NHL Total of the Day

Rating: 3 Unit NCAAB Play of the Day

Let’s do some zig-zagging. Georgetown is off an outright win at Creighton as +9.5 point road underdog. Villanova is off a road loss at St. John’s as -9.5-point road favorite. Jay Wright’s Wildcats shot 8-for-30 on three-pointers at St. John’s. Georgetown made 10 of their 21 three-pointers at Creighton (47.6%). The Hoyas average 35.5% from there. When they met in December, it took Villanova a while to figure out the Hoyas. They trailed by 18 in the first half, by 13 at halftime… and eventually won by 13 after a 43-17 second half. Highly ranked team comes home off loss; unranked team with losing record stays on road off win. Consider that Villanova is 34-16-1 ATS in their last 51 games following a ATS loss

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Second of back-to-backs for the Knicks following yesterday’s 110-99 win vs. end-of long-road-trip Portland. Miami flies up with rest following a lousy homestand that they managed to close out well with a 122-95 win vs. Washington (with Westbrook playing for the Wizards after they’d lost to the Wizards with Westbrook resting two nights earlier!). One win against Washington probably doesn’t solve Miami’s issues and as favorite, they can’t be in “nobody expected us to do this!” mode. Knicks don’t win three in a row very often but it’s a fact that it has happened at least once in the last 10 years – last month, actually. Miami: 7-14-1 ATS, the NBA’s worst percentage.

Rating: 4 Unit NBA Game of the Week

That home invasion situation against back-to-backing Dallas was certainly beneficial to the Warriors here on Thursday night, wasn’t it? It didn’t matter that they were lacking in frontcourt personnel. What mattered most is that the Warriors’ Kelly Oubre shot 14-for-21, including 7-for-10 on three-pointers. What mattered almost as much was Dallas firing 50 of their 92 shots from behind the three-point line against an opponent that wasn’t really prepared to stop them inside. If Rick Carlisle is half the coach we think he is, then he, hopefully, is making his players aware that they are the world’s biggest fools for playing that way, or telling himself that he’s the world’s worst coach and will prepare them better next time, which is this time. “This was a difficult lesson,” he said afterwards. No kidding! Put your learning to work! Consider that Golden State is 25-51-3 ATS in their last 79 games following a straight up win of more than 10 points.

Rating: 4 Unit PAC-12 Game of the Week

The Buffs couldn’t be more ready to play a game, at least from the mental standpoint and pretty much from the preparation situation, too. First of all, they hate Arizona. Secondly, they were beaten in Tucson, 88-74 on Dec. 28. (Revenge!) Next, their Thursday game vs. Arizona State was postponed due to a cooties problem in or around ASU’s Hurley girlie program. While Arizona was fighting (flailing, really) at Utah on Thursday, the Buffs got some extra time to make whatever use they could out of it, as they come off that stinging home loss to Utah that was probably 99.9% theirs with 8:46 remaining until the 31-9 run hit. Ya’ think maybe they’ll guard whomever it is on Arizona that might be hot, so he doesn’t stay hot, if he even gets hot? Consider that Colorado is 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games as a favorite.

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Total of the Day

The under is  4-1 in Monarchs last 5 overall, 8-2 in Monarchs last 10 home games vs. a team with a winning road record, 4-1 in Monarchs last 5 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600, and 5-2 in Monarchs last 7 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600. While the under is 7-3 in Thundering Herd last 10 games following a ATS loss.

Rating: 3 Unit Big-10 Play of the Day

Leaving home following a lengthy layoff at 0-5 in the Big Ten, for a road game against a desperate home team with back-class that’s on a four-game losing streak, is not what Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg envisioned as being the state of his team with one month left in the regular season. Off three straight losses, the last two against Top 10 opponents, the Spartans return home, drop in class, and get what they need, with lessons learned from the 84-77 win at Nebraska on Jan. 2. Consider that Nebraska is 4-12 ATS in their last 16 games overall.

Rating: 3 Unit Rebound Total of the Day

The under is 4-0 in Bison last 4 Saturday games. While the under is
5-2 in Hatters last 7 overall, and 5-2 in Hatters last 7 games as an underdog.

Rating: 3 Unit SEC Play of the Day

‘Tell me how will you score the upset that isn’t really an upset? Tell me, Cuonzo, Cuonzo, Cuonzo!’ Alabama has had an early “peak.” We were on them early, had Mississippi State against them recently when all MSU did was muck up the game, forcing Alabama play slow and ugly. At Oklahoma a week ago, it was basically the same thing. Missouri’s band has been together as long as anyone in the SEC and Cuonzo’s preferred game was always slow and ugly until this group finally got some cohesion and could play more up-and-down this season. Now, the Tigers are versatile but not to the point where they’ll try to trade threes in a fast-paced game, and they’ll run the Tide off the three-point line as often as possible. Consider that Missouri is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games as a home underdog.

Rating: 3 Unit Summit League Play of the Day

The visitor is 8-0 atop the Summit League, and also beat South Dakota State in a hastily scheduled, neutral site, third-game-in-three-nights situation for both sides back on Dec. 12, a game which did not count in the conference standings. Here we are in February for a re-match. South Dakota’s 8-0 was accomplished vs. the bottom four teams in the conference (who are 4-24 combined). The home side watched South Dakota’s Stanley Umide go for 41 points in the game that didn’t really count for much, and is thinking, ‘You only got 11 and 15 points against us last year.” SDS’ second-leading scorer, senior forward Douglas Wilson didn’t play in that game. Consider that South Dakota State is 29-9-1 ATS in their last 39 games following a ATS loss.

Rating: 3 Unit NCAAB Total of the Day

Notes to consider... This one gets re-scheduled for tonight after last Friday’s postponement, which caused some now-familiar re-shuffling of the A-Sun schedule last weekend. The Mad Hatters instead got FGCU and eventually broke a 4-game skid when beating the Eagles on Saturday, which also snapped a 5-game Stetson “under” streak. Prior to that 77-66 win, Stetson was only scoring 63 ppg in its previous six league games, as HC Donnie Jones has a tight rein on his troops, who often rely upon soph G Rob Perry (such as the win over FGCU, when he scored 30). Lipscomb not especially dynamic, either, scoring just 66 ppg its last six A-Sun games

Rating: 3 Unit Big West Play of the Day

The Fabulous Bakersfield Boys have won four Big West road games and in a fifth, lost in overtime. They’ve also won at Pepperdine by 17 points, a team that beat Cal-Irvine by 15 points. Oh, if it was only that easy, right? The host Anteaters are the Big West’s top dog, never primed to play their best early in the season but usually ready to jump from the starting blocks when the conference light goes on. They’ve been forewarned about the uppityness of this visitor, and just had a seven-game winning streak snapped in overtime at Hawaii over the weekend. At 5-1 in conference to Bakersfield’s 7-3, the Anteaters need to make sure that when the visitor leaves here after tomorrow night, it will make the trip northward still with more losses than Irvine. Consider that Irvine is 20-6-2 ATS in their last 28 home games.

Rating: 3 Unit NHL Total of the Day

The over is - 3-0-1 in Predators last 4 games as an underdog, 4-1 in Predators last 5 road games, and 9-3 in Predators last 12 games as a road underdog. While the over is 15-5-2 in Panthers last 22 home games following a road trip of 7 or more days, 20-7 in Panthers last 27 Thursday games, 8-3 in Panthers last 11 games playing on 3 or more days rest, and 10-4 in Panthers last 14 games as a home favorite.

