10* Buffalo (6:10 ET): We're looking at a tournament almost bereft of major upsets. Entering play on Sunday, there's still a chance that every team seeded 3rd or higher could advance to the Sweet 16. That simply doesn't happen very often. Here, we have one of the few teams seeded 3rd or higher yet to make its way onto the Sweet 16, that being Texas Tech. The Red Raiders didn't have much problem w/ Northern Kentucky on Friday, winning 72-57 as 13-point chalk. They do own the nation's top defensive efficiency rating (per KenPom), but will be severely tested here by a Buffalo team that just put up 91 points in Round 1 and averages 85.1 PPG. Take the points. 

Buffalo, the two-time reigning MAC Champs, are in the second round of the Tournament for a second straight year. Last year, they came in as a relative unknown and pulled an upset of Arizona as a 13-seed before running into Kentucky. This year, things are much different. They were the favorite in Round 1 and played like it, completely dominating Arizona State. They're a dog in Round 2 yet again, but this time only as a 6-seed and w/ a real legit shot of advancing to the school's first ever Sweet 16. Tip your cap to the job done here by HC Nate Oats, whose team is 32-3 SU this season. That's tied w/ Houston for the best win percentage (.914) in all of D-I. 

Normally, I would side w/ a team that has the defensive efficiency Texas Tech does. But Buffalo is not often an underdog and is a legit Top 20 team in the country. This will be just the fourth time the Bulls have gotten points all season. They have scored 82 or more points in six consecutive games and were 5th in the regular season in points per game. This is also a veteran team. Their 1st round effort vs. Arizona State was as impressive as any turned in during the Round of 64. 10* Buffalo

8* Central Florida (5:15 ET): The expectation is for top seed Duke to roll here. But we'll take advantage of that and grab an inflated number w/ a UCF team that really surprised me in dominating a good VCU team 48 hours ago. Yes, VCU's leading scorer was hampered with an injury. But the Golden Knights building up a lead as big as 21 points is still impressive. They're getting double digits here, because after all "Duke is Duke," but given the Blue Devils' slow start vs. North Dakota State, I wouldn't be rushing to the betting window to lay the points here. In fact, I'll do just the opposite. 

Duke did get off to a slow start in Round 1. They trailed 16-seed North Dakota State (Carson Wentz's alma mater) early and were up only four at the break. Eventually, they did win rather easily, 85-62, but failed to cover the lofty 27.5-point spread. Coming into this year's NCAA Tournament as the prohibitive betting favorite (best odds to cut down the nets since 2015 Kentucky), the Blue Devils are definitely overvalued. They've covered only 3 of their last 12 games. UCF's defense can and is likely to keep them within the generous spread here. 

The Knights give up just 64.1 PPG on the year w/ opponents shooting 39.2%. They held VCU to 31.1% shooting. UCF did turn in a poor effort in the regular season finale vs. Temple (lost 67-62) and then ran into the host team in the American Tourney, Memphis, and lost badly. But other than those two games, the Golden Knights have covered every game dating back to February 10th. That's a 9-2 ATS run entering Sunday. They're 8-3 SU in that same stretch w/ two of the losses coming by five points. They've suffered only one loss by double digits all season and that was in the conference tournament at Memphis. UCF has the tallest player in the country on its roster (the 7'6" Tacko Fall), so look out Zion Williamson! Also, their HC (Johnny Dawkins) is a former Coach K assistant, so his former boss isn't going to look to embarrass him. 8* Central Florida

8* Iowa (12:10 ET): The Big 10 has performed so admirably in this Tournament that how can you NOT consider Iowa plus the points here? The conference has only lost (straight up) twice so far and one of those was because Minnesota and Michigan State played one another (Wisconsin was the other). The Hawkeyes really impressed me in coming back from an early hole to defeat Cincinnati 79-72 as 4-pt dogs in the 1st Round. They were down 18-5 early, but from that point on, it was all Hawkeyes. In the second round, they'll be facing a Tennessee team that is NOT as strong as Cincinnati was defensively. I expect Iowa to score in this game and that makes taking the points the way to go. Also the game is in Columbus, a venue they regularly visit as Big 10 rivals of Ohio State. 

