Rating: 2 Units

Both teams have had their chances to make some noise in March get derailed by key injuries (Creighton minus nation’s top assist man, PG Mo Watson, and “X” now minus explosive soph wing Edmond Sumner). But the Bluejays have had a bit longer to adjust without their key cog and have steadied in recent wins vs. DePaul and at Butler, as K-State transfer Marcus Foster has been assuming more of the service burden along with touted frosh Davion Mintz, plus sixth man jr. Tyler Clement. Remember, when both teams were at full strength in mid-January, Creighton won at the Cintas Center. The Musketeers barely escaped vs. Seton Hall in their first game minus Sumner.

Rating: 2 Units

NC State’s troubled 6th-year mentor Mark Gottfried is feeling increasing heat after his Wolfpack blew a DD lead in its painful 100-93 OT home loss to Syracuse on Wednesday. Hence, must wholeheartedly endorse smartly-coached Miami-Florida, likely to bounce back from its unsurprising 75-57 loss to loaded Florida State on the same day. Foresee the Hurricane’s potent Gtrio of 6-2 jr. Ja’Quan Newton, rangy 6-6 sr. Davon Reed & highly-regarded 6-4 frosh Bruce Brown exploiting defensively-soft NC State (78.7 ppg; 303rd nationally) for the second time TY after combining for 58 points their team’s 81-63 home victory on New Year’s Eve

Rating: 2 Units

GT’s first-year mentor Josh Pastner claimed his team understandably lacked much energy in its 75-63 loss at Clemson on Wednesday following emotionally-draining upsets at home over Florida State and Notre Dame in the previous games. So, recommend taking 3+ hoops with re-charged Yellow Jackets, who figure to shoot straighter after 4 starters combined for a “brickish” 5 of 26 from the field vs. the Tigers. WF won’t easily establish its post game vs. defensively stifling GT (39.5% from the field; 3 bpg; 4th nationally), so Yellow Jackets likely climb to 4-1 last 5 as a visiting dog. Upset possible.

Rating: 2 Units

For the second straight weekend, a key home game for Penn State. Once again the Nittany Lions’ recuperative powers will be tested, after PSU played well, but got no reward in Tuesday’s triple-OT loss at Indiana. Five Lions reached double figures in that testing contest, including 6-7 freshman Lamar Stevens with 26 points. With ascending Maryland up next, PSU can’t afford to overlook visiting Rutgers, which has lost its last six road games, all but one by 12 or more.

Rating: 2 Units

With SH off two highly combative losses to Big East upper-division foes Butler & Xavier, strongly suggest taking any available points vs. G’Town, only 2-5 as home chalk TY. The Pirates’ formidable 6-9 jr. F Angel Delgado (16 double doubles TY; tied for 3rd nationally) will continue to do damage in the paint, while goodshooting 6-2 frosh Myles Powell (11 ppg) is eager to build on his season high 26-pt. explosion off the bench vs. the Musketeers on Wednesday. Watch for more formful gunning from SH’s steady 6-3 jr. combo G Khadeem Carrington (16.6 ppg), who hit a substandard 3 of 13 from the field vs. the X-Men.

Rating: 3 Unit NCAAB Play of the Day

Top-ranked Gonzaga is aiming to set a school mark for consecutive victories when it visits Brigham Young in Provo, Utah for today's West Coast Conference game. The Bulldogs tied the record set by the 2014-15 team with 22 consecutive victories and were elevated to the No. 1 spot on Monday for just the second time in program history. Gonzaga has dominated opponents with an average winning margin of 23.8 points and 15 victories by 20 or more points, including eight by 30 or more. The Bulldogs haven't even trailed in the last 224 minutes, 31 seconds of playing time and only three of their games have been decided by single digits.

Rating: 2 Units

Sure, Portland has a revenge motive after getting buried by 28 at the Leavey Center (with its very neatly-designed new court) back on Jan. 5. But the Pilots have not won SU since (thru Jan. 25) and also lost top scorer G Alec Wintering (19.5 ppg) to a season-ending ACL tear in mid-January. Meanwhile, the Broncos (5-2 SU L7 thru Jan. 25) continue to ascend and are putting themselves in position for a minor postseason invitation under new HC Herb Sendek, who has uncovered some scoring support for bombs-away G Jared Brownridge (18.3 ppg), as soph Gs KJ Feagin & Matt Hauser, plus rough-and-tumble sr. PF Nate Kratch, are all now scoring in DDs.