NCAAB Play of the Day

Heady times for the host Eagles, 10-2 in second place in the OVC, nine straight wins The play of 6’10," 235 freshman Johni Broome has helped them along and he didn’t even play when the Eagles beat these Racers 61-56 on the road last month. It was the only game Broome has missed this season and his teammates shot only 2-for-14 on three-pointers but still came out on top. That’s how good the overall team defense has been. They’ve covered seven in a row and are 13-4 ATS to Murray State’s 5-8-1 ATS.

NBA Play of the Day

The Spurs went 1-1 in Minnesota recently in a back-to-back. They scored 88 points losing the second. Popovich can never seem to get this team to play well in the second night of a back-to-back. He’s always using it as an excuse. It’s like he hates the situations, doesn’t believe they should exist and doesn’t care, turning them into write-offs before games that offer more prep time with more energy on tap. Hey, whatever "spurs" him and his team to victory, right? San Antonio has been home since early last week. They’ve had a day in between the second straight big-margin loss vs. Memphis, and this. With an allegedly "offensive minded" roster, the T’Wolves rank #28 in points per possession

Rating: 3 Unit Big-12 Play of the Day

Despite playing without leading scorer Austin Reaves and starting guard Alondes Williams because of virus protocols, the Sooners took care of red-hot Alabama at home. But you knew that Alabama would have problems vs. Oklahoma (because it said so, in our paper!). The Red Raiders don’t mind Sooner style and as a familiar Big 12 foe, they’ll know what to do if Reaves and Williams are out again for the visitor. One player out of the three who came off the Sooners’ bench scored points vs. Alabama. The home team is 10-2-1 ATS in the last 13 meetings

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

It doesn’t make much sense, but OKC’s average home-game scoring margin through seven dates at Chesapeake Energy Arena is -14.9, through a 1-6 SU record. Obviously, they haven’t figured out what “We must protect this house!” is all about. Their overall -7.0 scoring differential is the league’s second-lowest next to Minnesota’s -10.5. The re-tooling Rockets, fueled in part by the verbal slights of former teammate James Harden, in part by his very absence (and being able to play basketball again instead of standing around watching him shoot), have won five straight. The vanquished quintet includes nobody going anywhere special in the NBA this season. Add another to the list

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Play of the Day

The over is 16-3 in Rebels last 19 Sunday games, 9-4 in Rebels last 13 games following a ATS loss, and 37-18 in Rebels last 55 games following a straight up loss. While the Over is 16-5 in Wolf Pack last 21 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400, 16-6 in Wolf Pack last 22 games as a favorite, and 15-7-1 in Wolf Pack last 23 overall

Rating: 3 Unit NHL Play of the Day

The Ottawa Senators are having a tough enough time keeping the puck out of their net and it may be even harder when they suit up for a road clash against the Edmonton Oilers  tonight. Ottawa's top defenseman Thomas Chabot is listed as day-to-day after he crashed into the net in Thursday's loss in Vancouver. Chabot will do what he can to suit up, but Artem Zub will make his NHL debut if he can't. The Senators are also without defenseman Christian Wolanin. The Senators were already in Edmonton and watched the Oilers claim a 4-3 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs to snap a two-game losing skid. Ottawa, which is in a complete rebuild, has lost seven straight (0-6-1) by a combined 33-12 since opening the season with a home victory over the Maple Leafs. The Senators are coming off a three-game manhandling at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks, who combined to beat them by a 16-3 margin in the trio of outings. Consider that Ottawa is 6-22 in their last 28 after scoring 2 goals or less in their previous game.

Rating: 3 Unit NHL Total of the Day

The Over is 4-1-2 in Islanders last 7 games playing on 0 days rest. While the over is 6-2 in Flyers last 8 overall and 6-2 in Flyers last 8 vs. East. In addition, the over is 14-5-1 in the last 20 meetings.

Rating: 3 Unit MVC Play of the Day

The Braves of Bradley enter off four straight losses. The Sycamores of Indiana State have won four straight. ‘Oh! Ohhh! It’s two teams headed in opposite directions!’ Ah, not so fast, my friend. Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing gives us the scout: “They’re going to be like a rabid dog in a cage and will be healthy as they weren’t in some of these losses. They’re two-time defending [MVC Tournament] champions for a reason. Elijah Childs is a handful, you can’t guard him with one guy and they’re one of the best defensive teams in the league, mostly man, but some zone. We’re going to have to play our best game of the year.” This, immediately after he suspended senior guard Tobias Howard (20.5 minutes per game) the other day. Therefore, we’ll figure it’s actually two teams about to be headed in directions opposite of their most recent. Consider that Indiana State is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games following a ATS win and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog.

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Utah has reeled off 11 straight wins, the past two without Donovan Mitchell and Derrick Favors, and at 15-4 own the best record in the NBA. The Jazz will put that streak on the line when they visit the Nuggets for an early afternoon matchup today. Mitchell (concussion protocol) and Favors (lower back soreness) haven't played since last Tuesday but traveled to Denver on Friday while their teammates were completing a two-game home sweep of the Dallas Mavericks. Their status for Sunday is unknown. If one or both can't play, it will be tougher to beat a Nuggets team that has found some footing over the past few weeks, but Utah has played well without them, too. Different players have stepped up in their absence, giving the Jazz a boost against the Mavericks. Consider that Utah is 11-1 ATS in their last 12 games following a straight up win.

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Very disappointed about how the Rockets lost the first and fourth quarters badly vs. Portland the other night, but killed them in the second and third, only to have it all add up to a 3-point Houston win with the Rockets laying -4, Portland losing the game but unfortunately covering the spread. We don’t see good things ahead for the Blazers. Thursday’s result – as far as they were and are concerned, unless they’re betting – dropped them from #5 to #8 in the West, exactly the direction we see them headed, especially if they get to the free-throw line only 8 times, as was the case in Houston. The Bulls already beat them in Portland 111-108 without a few players who didn’t make that trip, when now-absent Nurkic and McCollum combined for 38 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists for the Blazers

Rating: 3 Unit NHL Total of the Day

The over is 4-1 in Capitals last 5 games playing on 1 days rest, 32-13-1 in Capitals last 46 games following a win, 20-9-2 in Capitals last 31 games as a home underdog, and 39-19 in Capitals last 58 home games.

Rating: 3 Unit Mismatch of the Day

The Governors of AP have three games under their belt since a pause ended. They’re just 1-2 in those games but got a few players back on the floor in the third Thursday night, in which they were a tad unlucky when Belmont – now 11-0 in the OVC – shot 62.7% for the game against them to beat ’em by 5 points. Off two straight home losses and looking at four straight on the road after this, ya’ think maybe they can carry over the effort against the conference’s best team (against whom they put four players in double figures) and bury the last-place team they’ve already beaten on the road by 11 points? Consider that Austin Peay is 20-8-1 ATS in their last 29 home games vs. a team with a losing road record.

Rating: 4 Unit MAC Game of the Week

The Golden Flashes of Kent State are one of three MAC teams averaging greater than 80 points per game in league play. The Chippewas of CMU are not one of the three. But they are one of two teams giving up greater than 80 points per game in league play. Two-and-a-half weeks ago, Kent State scored 94 vs. CMU on the road despite a pair of foul-outs by starting forwards Tervell Beck and Justin Hamilton, who were limited to less than they average minutes. CMU allegedly couldn’t put enough guys in uniform to go to Buffalo on Wednesday. This game may or may not be played but the match-up favors the home side when CMU is at full strength, so…

Rating: 3 Unit CAA Play of the Day

Seventh game off a long pause, 2-4 and off three straight road losses, Towson returns home determined for a much better beginning than the 43-25 deficit they faced at halftime at James Madison on Wednesday night. It was actually the second bad deficit vs. JMU they’ve had at the half, and JMU happens to be leading the CAA in scoring, and in three-point FG% (42.3%). The visiting Tribe hasn’t topped 67 points in any of its last four games, didn’t win any of the four before them scoring between 40 and 73 points. They’re shooting 38.9% overall in CAA play, just 27.1% on three pointers. A far cry from last year’s 46.8% and 33.4% numbers.