Tennessee did not cover its 1st round game vs. Colgate. The Vols won 77-70 as 17.5-pt chalk as they were outscored in the 2nd half. With 14 minutes remaining, the game was actually tied as Tennessee could not protect a 14-point lead. Like I said earlier, I expect Iowa to have plenty of success offensively in this game. They shoot 36.6% from three-point range and average 78.3 PPG overall. Even though it was season-high (15) three pointers allowed by Tennessee against Colgate, defending the three-point line has been an issue all year for the Vols. They let opponents shoot 38.7% from behind the arc outside of Knoxville for the year. If Colgate was able to have that kind of success, just imagine what the Hawkeyes can do. 

I'm not sure why Iowa isn't being given the respect it deserves here. Maybe it's their poor defensive efficiency rating, which normally would scare me off. But UT is no "great shakes" either defensively as they allow 77.8 PPG away from home and that's a big reason why I've never totally "bought in" on their success this season. Though still only 2-9 ATS the L11 games, Iowa is 5-1 SU/ATS at neutral sites in 2018-19 and rarely is getting this many points. 8* Iowa

10* Under Pistons/Blazers (10:05 ET): Things couldn't have gone much better than what I chose Detroit as my *10* Game of the Week Thursday night. They blew out the Suns by 20 points and are now in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, despite a recent dicey stretch. Much of that "diceyness" has come on the road where they've suffered defeats at the hands of Cleveland, Brooklyn and Miami. In Thursday's analysis, I said they couldn't afford another such "slip up" and they came through. But I'm not nearly as optimistic about their chances tonight here in Portland.

The Blazers are trying to lock down a top four spot in the Western Conference. They've won five of six w/ the only loss coming last Saturday night at red hot San Antonio. Since then, they've managed to beat Indiana and Dallas here at home. The Blazers are predictably a much better team at home where they've gone 27-9 SU on the season and their offensive PPG increases while defensive PPG decreases (compared to overall season average). I think it'll be more the defense that "rules the day" tonight even though the Over is 11-1-1 in Portland's last 13 home games. They are also 4-0 Under after allowing 100+ points the previous game.

It was actually defense that carried Detroit to victory in Phoenix Thurs night. They held the Suns to just 35 second half points, which was the difference in a game they actually trailed at halftime. The Pistons only shot 42.2% from the floor and remain one of the worst shooting teams in the league. As alluded to above, some recent performances on the road leave a lot to be desired. They scored only 75 in Brooklyn and 74 in Miami and for the year are shooting just 42.9% away from home. The Under is 4-1 their last five road games and 16-5 their L21 vs. the Eastern Conference. 10* Under Pistons/Blazers

8* Auburn (9:40 ET): The lower seed is slightly favored here, which is telling. Now I understand, it's a 4 vs. 5 (seed) matchup, so the teams are rather evenly matched on paper. But I still feel we're getting some value here on Auburn due to the way their 1st round game vs. New Mexico State ended. The Tigers nearly blew all of a 13-point second half lead, holding on for a 78-77 victory thanks to some NMSU blunders in the closing minute. Ironically, I thought Auburn was a little overvalued for that 1st round matchup as they were coming off winning the SEC Tournament. But for much of the year, it's been a case of being undervalued and that is again the case tonight.

Kansas was the only high seed to cover the spread in the afternoon session on Thursday. They ran away from Northeastern in an 87-53 beatdown that saw the Jayhawks completely dominate the second half. They shot 56 percent from the floor, but it won't be that easy again tonight. Nor are they likely to hold Auburn anywhere close to the 28.1 FG% they held Northeastern to. I think most would agree that this Kansas team is NOT as strong as past editions, so I'm not surprise they check in as the underdog here. Note that the Jayhawks are just 5-11 ATS coming off a SU win including 0-4 ATS if that SU win was by more than 20 points.

