Thursday Service Plays

Jimmy The Moose

Game: Montreal Canadiens at Phoenix Coyotes
Prediction: Montreal Canadiens

Reason: Montreal has won 7 of their last 10 games. The Canadiens are also 7-3 in their last 10 games vs. Pacific Division opponents. In their last 7 games played after 2 days rest the Canadiens are 6-1. Phoenix played last night and in their last 5 games played with 0 days rest the Coyotes are 1-4. In their last 8 home games vs. a team with a winning road record the Coyotes are 2-6. The Canadiens are 5-0-2 in their last 7 meetings with the Coyotes. Play on the Montreal Canadiens

Robert Ross

Cleveland Cavaliers at Chicago Bulls

Clubs meet for the second time this season. The first was Sunday in Cleveland when the Cavs outscored the Bulls 27-10 down the stretch to erase a 76-68 fourth quarter deficit and win 95-86. LeBron went for 37 with no one on the Bulls able to stop him when it counted. Cavs have won and covered seven of the last nine in this series with the Bulls 1-4 when playing with revenge. They are also 1-3 S/U and ATS their last four hosting the Cavs and 12-15 S/U and 10-17 ATS at home this season. Bulls won the battle of the boards Sunday but shot .392 from the field and .176 (3-of-17) from three-point range.

Play on: Cleveland

Vegas Experts

Connecticut Huskies at Providence Friars

Providence had lost five in a row before beating Cincinnati on the road in overtime in its last 81-79. The Friars are 5-11 in Big East play, 3-4 at home with their wins coming against Conference lightweights Rutgers, South Florida and DePaul. However they beat Connecticut on the road January 17 77-65 for their second win in a row over the Huskies in the Nutmeg State. But Connecticut has beaten the Friars twice in a row in Providence, scoring a 76-62 win in January, 2006 as a 9.5-point chalk. Connecticut is 12-4 in Big East play and 5-3 on the Big East road. It has won 12 of its last 13 games, losing only at Villanova by two. With a win it gets its revenge for the earlier loss and knocks the Friars from the post-season.

Play on: Connecticut

Greg Daraban

Michigan St (23-6) at Illinois (12-17)

Illinois just 3-1 last 4. MSU 3-1 in their last 4.The Spartans just crushed Illinois Jan 30th 51-41. They win for a pesky HC in Tom Izzo.

Take Mich St

Dave Cokin

Arizona State @ Oregon

Play: Arizona State +5

Huge game for both Arizona State and Oregon tonight. It looks like seven teams battling for six spots in the PAC-10. ASU is in better shape than the Ducks, who virtually have to sweep this weekend to maintain any shot for an at-large bid. I don't think it's going to happen for them. The Sun Devils are the better team at this point, and the number on this game looks a little too high. I'll tab Arizona State plus the spot.

Marc Lawrence

Play On: Georgia Tech

Note: The Yellow Jackets host the Tigers in their final home game of the season with a few good numbers coming to their support here tonight. For openers, Georgia Tech 13-4 SU and 125 ATS as a host in this series. They are also 10-2 SU and 9-3 ATS in home finales. With Clemson off a double-revenge win over Maryland, and 0-3 SU and ATS in games after taking on the Terps, look for the Yellow Jackets to put a sting on the Tigers here tonight.

Great Lakes

Xavier at St Josephs

Play on: Xavier

Xavier is heating up going 3-1 ATS their last four games, and 4-2 ATS vs the Hawks on the road since 1997. Xavier is also 7-4 ATS when playing in March the last three years, and are 11-5 ATS when playing a team with a winning record this year. We look for Xavier to grab the road ATS Win & cover tonight.

Dave Price

Indiana vs. San Antonio
Take Under

1 Unit on Pacers/Spurs UNDER 194.5 San Antonio is only allowing 88.0 ppg at home this season and I feel a solid defensive effort at home against a tired Pacers team will translate into an UNDER victory here. The Spurs have gone UNDER the total in 4 of their last 5 games. The Spurs are 14-4 UNDER versus terrible defensive teams allowing 103+ points/game in the 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons and 12-3 UNDER versus explosive offensive teams - scoring 103+ points/game this season. The Spurs are 19-10 UNDER in home games this season, 7-0 UNDER after having won 15 or more of their last 20 games this season and 17-6 UNDER off a home win this season. Take the UNDER.