Rating: 4 Unit NCAAB Game of the Week

The home side averages 81.7 points per game. RMU’s leading scorer, 6’7”, 210 AJ Bramah, averages 21.5 points per game without making a three-pointer all season. (Nobody else averages more than 9.3.) Wright’s sticky-fingered zone would figure to deny Bramah the ball inside and even if he gets it in there, he’d still be up against a wide body in the home side’s 6’8”, 260 Loudon Love, no slouch on the offensive end himself with a 14.6 points per game average (and 10.3 rebounds). Tanner Holden leads Wright State with 16.9 points per game and four others are averaging 8.7 to 13.7 points per game behind Love, two of them grabbing 6.9 and 6.3 boards per game and Holden, a 6’6” guard, getting 7.7 boards per game. Too much all around for the home side, it would seem. Consider that Wright State is 13-5 ATS in their last 18 games after scoring more than 90 points in their previous game.

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Everyone Denver has played lately has been missing key players, Miami being the latest: “That team was missing Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro, a lot of their top players,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “I don’t know if we’re as good as we played tonight.” Probably not. Denver is shooting to complete a 5-0 road trip. Who does that? Few do! Heck, the Lakers, who were 10-0 on the road, just lost at Philly. The Nuggets didn’t play here last season, beating the Spurs by 7 at home, by 6 in the Bubble, with San Antonio’s DeMar DeRozen absent for the first meeting and LaMarcus Aldridge absent for the second. As the Nuggets lose the 19.5 minutes they get from injured guard P.J. Dozier per game, the Spurs welcome back point guard Derrick White, who averaged 11.3 points per game and 3.5 assists in his 24.7 minutes last season. Every little bit help

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

The Blazers, a mostly lousy defensive team, hit the road after being quite unimpressive splitting their final two home games before this five-game trip. They are missing two key scorers, Jokic and McCollum. The Rockets are playing with a chip on their shoulder following the Harden trade, with three straight wins and John Wall and Danuel House back in the house for a few games each. Center Christian Wood is expected to rejoin them tonight after a multi-game absence. They are intent on proving Harden wrong about being able to contend. The Blazers are in fifth place in the West, but we feel they have ankle weights attached. The Rockets are eleventh, but only two game  behind the Blazers. Time to continue rising and put more water in the Blazers’ leaky boat.

Rating: 3 Unit SEC Play of the Day

With five kids averaging double figures and a 7’3” player like Connor Vanover who can step out, take and make three pointers, Arkansas has the potential to turn Kermit Davis’ Ole Miss defenders into Kermit the Frogs. Ole Miss enters off a pair of low-scoring wins (64-46, 61-50) against Mississippi State and Texas A&M, a pair of suspect-shooting grinders who can’t really spread the floor on offense.

Rating: 3 Unit ACC Play of the Day

If Virginia Tech would like to remain ranked in the Top 25, then they’ll come out and forget about the 18-point loss at Syracuse in which Syracuse got 64 points of 78 in the lane or at the free-throw line. “We wanted to drive in on their center and make him play defense on Marek [Dolezaj],” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “When we got a mismatch, we got Quincy down in low. That’s what we wanted to do there.”And, they did. Which Notre Dame won’t. The Irish stay out on the perimeter and run their little ball screen for guards like Cormac Ryan, who make 1-for-5 on their threes and don’t rebound anywhere near enough of their misses. Consider that Virginia Tech is 14-2 ATS in their last 16 games vs. a team with a winning % below .400.

Rating: 4 Unit SEC Play of the Day

Tell me can you win yet another ***BEST BET so fine? Tell me, Cuonzo, Cuonzo, Cuonzo!’ While it may be asking a lot of the Mr. Martin’s Tigers to beat Tennessee-Auburn within four days on the SEC road, they have a team laden with upperclassmen who have become versatile in terms of how they are able to play and compete well. That’s why they’ve been able to win on the road at Arkansas and Tennessee already, two very different kinds of games. Cuonzo is actually “letting them play” this season instead of having his hands on their waistbands all the time. Of course, Bruce Pearl’s Tigers present challenges to Missouri’s defense that Tennessee did not. But Auburn’s defense leaves much to be desired and they are probably a little points-drunk after hanging 109 on five-guard South Carolina on Saturday, a team that couldn’t rebound enough to slow them down.

NCAAB Play of the Day

When he was with VCU, Texas Tech’s 6’7” Marcus Santos-Silva wasn’t playing in the paint against many guys like West Virginia’s 6’10” Derek Culver. Away from that advantage-Mountaineers, West Virginia opponents are making only 29.1% of their three-pointers. Huggins’ fellas came off three postponements to get a good tune-up game under their belt at Kansas State on Saturday. “I thought we were a bit rusty offensively, but defensively we stepped up and played one of our best games of the year,” said guard Miles McBride. He had a big game vs. Tech last season and now the rust has been knocked off. Some of that rust may be transferred to the Red Raiders, who’ve had their last two games postponed. Rust never sleeps.

NBA Play of the Day

The Lakers’ road trip continues with game number three of seven, a home invasion situation for which they were in town yesterday while the Cavaliers were battling in Boston. The Lakers’ current road tally is now 9-0, following up on a strong 2019-20 road season. Cleveland was averaging only 98 points per game until the Nets hit town with the The Three Ball Hogs and the Cavs scored 113 and 125 in regulation. Was that a two-shot deal against defense-less superstars coached by Steve Nash/Mike Dantoni and obsessed with scoring points? The Lakers, despite having Lebron and Lebrow, are more interested in a well-rounded experience. After Anthony Davis snapped out of a recent funk during a 21-point win in his hometown of Chicago (we projected it by 22, sorry for being off), figure Lebron to show up large for his home-area peeps, even if nobody is in the arena. He had 32-14-12 in his re-return to Cleveland in 2018-19, for the 37-45 Lakers team (that was 23-21 at the time, before he got hurt). You see how these guys are operating, right?

Rating: 4 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Quadruple-revenge for last year’s 0-4. We’re going to invent a category. It’s called, “Second Half Scoring Margin, This Year Compared to 2019-20.” The Charlotte Hornets are #1 in the NBA in this category. Last season, they were -4.0 per game in second halves. This season, they are +3.1 The +7.1 points change is the largest positive second half scoring differential change in the league. It’s early, the sample is small (eight road games), but it’s a sign that they are better able to bring it in battle. Their road differential in the second half is actually greater than it’s been on their home floor (+4.2 vs. +1.7). Orlando is a losing foe with the NBA’s worst first-half scoring margin: -6.8 per game. It’s the second game back from injury for 6’11” C Cody Zeller, who’s been with the Hornets since the last year in which they were called the Bobcats (eight years ago), so he must be at least somewhat important.

Rating: 4 Unit NCAAB Total of the Day

The under is is 7-1 in Hilltoppers last 8 vs. a team with a losing straight up record and 6-2 in Hilltoppers last 8 road games. While the under is 11-3 in Blue Raiders last 14 overall, 7-2 in Blue Raiders last 9 home games, and 13-5 in Blue Raiders last 18 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.

Rating: 3 Unit Inter-Conference Play of the Day

When the Lakers hosted the Bulls recently, they treated it like a practice and won by 2 points. Tonight, they are in position to perform a home invasion as they were in town yesterday while the Bulls were in Charlotte last night, winning against an opponent that made only 7 of 32 three-point baskets (hey, don’t take it if you can’t make it!). For those who don’t already know: Lakers were the best road team in the NBA last season and are currently 8-0 SU on the road. Off the win at Milwaukee, if they’re looking for “something to play for,” then “continued road dominance” is available.

