the semifinals. Jerry Tarkanian’s squad destroyed Duke in the national-title game (or, as some call it, The Bobby Hurley Diarrhea Game) that year.
ESPN analyst Jay Williams, the former Dookie who ruined his promising NBA career in a motorcycle accident, is absolutely insufferable calling a game. Fortunately I had Florida-Auburn and Syracuse-Georgetown as 1-2 in my remote rotation last night because Williams was calling the Ole Miss-Vandy game, the No. 3 game in the rotation.
Saturday’s Most Important Bubble Games:
1-Florida at Ole Miss: Loser won’t get in ahead of the other.
2-Wichita State at Utah State: Winner has good shot at at-large bid.
3-Mississippi State at LSU: Bulldogs are done with a loss.
4-UConn at Rutgers: Huskies done with a loss.
5-Siena at Butler: Saints can book at-large invite with a ‘W.’
vegasinsider.com.
Old Dominion (21-7, 10-14 ATS) at Northern Iowa (23-3, 16-9 ATS)
Bracket Buster weekend tips off with an intriguing battle at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa, where the Panthers host Old Dominion in a matchup of two of the nation’s top defensive squads.
The Monarchs carry a three-game winning streak (2-1 ATS) into this contest, having knocked off Towson 78-67 on Tuesday, falling way short as a 23-point home favorite. Old Dominion is tied with Northeastern atop the Colonial Athletic Association standings at 13-3, and it is 17-4 in its last 21 contests, a surge that began with a stunning 61-57 victory at then-No. 11 Georgetown as a nine-point underdog.
Playing without 7-foot center Jordan Eglseder, who is serving a three-game team-imposed suspension, Northern Iowa had little trouble with Creighton on Tuesday, cruising 70-52 as an 8½-point home favorite. At 14-2 in conference play, the Panthers hold a three-game lead in the Horizon League standings. They’re also 9-1 in non-conference action this season (6-3 ATS in lined games).
Despite their victory at Georgetown back in December, the Monarchs are just 7-7 SU and 5-8 ATS away from home this year, where they average 64 points per game but give up just 59.1 ppg. Meanwhile, Northern Iowa is a perfect 12-0 at the McLeod Center (8-4 ATS), outscoring visitors by 12.5 ppg (65.6-53.1).
Both teams thrive on defense, as the Panthers are second in the nation in allowing 55.1 ppg, one spot ahead of Old Dominion, which surrenders 55.8 ppg.
Old Dominion faced Liberty in a Bracket Buster game last year and rolled 80-56 as a nine-point home chalk, improving to 4-0 Bracket Buster contests the last four years (3-1 ATS). Northern Iowa has lost three straight Bracket Busters, including last year’s 81-75 setback at Siena. However, the Panthers cashed as a seven-point road underdog against Siena, ending an 0-3 ATS slide in this made-for-TV event.
Other than their recent success in Bracket Buster contests, the Monarchs are in ATS slumps of 2-6 in non-conference play, 1-4 on Friday, 1-5 after a SU win and 2-6 against winning teams. The Panthers are on pointspread surges of 14-6 overall, 8-3 at home, 4-0 in non-league outings and 21-8 versus winning teams, but they’ve failed to cover in four of their last five after both a SU and ATS win.
These defensive-minded squads are both on a series of low-scoring streaks. For Old Dominion, the “under” is on runs of 21-9 overall, 19-7 on the road, 4-0 in non-conference contests, 6-1 on Friday, 16-6 after a SU win and 5-1 after a non-cover. Northern Iowa carries “under” trends of 19-7 overall, 6-0 at home, 4-1 in non-conference action, 8-2 on Friday, 21-8 after a SU win and 6-1 following a spread-cover.
ATS ADVANTAGE: UNDER
NCAAB News and Notes
Information on Friday's college basketball games........
Princeton is tied for Ivy lead at 5-1; they won 58-45 at Yale (-3) Jan 20, their second straight win vs Bulldogs, after five consecutive losses. Ivy League home favorites of more than 7 points are 8-4 against spread this season. Princeton is 3-1 vs spread as Ivy League favorite. Yale covered six of its last seven games; they're 3-1 as Ivy League road underdog.
Columbia (-8.5) beat Dartmouth 63-51 Jan 30, making 8-13 from arc and outscoring Big Green 19-8 on charity stripe; Lions are 5-2 in last seven series games, winning two of last three visits here. Columbia is 3-5 so far in Ivy; all five losses are by 10+ points. Dartmouth is 0-8 in Ivy, 0-6 vs spread in last six games, losing at home by 4-2-16 points.
Penn (+6.5) won 55-54 at Brown Jan 30; Quakers won last three series games by 21-10-1 point. Brown lost four of last five visits here, losing in Palestra by 23-17-3-10 points. Underdog won Penn's last five games SU. Brown lost last two road games, by 11-14 points. Ivy League favorites of 7 or less points are 1-7 against the spread at home this season.
Harvard (+8) got pummeled 86-50 at Cornell Jan 30, Crimson star Lin had 8 of Harvard's 25 turnovers- they're 1-4 in last five series games, but did upset Big Red here 71-70 LY. Cornell is tied with Princeton for Ivy lead, but is 0-4 vs spread in last four games- five of their six Ivy wins are by 14+ points. Single digit Ivy home underdogs are 2-5 against spread.
Northern Iowa played faster in first game without suspended C Elgseder, a 70-52 win over Creighton. Panthers still rank 344th out of 347 teams in pace of play. Old Dominion is 8-4 in non-conference gaes- they won last three games overall by 20-16-11 points. MVC home faves are 12-12 vs spread this year. CAA road underdogs are 25-17 vs spread.
Wm & Mary won last four games, three by 3 or less points; they've got big edge in experience over vastly-improved Iona team that split its last four games and is 1-3-1 vs spread in last five games as a favorite. Tribe beat Manhattan of MAAC 75-70 Nov 21; Iona split pair of games with Jaspers. MAAC hoe favorites are 7-8 vs spread in non-conference gaes.