Jimmy Boyd

Indiana vs. San Antonio
Take San Antonio Spurs

1 Unit on San Antonio Spurs -13.5 Indiana will be physically and emotionally drained after being trampled last night in Houston. It's going to be very tough for the Pacers to get themselves up for this one and the result is going to be a dominant performance by the Spurs. It's all clicking right now for the defending world champs who have won 10 in a row. The Spurs are a perfect 2-0-1 ATS during that stretch as a favorite of 11 or more points. The Home team is a dominant 7-1 ATS in the last 8 meetings and the Spurs are 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 vs. Eastern Conference. The Pacers are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games as an underdog of 11.0 or greater, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 0 days rest, 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog, and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.

Lay the points with San Antonio.

Vegas Sports Pics

Connecticut Huskies - 3.5 over (at) Providence Friars

Providence (14-14, 5-11) vs. No.13 Connecticut (23-6, 12-4) is on a roll going 12-1 last 13 games. The Huskies remain in the hunt for the Big East title hunt standing one game back in the loss column. They've won and covered the last four meetings at Providence.

Xavier Musketeers - 1 over (at) St. Joseph's Hawks

St. Joseph's (17-10, 8-6) has lost its last two home games, scoring 19.2 points below its season average. No.8 Xavier (25-4, 13-1) looks to keep momentum heading to the post season entering on a 12 game winning streak. The defending A-10 champs are 26-4 last 30 league games.

Stanford Cardinal + 8.5 over (at) UCLA Bruins

No.3 UCLA (26-3, 14-2) vs. No.7 Stanford (24-4, 13-3) is 11-1 last 12 games including a 67-65 at then No.9 Washington. The Cardinal with a win would move in to a first place tie with the Bruins atop the Pac 10 with one game remaining. They're 3-2 last five games at UCLA.

JEFFERSONSPORTS

HOUSTON+6
Dirk being suspended for this game is great but lots of times that backfires in the NBA. Teams rally around eachother and most of the time the public loses their butts. This situation is different. The Mavs have owned the Rockets as of late. They have beat them 3 straight times this year. The Rockets are playing great ball and will want to show that to the TNT national audience. Also, Dirk posed a serious matchup problem for the Rockets. They won't have to worry about that now. The Rockets have been a dog once in the last 16 games. Give me the 6 points as they won't be around long.

CONNETICUT-3.5
better team playing with revenge. Also like that this is not Providence's last home game (Villanova on saturday so you don't have to worry about the emotional send off in this one). They hit 58% from 3 point range in the first matchup. This was while uconn was mired in their slump. Ill lay it with the huskies who are playing great right now.

Matt Fargo
Xavier vs. St Joseph's
Play: St Joseph's

Xavier is easily the hottest team in the conference and with 11 straight wins, it possesses the third longest winning streak in the nation. The Musketeers are ranked 8th in the AP, 11th in the ESPN/USA Today and 6th in the RPI. It comes as a bit of a surprise with such a high RPI based on the fact that the Atlantic Ten Conference is ranked 8th in the country. Xavier might be thinking number one seed if it runs the table through the conference tournament but there is no way that ever happens.

St. Joseph’s is a team on the bubble right now following back-to-back home losses to Temple and St. Louis. Those defeats make the final two regular season games extremely important with games against Xavier and Dayton virtual must wins. It doesn’t look at though many are counting on St. Joe’s being able to win this game as the public is all over Xavier and this short line. It is short for a reason as the Hawks match up very well and nearly won the first meeting at Xavier, only to lose in the final minute by four points.

The Musketeers have been winning but they have been far from dominant. During this 11-game run, six of the wins have been by single digits with five of those coming by six points or fewer. There are six road wins in the mix and the last four have been by an average of 3.5 ppg and all four of those came against teams sitting with conference records of .500 or worse. The Hawks are just a game and a half out of second place and one of only five teams with a winning conference record.

Two of the Hawks three home losses this season have been by a single point so the 5-3 record is a touch misleading. The Hawks are 9-3 in their last 12 final regular-season games at home and this year’s version is extra special. Tonight marks the final regular-season game in Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse this year and before the renovation and expansion project that is to take place. The Hawks won’t be back there until 2010 so this is a very significant game in the St. Joseph’s program.

The underdog is 6-0 ATS in the last six meetings in this series. Speaking of underdog, the Hawks are not a home underdog in conference action very often. This is the first instance this season and they have been home dogs only four times since 1999-00 and have gone a perfect 4-0 ATS, covering those games by an average of 10.3 ppg. This is a revenge spot and the Hawks are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games revenging a loss against an opponent. They are also 6-0 ATS after a loss by six points or less this season. Play St. Joseph’s Hawks 1 Unit

Karl Garrett

All about UConn tonight as they are the road favorite at Providence this Thursday night.