Rating: 4 Unit SEC Play of the Day

‘Can you continue to win our ***BEST BETS on you so fine? Tell me, Cuonzo, Cuonzo, Cuonzo!’ After Tennessee won 73-53 at Mizzou in the SEC season opener, many will be hesitant to back the Tigers on the road in the same match-up. But something’s gone amiss with Tennessee since then, and head coach Rick Barnes is so furious lately about lack of effort, lack of little details and leadership that he promises lineup changes (they’re 10-2 but young, so…). While the Vols will no doubt come out breathing fire off the 26-point loss at Florida, Missouri has a margin for error in the line with some Cuonzo adjustments on the way – possibly getting Mr. Tillmon more involved than he was in the first meeting, after which Martin wasn’t all that disappointed with how the team played. Tennessee made a lot of the baskets Missouri asked them to make, at -2 that day. Now the Vols – with point guard Santiago Vescovi playing hurt and another ball-handler, guard Jaden Springer, still out by all accounts – have to win by much at least 9.

Rating: 4 Unit Ohio Valley Conference Play of the Day

It usually takes Murray State two seasons to lose five Ohio Valley Conference games but here they are at 2-5 after only seven have been played. All the losses have been close, to opponents that are among the top half of the conference. But the Racers blew away bottom-dweller UT-Martin by 22 points recently and Tennessee Tech is a fellow bottom-dweller. Off Thursday’s latest loss, it’s feeding time for the bottom feeder! Tech’s 72-69 loss at Austin Peay on Thursday night came as their host was short-handed off a program pause. They trailed 27-5 early. If they were a good team, we’d say that the 27-5 was an aberration. But they’re not a good team. Consider that the Racers are 12-4 ATS in their last 16 games as a home favorite.

Rating: 4 Unit CBB Total of the Day

The under is 5-1 in Gamecocks last 6 games as an underdog, 11-4 in Gamecocks last 15 Saturday games, 5-2 in Gamecocks last 7 games as a road underdog. While the under is 16-5-1 in Governors last 22 overall, 6-2-1 in Governors last 9 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600, and 18-7-1 in Governors last 26 games following a ATS loss.

Rating: 4 Unit CBB Blowout of the Day

Look, things are tough all over the nation but look on the bright side. It’s late January, Duke is unranked, 1-8 ATS, Coach K is already on record as wanting to bail, and they’ve lost two in a row leading into this third straight road game against what is probably the best opponent of the trio. Without the home rout against Bellarmine, Duke would basically have a 73-73 PF/PA average. They’ve lost their one match-up with Louisville in each of the last two season, by 6 points at home last year. Louisville is angried up off two losses, most recently to a Florida State team that has had its number big-time the last few seasons – no big deal there.

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Suns won in Denver on the second of back-to-back nights on the road Jan. 1, off a win in Utah the night before, when Denver had no games the prior two nights and was coming off a loss. In other words, the Suns were wearing ankle weights, playing with less air in their lungs and less gas in the tank than usual, taking the worst of the “motivational” situation, yet were still able to take care of business in this match-up. Denver continues to be overrated, 5-9 ATS. At 7-7, they really don’t have an impressive win among the seven.

CBB Play of the Day

The over is 12-3 in 49ers last 15 games as a road underdog, 12-3 in 49ers last 15 road games vs. a team with a winning home record, 6-2 in 49ers last 8 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600, and 7-3 in 49ers last 10 games following a ATS win. While the over is 4-0 in Owls last 4 games as a favorite, 6-1 in Owls last 7 overall, and 5-1 in Owls last 6 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.

Rating: 4 Unit PAC-12 Play of the Day

ASU is 1-9 ATS. There’s a reason we call them Hurley’s girlies. One of the most expectation-laden teams, every year, which can’t even win consistently in a conference that hasn’t been what it used to be for a while. The visiting Wildcats can’t play in the post-season this year, which should put an even greater emphasis on dealing with the rivalry games. Having last Saturday’s Oregon game postponed gave Sean Miller and staff extra time to get home and get ready, while ASU was stuck up in Corvallis, OR over the weekend losing another one. Although it was excusable to lose to USC and UCLA home, and even OSU on the road, remember that ASU lost by 13 points vs. UTEP in their final game before Pac 12 season began.

Rating: 4 Unit CBB Play of the Day

Providence had their shot at the Blue Jays at home recently, couldn’t get it done. Their ability to prevent Creighton from swishing three-pointers through their own friendly rims is highly questionable. When the Friars lost 67-65 at home to Creighton they shot only 33.8% from the floor. But it’s not unreasonable to expect the same or worse off an eight-day break and playing in this place, where Creighton is known for getting quick separation that throws slower-paced opponents out of whack. Starting point guard Jared Bynum has been out for Providence. Head coach Ed Cooley: “I’ve never coached a team that wasn’t tough emotionally, mentally and, more importantly, physically. This team has got to get to that point. If we don’t get to that point, we’re going to have a tough time surviving in the Big East.” Thanks for the heads-up, coach!

Rating: 4 Unit SEC Play of the Day

The Vol1s have won four straight against the Gators. Can’t see how this Mike White-coached Florida group – weakened on the inside by injury absences – can score much against a Tennessee bunch that defends equally well inside and out. Florida prefers a quick pace; Tennessee probably won’t allow that to happen. Florida shot in the mid-30s percent range on two-point shots in their last two games. They are shooting a decent 37% from three-point range in SEC play. But – ah, always a but – they haven’t faced Tennessee yet. Clang-clang, rebound Vols.

Rating: 4 Unit CBB Mismatch of the Day

‘Tell me why should we make a ***BEST BET on you again when South Carolina can score like Texas A&M can’t? Tell me Cuonzo, Cuonzo, Cuonzo!’ Could it be because Jeremiah Tillmon once again has nobody to go out and chase on the perimeter? This seems to be the case, given the tendencies of the South Carolina bigs, who also aren’t that big. Tilmon is averaging 18.5 pg and 9 rebounds in his last three games. “There’s not many in America that’s better,” Martin says. “There might be some that’s just as good. But high level of player on both sides of the ball, and then doing it efficiently without fouling. Really impressive.” Consider that Missouri is 14-6-1 ATS in their last 21 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400 while the home team is 4-1-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings.

NBA Game of the Week

It’s a great “situation” for the T’Wolves, although they are the type of team that tends to not take advantage. The Hawks were out West last week, return home with only one day in between their 6-point loss at Portland (taking +5) and this assignment, for which they don’t even get a break with a night-time tip. It’s 2:35 pm, ET! Are we feeling a bit sluggish today? The T’Wolves haven’t played since Thursday night at home against Memphis. They figure to be the fresher and more in sync side, because if recently injured and absent Hawks come back for this, they may need a game under their belts before re-jelling with their mates (actually, with so many new players, they haven’t originally jelled yet). Atlanta is a mere 13-15 SU – that’s straightup -- when favored the last two-plus seasons. T’Wolves have a built-in excuse for blowing this, with Towns out again, and probably Juancho Hermangomez and Ricky Rubio, too. But their 0-5 SU road record has been compiled vs. Utah, LA Clippers and Lakers, Denver and Portland. All winners. So, if they don’t come through for us, then we can just hate on them and insult them and win some other games starting tomorrow.