Auburn is hot as they've won nine straight. A lot of those wins have been close, but they did destroy Tennessee in the SEC Tournament Final, a situation where I was on them. I've made the case multiple times this season that this is a Top 15 team and typically they are priced accordingly. The Tigers played much better than the final scored showed vs. New Mexico State and now don't have to win by any kind of significant margin. Kansas will not be able to rely on a 50-16 edge in points in the paint here like they did vs. Northeastern. Lay the short number. 8* Auburn

8* Washington (7:05 ET): Not a good spot for Miami tonight as they are coming off a 116-87 whitewashing at the hands of Milwaukee last night. As well as the Heat had been playing before that (they'd won 8 of 10), they still are only one-half game ahead of Orlando for the 8th (and final) playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Heat may play better on the road, and they haven't lost to a team that isn't in the top two of the East since February. But Washington has been good at home this season ATS (21-13-1) and typically takes care of business as a favorite. The Wizards may be on the fringes of playoff contention, but I look for them to come up big on Saturday. 

The Heat got off to a decent start last night, scoring 32 pts in the 1st quarter. But from there, they were unable to score 20 points in any other quarter. The Bucks are #1 in the league in defensive efficiency, so give some credit there. However, make no mistake about it, Miami has had some offensive troubles this season. Three times in the last five games they've been held below 100 points. I'm surprised to see the Heat are 11-3 ATS in the 2nd game of a back to back this season, but that also includes a 7-1 mark at home. Only three times this season have they had to play B2B road games. They have been outscored by 5.3 PPG in those three contests. 

Washington has lost three in a row, putting a severe damper on its already dwindling playoff hopes. They are coming off a five-point loss to the Nuggets, here at home, a game that was tied going into the fourth quarter. That was the second night of a back to back for them. The good news is that the Wizards are on a 6-1 ATS run following a SU loss. They've also fared far better in division games this year (9-4 ATS) than have the Heat (4-9 ATS), at least when it comes to the betting window. The Wizards have covered 2 of 3 against the Heat already this year. I like them to make it 3 of 4 tonight. 8* Washington

10* Over Florida/Michigan (5:15 ET): These are two of the better defensive teams in the country, so it's no surprise the total opened really low. But it clearly opened too low as is evident by the fact we've seen some significant movement w/ the number. I'm following the $$$ on this one as "average games" from both sides would equal an Over. What I mean by that Florida scores 68.3 points per game and allows 63.6. Michigan scores 70.5 PPG and allows 58.5. The shooting percentages both teams allowed in Round 1 won't be matched here. Take the Over. 

Michigan met a clearly inferior opponent in Round 1 as they blew out 15-seed Montana 74-55. The Wolverines' extraordinary defense was on full display in that one as they held the Golden Grizzlies to just 33.3% in a game that was never really close. The Maize and Blue jumped out to an early double digit advantage, a much different start compared to when they faced Montana in LY's Tournament. Note it was Montana's second worst shooting percentage all season. Ironically, the Wolverines did allow more points this time against Montana. After beating them 61-47 LY, they'd go on to allow 63 in the next round to Houston (a game they won at the buzzer). 

Florida will be much tougher to defend compared to Montana, obviously. But similar to Michigan, the Gators won't have as easy a time stopping the Wolverines as they did vs. Nevada Thursday. The Wolf Pack were held to 34.5% shooting in a bad all-around performance by them. While Florida is 16-3 Under outside of Gainesville this season, they did recently shoot over 60% in a game (vs. Auburn), showing that they can "bring it" offensively. At the same time, Michigan will perform a lot better from three-point range than Nevada (5 of 24) did. All we need here is for both teams to score 62 pts and that really doesn't sound too difficult. 10* Over Florida/Michigan

10* Maryland (12:10 ET): The defensive efficiency metric I lean so heavily on for handicapping this Tournament clearly favors Maryland in this second round matchup. The Terrapins are 24th in the country in defensive efficiency, LSU is 58th. Taking underdogs, no matter how small, with that kind of DE advantage is something I love to do. It was the strategy used in yday's big winners on Oklahoma and Washington. Neither of these teams covered Thursday, but LSU is a team I was NOT sold on for much of the regular season as they were a clear overachiever in the regular season. They also are playing w/o HC Will Wade, who is a part of the ongoing NCAA scandal. Take the points. 