The Huskies continue their strong play, as they enter the Dunkin' Donuts Center having won their last pair of games, and 12 of their last 13, while rolling strong with a 7-3-1 spread mark their last 11 contests!

Providence is off an upset win at Cincinnati over the weekend, but that was just their 2nd win in their last 11 games, and just their 3rd cover in those 11.

This will be same-season pay back for the Huskies who were handed a 77-65 setback at home as the 9-point chalk over Providence back in mid-January. That marked the 2nd straight Friars upset win over UConn in Connecticut!

Overall, the road team has won and covered the last 7. Look for that pattern to hold form once again tonight.

1* CONNECTICUT (on a 1* to 5* basis)

MadduxSports
St. Joes +2

RedZone Sports
Xavier

Mighty Quinn
Wichita State

Cappers Access
Georgia Tech
St Joes

Scott Spreitzer
St Joes

Huddle Up Sports
Hawaii

Joe Wiz
Michigan St
San Jose St

Glen Mcgrew
Cal Irvine

LT'S LOCK
St. Josephs +2

SPORTS REPORTER

BEST BET
*ST. JOSEPH’S over XAVIER by 9
Hawks are but one of the handful of A-10 operations who’ve been chasing the Muskies all year, but have been tripping in recent utterly-winnable spots (in St. Joe’s case, at home vs.Saint Louis) which have dirtied their respective resumes. St. Joe’s did everything but beat X in Cincinnati, one month ago. But all may be forgiven should Phil Martelli’s kids get this done,and heaven knows, the X-Men don’t need to win this to assure a lofty Madness seed (a #3 at worst!).

ST. JOSEPHS, 76-67.

BEST BET
*CHICAGO over CLEVELAND by 7
The Cavs and Bulls spent the majority of the season carefully avoiding each other until they took part in a pre-deadline blockbuster trade, and now find themselves committed to playing each other four times in 40 days. They began with last Sunday’s afternoon game on ABC, in which the Cavaliers handily took care of the Bulls, and now find themselves in a quick rematch. Cleveland was able to win despite the absence of Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Big Z is expected to miss this game and possibly a couple more. If anything, the recent trade to fortify the frontcourt allows management the luxury of sitting Ilgauskas with an eye towards the playoffs which is good in the big picture sense, but this is a Cleveland team finishing a back-to-back with less than ideal depth. Look for the added day of rest and increased familiarity with their opponent to lend a helping hand to the Bulls, who’ll most likely be home underdogs tonight.

CHICAGO 98-91

THE GOLDSHEET

CLEVELAND by 12 over Chicago
DEPAUL by 1 over Cincinnati

Insider Sports Report

Indiana/San Antonio UNDER 196

POINTWISE

DEPAUL over Cincinnati RATING: 3

Nelly

DePaul + over Cincinnati

Cincinnati's slim at-large hopes have faded with three consecutive losses and it will be difficult to get the Bearcats back on track with little to play for. DePaul actually needs this game to earn a spot in the Big East tournament. In the current format the bottom four teams are left out of the bracket and DePaul is one of three teams tied with just five conference wins. The Blue Demons do not own a strong overall record but they have been a tough out in most games, particularly on the road. DePaul is 8-2 ATS in road games this season and Cincinnati has lost S/U six times at home this year while going just 7-7 ATS. Cincinnati has superior defensive numbers overall this season but in the last three games the Bearcats have allowed at least 73 points, well above the season averages. DePaul has lost five consecutive games but each loss came against an upper echelon Big East team. Knowing that the final game of the season will be a tough one at Pittsburgh this is the game DePaul needs to get into position for the 12th spot in the conference tournament. The Blue Demons have been posting solid offensive numbers and sophomore guard Will Walker is emerging as a key player late in the season. In the last game DePaul gained some confidence with a huge second half against Notre Dame, despite ultimately losing, and this will be a much more important game for the DePaul than for Cincinnati.

Tom Freese

Stanford at UCLA

Stanford is 21-5 ATS off three straight home game and they are 11-3 ATS off three or more straight wins. The Cardinal is 4-1 ATS their last 5 road games and they are they are 6-2 ATS vs. a team with a win percentage of over 60%. UCLA is 19-35 ATS after failing to cover ATS in two of their last three games. The Bruins are 2-8 Straight Up and ATS their last 10 home games vs. the Cardinal. PLAY ON STANFORD +