NBA Play of the Day

With a 42.9% rate on three-pointers, you’d think the Clippers should be undefeated, right? Utah led the NBA in that department with 38.0% last season, so expect that percentage to be dropping. The Pacers enter in what was supposed to be a second of back-to-backs, but their game at Phoenix was postponed last night. That’s a fortunate break that eliminates what would have been a fifth road game in seven nights, and instead makes it a Jan. 14 to Jan. 17 gap with time to practice on the road for what has been an undervalued team (8-4 ATS). Indiana’s response to trading Victor Oladipo was a 111-87 win at Portland, accomplished without yet-to-arrive Caris Le-Vert.

ACC Play of the Day

Head coaches Mike Young and Steve Forbes squared off in the Southern Conference when Wofford and East Tennessee State matched up. Young beat Forbes five of the last eight times and his Virginia Tech team has a one-season head start in his systems vs. the first-season Forbes, whose Demon Deacons endured a long pause recently that should continue to be an obstacle as he attempts to make something of the mess that Danny Manning left behind. Nowhere to go but up, but hopefully not yet, as one of their guards suggests: "It’s just going to take a little time. Hopefully it happens sooner or later, and we can maybe flip the switch, but it’s just a matter of time before we get to it." Another guard, Carter Whitt missed the Louisville game and should still be out. Va. Tech’s Jalen Cone has been giving them a starter’s production coming off the bench.

Rating: 4 Unit CAA Play of the Day

Hofstra is now 0-5 ATS in the Colonial following Friday’s outright loss as the road favorite. We had that happy-happy back-to-back against them last weekend with Northeastern, and they followed up on that SU/ATS L-L with an outright loss here by 18 points. People are looking at them as if they already won the CAA, like they did last year, and as if their head coach is still there, which he hasn’t been. They have a short roster, play mostly 40 minutes of zone, are easy to prepare for, have a target on their backs and aren’t shooting as accurately as they did last season.

Rating: 4 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Orlando won the first three meetings with Brooklyn last season until the very meaningless fourth, when Brooklyn won 108-96 led by Jeremiah Martin,  Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Dzanan Musa and Tyler Johnson. The Nets are in much better shape physically and scoring-potential now, and they’ll have had two days off since beating the Knicks. Orlando is not in better shape physically or in scoring potential. In fact, they’re worse off. They’ve scored 90, 98, 99, 97 points in their current four-game losing streak. Plus, they’re in a second of road back-to-backs (Nets are rested) coming out of Boston Friday last night, where they were without Mo Bamba, Michael Cater-Williams, Evan Fournier, Al-Farouq Aminu, and the three guys who were already out long-term, Chuma Okeke, Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac.

Rating: 4 Unit PAC-12 Play of the Day

Undefeated in conference play and looking to move back into the national rankings, UCLA is set to put its much-improved offense up against visiting Washington today. The Bruins (10-2, 6-0 Pac-12) will enter off an impressive 91-61 victory Thursday over Washington State when the leaders of the conference shook off their tendency to play to the level of their opponent. UCLA has not gone 7-0 to open conference play since 1993-94. Washington (1-10, 0-6) will enter the game off a brutal 95-68 loss Thursday at Southern California. UCLA is 4-0 since the start of the new year, but Thursday was the first time the Bruins defeated an opponent by double digits in that time. Consider that Washington is 6-20 ATS in their last 26 games as an underdog.

CBB Mismatch of the Day

And, like we said before picking them at LSU (d-oh!), Arkansas is known for SEC road losses and losing a lot of games after recording 0- and 1-loss non-conference seasons. Alabama has a couple of injuries (Jordan Bruner, Herb Jones) that will no doubt draw Arkansas money but those folks can have ’em ‘cuz we don’t want ’em. Look at those injury chasers, driving the number down.

Rating: 4 Unit MAC Play of the Day

We could have a little zig-zaggy action here with Akron coming home off a road loss at 2-9 Northern Illinois (after a seven-hour bus ride), and Toledo coming in just a little too hot for us to sincerely believe it can continue, off 95-78 and 96-63 home wins vs. Ohio and Eastern Michigan. And, of course, there were the six straight wins before that. And the 99-89 win by Toledo on this floor last season. And yet, we go with the home dog coming off two road losses. It’s their only MAC home game in a five-game stretch.

Rating: 4 Unit SEC Play of the Day

Tell me how will the virus pause affect the Tigers? Tell me Cuonzo, Cuonzo, Cuonzo!’ “I’ve been in leagues where you’ve had a week off. It’s not a bad thing in my opinion. I assume we’ll be fine.” Martin likes it when his 6’10”, 260 Jeremiah Tillman plays against opponents with traditional bigs who don’t step out and shoot three pointers. A&M’s Emanuel Miller and Kevin Marfo have combined to shoot 0-for-5 on three-pointers this season. There you go, coach. A&M has chances to win when they hold opponents to 50-something. Get to 60!

Rating: 4 Unit CBB Play of the Day

The visitor – who won the MAAC last year and is the favorite to win it again -- has won 15 straight in MAAC play. The host – picked to finish last in the MAAC -- has lost three straight conference home games. Siena had every right to be behind the curve after a very long pause before they could play a single game. They had no non-conference tune-ups. But they’ve zipped past Monmouth and Fairfield for 4-0. Rider is 17-28 ATS in MAAC games the last two-plus seasons, which includes 0-3 ATS as a home underdog.

Rating: 4 Unit CBB Mismatch of the Day

With only one day between the loss/no-cover at Dayton and this schlep from there up to Olean, NY, struggling Duquesne seems to be in a tough spot. Starting point guard Sincere Carry said ‘no mas’ earlier in the week and joined guard Lamar Norman, Jr. in the transfer portal. Another guard, Maceo Austin, is on leave for personal reasons. Carry did not leave for playing time reasons, which would seem to be a problem because it’s not like Dambrot was happier with somebody else when Carry – a junior playing a lot since his freshman season -- was getting 30.2 minutes per game. Consider that St. Bonaventure is 15-5-1 ATS in their last 21 games as a favorite.

Rating: 4 Unit CBB Mismatch of the Day

The Wildcats’ Saturday game at Oregon has been postponed, so Sean Miller doesn’t have to play with an eye to Saturday. That wasn’t going to happen anyway, because Arizona is off two home losses and shooting guard Jemarl Baker, Jr. was lost for the season to injury in the most recent. Miller will shuffle the rotation some and Oregon State, forced to pause for seven days with seven players in isolation and back to practice only this Tuesday, can’t scout the shuffle. The Beavers have their own problems to worry about coming off the pause.

PAC-12 Play of the Day

Washington State’s bigs have length, size and rebound well but they are butchers with the basketball. Head coach Kyle Smith is advertising starting four freshmen here. The loss of guard Chris Smith was supposed to hamper UCLA – according to others. Guess what? They’re 5-0 in the Pac 12, and have won all three games he hasn’t played. The last four wins by the Bruins have been close – by 2, 3, 6 in OT, 5 points. This doesn’t have to be

Rating: 4 Unit NBA Play of the Day

The T’Wolves are 1-6 SU and ATS when Karl-Anthony Towns hasn’t played, 2-1 SU, 3-0 ATS when he has played. Well, that makes it easy-peasy Great Lakes breezy, doesn’t it? Sunday’s instant-revenge vs. the Spurs was their first straight-up win without him, when they intentionally rested him after his first game back from his injury. With that non-injury absence in the books, he would figure to be a go in this match-up. Minnesota is geeked up about allowing only 88 points to the Spurs in victory and jazzed about playing defense for a change. They’re not good defensively. But Memphis is #27 in points per game (105.9), Morant, Jackson and Winslow aren’t walking through the locker room door and onto the floor for this, and now C Jonas Valanciunas has ‘hit the list!’ The contact police actually pulled him off the floor in-game on Sunday. Second-line guards around Gorgui Dieng – probably not a winning formula.