Maryland spent a lot of their Round 1 game trailing Belmont. The Terps are a very young team w/ six freshman seeing time. No one in their rotation had ever won a NCAA Tourney game before Thursday. In the frontcourt are two players (Fernando, Smith) who will be in the NBA. In the backcourt is one of the Big 10's best guards, Anthony Cowan Jr, who shot just 3 of 18 against Belmont (including 1 of 10 on three-pointers). The fact the Terps still won in spite of their best player having "that kind of game" is a mark in their favor, especially w/ them falling into such an early hole (trailed by 12 in 1st half). Cowan won't shoot that poorly again here. 

LSU was far more in control of their 1st round game against Yale. The Tigers led by 16 at halftime and held on for a 79-74 win (but did not cover). However, the size advantage they enjoyed against Yale won't be present here. Now you can say the same for Maryland, who used size to its advantage against Belmont. However, a discussion of the LSU coaching situation bears repeating. Not having your head coach in this tournament is obviously not ideal. LSU has enjoyed a tremendous record in close games this year (including four OT wins in SEC play). You have to wonder if that luck is set to run out. I think it will. 10* Maryland

10* Ohio State (9:50 ET): Iowa State is riding high right now, coming off an impressive win in the Big 12 Tournament. But I also believe said run makes the Cyclones somewhat susceptible to a 1st round upset. The committee did them no favors here w/ the draw of an undervalued Ohio State team, who most will disregard simply because they finished w/ a losing conference record. The Buckeyes do come into the Tournament having lost four of five. However, key to that was they were w/o their best player (Kaleb Wesson). He's back now and OSU is a live dog here. Take the points. 

The edge in defensive efficiency here goes to the Buckeyes, who rank a strong 27th in that category, which is the second highest rating for any double digit seed. Meanwhile, Iowa State is 59th in defensive efficiency, putting them right behind 13-seed UC Irvine. In terms of single digit seeds, only five have a lower defensive efficiency rating than the Cyclones and two of them are either an 8 or 9 seed. Something that must be remembered here is that Iowa State had lost six of eight going into the Big 12 Tournament. Now they're the "toast of the town."

Ohio State played two horrible games w/o Wesson, losing by double digits at Purdue and Northwestern. They shot 33.3% and 29.6% in the two losses. But then they took Wisconsin to overtime (lost by 4) and Wesson returned. With Wesson back, they beat Indiana in the Big 10 Tourney before bowing out to top seed Michigan State (only lost by 7). Wesson's return is huge and makes the Buckeyes a much better team than how they looked down the stretch. Don't fall victim to recency bias, Ohio State is the play here. 10* Ohio State

10* Orlando (7:05 ET): The Magic are trying to make the playoffs, something they have not done in the post-Dwight Howard era (which goes back to 2012). Right now, they are 1.5 games behind Miami for the 8-seed and have won three in a row. All three wins have been by double digits. Now, they've hardly faced the stiffest competition during that time. Two of the wins were against Cleveland and Atlanta while the other was against New Orleans w/o Anthony Davis. But those wins show me that Orlando is "doing what it should do" and that trend should continue tonight at home against Memphis. 