Rating: 4 Unit SEC Play of the Day

He’s still flying a little under the radar so may as well try to leverage him, him being Auburn freshman guard Sharife Cooper, who became eligible late last week and played his first game for the Tigers in the 94-90 loss vs. Alabama. How’d he do? In 36 minutes, Cooper scored 26 points, 9 assists, 9-for-10 from the free-throw line, against a pressure-oriented Alabama group. Yes, the Tigers are still looking for their first SEC win (0-4). But given that Georgia is 0-3 in the SEC, turning it over 18 times per game, and not suddenly introducing a high-scoring freshman guard of their own, it’s not unreasonable for them to be Auburn’s first victim.

Rating: 4 Unit CBB Play of the Day

6’9” and 6’10” scorers on TCU, Texas and West Virginia did damage against OSU in the Cowboys’ three Big 12 losses so far. Although KU’s 6’10”, 265 David McCormack is coming off 20- and 17-point games he’s averaging 11 ppg. Need to see more. The worst OSU has done so far after 40 minutes in a Big 12 game is trail by 3 points. NBA-bound Cade Cunningham gets only one chance in his life to play against Kansas in a home game.

Rating: 4 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Jazz are 3-2 on their seven-game trip. A win here would guarantee a winning trip and allow them to take a vacation day in their next spot, at Washington tomorrow night, which will be the Jazz’ ninth game in 13 days. A headline about last night’s Cleveland loss to Memphis doesn’t really understand them: ‘Growing pains emerge as Cavs lose without Garland, Sexton.” They lost a lot with them! The story proceeded to further indicate that the writers don’t get it: “Andre Drummond extended his Cavaliers record for most consecutive double-doubles to start the season with his 11th straight.” His team lost! By 10 points! To an opponent with four key players missing!

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

In the first of a four-game Eastern trip last season, the Nuggets won here 129- 92. The Knicks had two days off before the game, coming off a 44-point loss at Milwaukee. It was the last game that David Fizdale coached for them. He was fired the next day. Off the home loss to OKC – no surprise, and OKC assistant Mike Miller was the Knicks’ interim head coach last season and their former assistant -- this would be a good spot for first-season head coach Tom Thibodeaux to point to and say, ‘Hey, bosses and fans, looky what we can really do against this Western Conference contender who buried us here last time.’ It’s a good player rally-around-each-other game, as well. It doesn’t hurt that it’s the second of back-to-backs for Denver coming out of Philly yesterday, with the Knicks rested and off that loss.

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

The Blazers are rested while the Kings are on second of back-to-backs after fighting the Raptors last night. Fighting is not really the right word because they rolled over and played dead in the second half, allowing an opponent struggling to score to get to 144. Portland may have payback on their minds given that the most recent meeting was a 123-111 Kings victory in Portland in March, just before all the stuff hit the fan and prior to the eventual return of long-absent C Jusuf Nurkic (who showed in the summer re-launch for Portland). Kings were unconscious from three-point range in that game, 21 for 39 (53.8%). Said head coach Luke Walton afterwards, “We knew they were on a back-to-back, so we wanted to make a point to push and push and push.” Uh-oh. Turnabout is fair play. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. The shoe is on the other foot. Are there any other appropriate clichés?

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Play of the Day

Bob Huggins and the Mountaineers began putting the new plan in place during their road trip to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State over the weekend. It took a while for them to get going with a four-guard lineup but they eventually got the hang of it with huge second halves each time in their 1-1 split. Their centerpiece Derek Culver had a horrible time of it vs. Oklahoma but rebounded with 22 points, 19 rebounds at Oklahoma State. Texas hits Morgantown, WV ranked #4 to West Virginia’s #14 and the Mountaineers are thinking, ‘Those ranks should be reversed!’ 6’9” senior Royce Hamm should still be in virus protocol for the Longhorns.

Rating: 3 Unit Big-10 Play of the Day

The Scarlet Knights have revenge for a 80-68 road loss on Dec. 23. This is a program that was 2-16, 1-17, 3-15 in its first three Big Ten seasons, which beat the Buckeyes here in their fourth during a 7-13 conference season, went 11-9 in conference last year when they lost only 72-66 at Ohio State. Guess what we’re saying is that Rutgers belong now. Rutgers led the earlier meeting 38-28 at halftime, got out-scored 52-30 in the second half. “I needed to do a better job of getting this team ready for the two things this team (OSU) does well — rebounding and shooting free throws,” said Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell. And, if you’re thinking he was being sarcastic about the second thing, you’re right. “I just have to do a better job with the officials. They’re great. They do a great job.” Senior guard C.J. Walker – leader on the Buckeyes in minutes per game – suddenly out with an injury

Rating: 3 Unit CAA Play of the Day

A match-up so nice, they’re doing it twice. Hofstra is now 0-3 ATS in CAA play while their head coach Joe Mihalic is out on medical leave. There isn’t much of an adjustment they can make, as a team that plays 40 minutes of zone defense. They play a short rotation that can’t press for long stretches for fear of foul and fatigue. They’re not shooting the rock as well as they did last season. Northeastern head coach Bill Coen can tell his team, “Listen, if you slackers hadn’t come out and trailed 46-29 at halftime at their place on Thursday, you wouldn’t have had to make those fine Winning Points people worry and you wouldn’t have had to sweat overtime just to get out of there with a win. Now, let’s go! From the get-go! Those guys beat us three times last year and we still owe them!

NBA Play of the Day

Tough luck for the Magic. Markelle Fultz, somebody else’s #1 overall draft pick, who they coached up and made into a real player for a short while, tore an ACL in the win vs. Cleveland the other night and is out for the season. Rookie from North Carolina, Cole Anthony, will begin seeing more minutes as the point guard than the 20 he’s been getting. He’s been shooting it worse than Fultz (29.7% from the field vs. Fultz’s 39.6%). Guards Michael Carter-Williams and Evan Fournier didn’t play against Cleveland the other night. Rockets’ head coach Steven Silas bemoaned how Indiana drove the ball into the paint repeatedly against the Rockets on Wednesday night but the Magic aren’t as good at doing that.

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Play of the Day

Tarleton State – located in the south of Utah -- moved up into Division 1 this season, has played only four games – none since Dec. 9 after eight straight postponements – and lost to Abilene Christian by 21 points in their most recent game against a D-1 foe. Off three straight losses to legit post-season tournament sides San Francisco, Colorado and Arizona State, in which they were undervalued going 3-0 ATS and out-rebounded all three, Bryce Drew seems to be in a Grand spot to right the ship and start WAC play A-OK. Since they last played, TSU assistant coach Steve Shields has resigned to become a parks department director in Arkansas

NBA Play of the Day

Cleveland couldn’t get a reversal against Orlando last night despite one day in between games (which was very much expected by all of us, hence the Play of the Day on Orlando against Cleveland last night). They travel to Memphis to play the second of back-to-backs on the road against a host that’s had one day of rest since taking the Lakers to the wire in their “second chance.” There aren’t many teams with more key guys missing than Memphis, but Cleveland, as we noted yesterday, is one of them! Stat geeks keep reporting that Andre Drummond has eight straight double-doubles and Collin Sexton’s eight straight games of at least 20 points to start a season has broken Lebron James’ franchise record (for what?), which is a good “distraction” that masks the fact that Cleveland has topped out at 99 points in its last five games, failing to cover four of them by -12.5, -8, -14 and -5 points.

CBB Mismatch of the Day

The host Rams were sharpening the saw at San Diego State earlier this week, “finishing” strongly in each second half of their two-game, back-to-back series (37-27 the first night in victory, 41-28 the second night in defeat.) Given that UNLV hasn’t played since Dec. 5 after a program pause, and is kind of a ratty team, anyway, for the Runnin’ Rebels to take the court after such a long break, to play at high altitude against an opponent that just finished strongly two nights in a row against a quality foe…

Rating: 3 Unit Big-12 Play of the Day

The Sooners caught West Virginia in the Mountaineers’ first go-round without power forward Oscar Tshiebwe, working four guards around Derek Culver, who got them a big 2 points in 22 minutes, with 7 turnovers. D-oh! Wrapped up in working their new arrangement, WVU missed a lot of shots early, which messed up their transition defense, and they fell behind the Sooners by a considerable amount (38-20) at halftime. Oklahoma was able to weather a late charge by West Virginia to get the win. They travel to Waco, TX to face an opponent with no such transitional learning curve in their game on either end of the floor. The Bears have won five straight over the Sooners over the course of the prior three seasons, when they weren’t unbeaten and ranked #1. For all the bitcoins.

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Much of the world awaits to see how the Cavaliers react after the 103-83 defeat here on Monday night, their fifth straight loss against the Magic. Why wait? Anticipate. Already without starters Kevin Love, Darius Garland, and Isaac Okoro, Cleveland lost guard Dante Exum to a leg injury 47 seconds into the Monday night loss. The Cavs are down seven players. “It is what it is and we’ve just got to figure it out,” first-season Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We are down bodies and we talked about adversity a few games back and this is the epitome of it. We’ve just got to figure it out.” Take a little more time with that, coach, if you don’t mind.

Big East Play of the Day

Welcome back to the Big East, UConn, Love, Marquette. This Huskies bunch was one of the nation’s worst long-trip travelers when it was in the American Athletic. They’ve been cuddled in their home-state bubble, and the confines of their friendly home floor, since the beginning of this season and have left the area for the first time. They shot only 35.8% when they lost by 2 points to an off-kilter Creighton team, then had the pleasure of facing pause-problem Depaul after that. Off a difficult stretch to open Big East season (at Creighton, Seton Hall, at Xavier, Villanova), Marquette got a reprieve at Georgetown and comes back home for what appears to be another.

Rating: 2 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Raptors: ‘You beat us in a seven-game playoff series last season. We want revenge!’ Celtics: ‘You’re not as good as you were then. We have several guys who can take over a game, like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Your home floor is in Florida, but your fan base is in Canada. You have no real support here. You’re scoring 11.5 fewer points per game than last season and we’re not about to allow you to suddenly get better offensively

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Ja Morant could have been a pesky penetrator against the Lakers’ interior D but he’s out 3-5 weeks for the host Grizzlies. Jaren Jackson and Justice Winslow have yet to play and Grayson Allen (day-to-day) was hurt earlier in the week. (Really, you wouldn’t mind Allen being back out there to miss jumpers.) Actually, seven guys were out when Memphis managed to beat Charlotte the other night. But Memphis won only the last of four games vs. the Lakers last season, when the Lakers got a season-low 88 points on this floor with Lebron playing with a sore groin – just one of those nights.

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Play of the Day

Wake played down in class on Nov. 25 and 27 vs. Delaware State and Longwood. Then, they paused for a while. They came back on Thursday to beat Division 2 Catawba, 70-62, without Ian Dubose (senior grad transfer guard) and Tariq Ingraham (6’9”, 255 freshman), each of whom led the team in scoring the first two games. Both will miss the rest of the season. “We had to find a game, at least one. It would have been nice to play four or five of those,” said first-season head coach Steve Forbes. How many times in the history of college basketball has a team played a couple games around Thanksgiving then not being to play or practice again until New Year’s Eve? That’s difficult. I don’t know the right answer for that one, but I know for us it’s been a tough and difficult path… We’re so far behind, it’s scary.”

Rating: 5 Unit Bowl Game of the Month

What a way for the bowl season to wind up! Of course, the main sidebar to this one is the Texas A&M Aggies' snub from the playoff committee, denying them a shot at all the marbles. A&M not only has a superb QB/RB combo in Mond (2,050 yards, 19/3) & Spiller (986 yards & 7 TDs in just 8 games), but rank 14th & 3rd in total & rushing "D". However, that unit had better be at its best if it is to slow down the Tar Heels of North Carolina, who field RBs Carter & Williams (combined 2,385 yards & 28 TDs, & NCAA record 544 rushing yards in season-ending rout of Miami), as well as QB Howell: 6,993 passing yards, & 65 TDs with 13 INTs the last 2 years. Barnburner, despite Ag "D".

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Play of the Day

A match-up so nice, they’ll give it to us twice! UCSB didn’t even play with its real rotation last night, managed to win by 18 points. Head coach Joe Pasternack will probably take this second of back-to-backs more seriously, to  complete a sweep and reverse what happened to them last weekend at Irvine.

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Rested home favorite 76ers, allowing only 99.8 points per game after five, vs. road dog Hornets, who travel for second of back-to-backs after managing to lose outright to Memphis as home chalk when Memphis didn’t have Ja Morant, Justice Winslow, Jaren Jackson, DeAnthony Melton or Grayson Allen. Okay, so a Grayson Allen absence was probably a good thing for the other side but you get the idea, the idea. “We can’t find a rhythm offensively. We can’t get good looks or we’re turning it over… There’s not a lot of practice time here. So, we’re just going to have to do it through game reps.” So says head coach James Borrego. C Cody Zeller hasn’t suited up yet (24 points in last season’s only meeting), so Joel Embiid won’t break a sweat against Bismack Biyombo.

Rating: 3 Unit Big-10 Play of the Day

Not sure how sustainable Illinois’ 42.6% three-point shooting is. But this should be a good day to be Kofi Cockburn, with Purdue opponents hitting 71.7% of their shots at the rim. Purdue is 0-2 ATS on the Big Ten road so far and lost both meetings vs. Illinois last season, by 26 and 17 points. “Purdue basketball still looking to build defensive foundation,” said a local headline yesterday. Look to Salt Lake City, where Haarms transferred.

Rating: 3 Unit SEC Play of the Day

Tell me can you, off a 20-point home loss vs. undefeated Tennessee, win a road game against a 9-0 Arkansas team that just scored 97 points on the road at Auburn? Tell me, Cuonzo, Cuonzo, Cuonzo!’ He didn’t seem too concerned about the Tennessee game, giving all the credit to the highly ranked Vols, who are probably the best defensive squad in the nation. Telling talk, perhaps, from Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman after the 97-85 win vs. Auburn, a team still being molded by Bruce Pearl (compared to a pretty set Missouri squad): “To be honest with you, this game tonight, knowing that we had two ranked teams in the top 15 in our next two games, since I’ve been at Arkansas, for a regular season game, this was by far the most important game that I have been a part of with this team.”

Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day

Well, the expected-to-be-bad Warriors are 2-2 after four straight road games to start the season. However, they beat the Bulls and Pistons. Chicago had just gotten some guys back in only their third game for a new coach, and the Pistons – a bad team -- shot 15-for-50 from the field in the first half (30%) but nevertheless led Golden State at that juncture. They’re not returning home to a raucous, welcoming arena. They might hear more noise coming from Damian Lillard, who shot 0-for-8 on three-pointers, 3-for-14 overall, in Portland’s loss at the Clippers the other night. Alleged superstars often bounce back big from nights like that.

Rating: 8 Unit College Bowl Game of the Year

They meet again. For the 3rd time in the last 4 years, the Tigers of Clemson take on the Buckeyes of Ohio State in a National Playoff game, with CU winning & covering the first 2 such encounters: 31-0 (+1½) in the '16 Fiesta, & 29-23 (-2) in last year's Fiesta. As a matter of fact they also met in the '13 Orange Bowl, also won by the Tigers (+2), 40-35. As can be seen above, the Buckeyes have played only six games, due to Covid, but have been rightly included in this powerhouse quartet. They are led, of course, by QB Fields, who is a superb 56 TDs with only 8 INTs the past 2 years, although that may be a bit misleading, as he was 41 TDs with 3 INTs last season (2 interceptions in loss to these Tigers). So 5 picks this year, compared to last year's 40 TD and 1 INT regular season log. The not so hidden gem on OSU's team has to be running back Sermon, who set a school record with 331 rushing yards (11.4 yards per rush) in their 22-10 Big Ten Title win over Northwestern. Shades of Ezekiel Elliott in Ohio State's '14 Championship run? Well, maybe, but note that the Bucks took Wisconsin, 59-0, in that Big Ten Title game. A quick peek at the above stats shows OSU with a +8 turn over edge in just its half-dozen contests. If there were any doubts as to this year's Tiger edition, they were erased with their complete throttling of Notre Dame in the ACC title match, with a 541-263 yard edge behind 322 passing yards from Lawrence, & 124 rushing yards from Etienne (12.4 yards per rush), who was held to 1.6 yards per rush in their first meeting. Lawrence is at his best in the big game, while Fields not necessarily so in such important contests: two 2nd half picks in last year's tilt with Clemson; three INTs in this year's 42-35 win over Indiana, & just 12-of-27 & 2 more picks in Big Ten title win over Northwestern. CU didn't have the answers to LSU last year (who did?), but have otherwise been simply superb plays. Again!

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Play of the Day

Off losses on back-to-back nights at Cal-Irvine, the Barbarians – who’ve beaten Loyola Marymount by 11 points and Pepperdine by 12, on the road -- return home ready to take it to whomever they’ve had all week to prepare against. It happens to be the Fullertons, who have a grand total of one game under their belt so far, played against San Diego Christian of D-2 on Dec. 13, in which ten players got 11-24 minutes of court time. You know how to proceed.

PAC-12 Play of the Day

The Trojans four games postponed or canceled, hadn’t played since Dec. 8 before beating Santa Clara 86-63 Tuesday night. The tall Mobley brothers are combining to average 27.5 ppg, 17.6 rebounds, 4 blocks per game. The team has the best field goal percentage among Pac 12 squads (49.2%). Tad Boyle doesn’t coach his Buffs to experience lop-sided halves against themselves on the road, but he has yet to prove that he can coach them to avoid having lots of them. Let’s have another, bud.

NBA Play of the Day

John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins returned to practice yesterday after their seven-day absences and will make their Houston debuts. Cousins: “Sitting at home for seven days straight, then jumping back into a full-speed practice or game… there’s not a lot of positive things on that side. Maneuver through the BS, and make the best of what you can.” Alrighty, then. We know the Kings can beat Denver. And Phoenix. We also know that they won 119-118 in this building last season, playing only eight guys, none of them named Fox or Bagley

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Play of the Day

UMass has beaten A-10 foe Lasalle by 19 points. George Mason is off a class-drop loss at home vs. Norfolk State, and had beaten Towson – who hadn’t played in a month – by only 5 points before that. Five double-digit scorers – four of them around 6’9”, 245 Tre Mitchell (21.5 ppg) is probably too much for GMU to guard and then match on the other end.

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Mismatch of the Day

Temple has played two games. You’ll remember that we had Houston as a BEST BET against them in the second, laying a lot and winning by more (76-50). The Temple program seems like it’s been on the way down and still has a ways to go. As we noted Dec. 22, they haven’t had consistently accurate shooters for several seasons. One 50-point game at Houston doesn’t mean they can’t bounce back with many more in the next, but the capabilities haven’t shown, they haven’t played since, the Houston game was their seventh straight AAC defeat, SMU is 5-0 and allowing only 63 ppg

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Play of the Day

John Petty and James Rojas return for Alabama after being suspended for their win vs. ETSU a week ago. The Tide hasn’t looked as sharp as they did last season but they beat Ole Miss 103-78 on the road and it’s not like Ole Miss, en route to being 5-1, has beaten anybody that gives you the shivers. The number is just too short to pass up.

Rating: 5 Unit Bowl Game of the Month

No, not the 1st time that the Cowboys of Oklahoma State have faced off against the Hurricanes of Miami, but the 2nd, as UM (-36) nosed out Ohio State, 40-3, in 1991. By the way, UM went 12-0 that year (National Champion). From '86 thru '92, Miami finished 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 3rd, 1st, & 3rd in the nation. Wow!! Fifteen straight bowls for Oklahoma State, under Gundy (9-5 SU & ATS). Have had to replace last year's top rusher (Hubbard, who opted out), although Jackson a decent 5.7 yards per rush, while QB Sanders an anemic 10 TDs with 8 INTs, but WR Wallace 16.5 yards per catch. 'Canes brought in QB King from Houston, & he delivered: 2,573 passing yards (22 TDs with  only 5 INTs), with 520 rushing yards. But UM was mauled, 62-26, by North Carolina, in finale, allowing school-record 778 yards & 554 rushing yards!

Rating: 2 Units

At Portland, the currently depleted Rockets scored 68 points in the first half, then 45 in the second half. They don’t know how to pace themselves. They just go out and run around quickly and shoot the ball, still. In the thin air of Denver, with only nine available, and four of them named Christian Wood, Brodric Thomas, Sterling Brown and Bruno Caboclo, they’ll be sucking wind by mid-third quarter against the angry, desperate, 0-2 home team

Rating: 3 Unit Big-10 Play of the Day

The Hoosiers have failed two serious tests already. Losing by 22 to Texas, falling behind badly at home vs. Northwestern. Illinois is the best foe they’ll have faced in nine games, and the reverse is not true for Illinois, who has played four of their last five games away from home vs. Duke, Missouri, Minnesota, Rutgers and Penn State.

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Play of the Day

What happens to Northwestern one game after they destroyed Michigan State in the Big Ten opener? How about a crash at Indiana? Izzo is infamous for failing to prepare Michigan State early in conference season, which then gives him an opportunity to remind his players that they are terrible and need to listen to him in order to improve. It’s all part of the master plan of peaking later on, because he is Mr. March, not Mr. December. Northwestern is mostly a five-out offense, the type that in the Big Ten, would figure to be the most volatile night in and night out, meaning much variance in performance.

Rating: 3 Units

CBB Play of the Day

Temple has played one game, three days ago, against NJIT. They won it 72-60, shooting 40% from the field on their home floor, with a 30-12 disparity in free throw attempts. They haven’t shot well for four years and should shoot it worse on this long road trip with a class rise into conference play against a ranked, unbeaten opponent that allows 55.6 points per game, had some virus issues, didn’t play for 15 days, but got players cleared recently and returned for a good tune-up win vs. Alcorn State on Sunday

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Play of the Day

The Lobos have some catching up to do after playing only three games so far, two of them way down in class against Our Lady of the Lake (NAIA) and Le Tourneau (Division III), we kid you not. They lost 11 of their last 15 Mountain West games last season. Boise has looked quite good against real opposition – Houston and BYU, to name a few. East Tennessee State transfer Mladen Armus gives them a 6’10”, 232 rebounding stabilizer they’ve lacked.

Rating: 3 Unit CBB Play of the Day

The visitor is 6-0 SU and 6-0 ATS, but playing its first true road game. “True road” doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing this year as in the past, given the lack of crowd enthusiasm for home teams. There are still Big Ten referees for the A-10 squad to overcome but otherwise, they have the scoring, the rebounding, the experienced depth, and the coaching to pull this off. Illinois helped expose Minnesota earlier in the week.