Now Memphis is a team that I've used somewhat regularly of late, in the underdog role. Their scoring defense (ranked #2 overall) is good enough to keep them in most games. But even though they just upset Houston (at home) Wednesday night, the Grizzlies have been giving up a lot more points than usual recently. It's an average of 130.6 PPG allowed in their L3 contests. Now they did need OT to overcome the Rockets and James Harden's 50 points. But the prior two games, both of which were on the road saw them allow 132 and 135 points to teams far worse than Orlando (Atlanta, Washington).

Maybe we should talk a little bit about Orlando's defense here. The Magic held the Pelicans to a 37.3 FG%, the fourth time in five games they've held an opponent below 42.0% from the field. In those five games, Orlando is allowing an average of just 96.6 PPG. Memphis is not a good road team (10-25 SU) and while the rank near the top of the league in scoring defense, they're also at the bottom in offense at 102.5 PPG. The Grizz are long out of playoff contention in the West, so motivation could be an issue moving forward. No so for Orlando, however, as they look to avenge an eight-point loss in Memphis from 12 days ago. The Magic are also a perfect 7-0 ATS at home this season when coming off B2B home games. 10* Orlando

8* Washington (6:50 ET): Here's yet another matchup where defensive efficiency is the key metric to lean on. Washington may have run into the buzzsaw known as "Oregon" in the Pac 12 Tournament Final, but Mike Hopkins' Huskies were regular season champs in the conference and that should mean something here. I realize that the Pac 12 was most certainly "down" this season, but the Huskies are a top 20 team in the country in defensive efficiency and that makes them a fantastic value getting points in this 1st round matchup w/ Utah State. Take the points.

Utah State was a "bubble team" entering its conference tournament (Mt West), but took itself right off the bubble by winning in Las Vegas. They caught a break though when top seed Nevada was upset in the semifinals by San Diego State. That made for an easier than anticipated final, which the Aggies won 64-57 as six-point favorites. USU has won 10 straight to get to 28-6 SU on the year, but the level of competition in the Mt West isn't what it is in the Pac 12, even in a down year for the former. Utah State ranks only 47th in defensive efficiency, so again not sure they should be favored here against the regular season champs from a bigger (and better) conference. 

Washington plays a 2-3 zone as Hopkins is a Jim Boeheim disciple from Syracuse. My call is that Utah State is going to struggle to make shots against the unfamiliar defense. Also, when Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Year Matisse Thybulle is on the floor, the Huskies force a turnover on 25% of their opponents possessions. Utah State actually allows a lower FG% than Washington over the course of the season, but that's also thanks to facing the dregs of the Mountain West. Save for Nevada LY, the MWC has really struggled in this event. Utah State went 17-17 SU last year and was picked to finish NINTH in the Mountain West before the season started. The spot is likely "too big" for them. 8* Washington

10* Wisconsin (4:30 ET): This just might be the most fascinating line of the entire 1st round. Oregon is undoubtedly hot right now as they ran through the Pac 12 Tournament, winning three of their four games by double digits en route to garnering the automatic bid (which they needed). The Ducks are a perfect 7-0 ATS in March and being priced like it as they are essentially a "pick 'em" taking on a Wisconsin team that has spent much of this season ranked in the top 25. Under normal circumstances, I might consider Oregon in this spot. But this is a horrendous draw facing a team that ranks in the top five (nationally) in defensive efficiency. 

Wisconsin comes into the Tournament ranked #21 in the country at 23-10 SU overall. They've won six of their last eight games. The only two losses were by two to Indiana and to Michigan State in the Big 10 semis. There have been instances of the Badgers dropping B2B games before, but I just do not see it happening here. This is one of the top defensive teams in the country and that carries a lot of weight w/ me this time of year. They also have an efficient offense, led by Ethan Happ, who is one of the better individual players in this entire Tournament. Oregon will NOT enjoy the pace at which Wisconsin likes to play. 

Oregon has actually won eight in a row going back to the final game of February, including two wins over regular season champ Washington. But the Ducks also benefited from having played all of those opponents at least one time before. Here, that won't be the case and Wisconsin certainly doesn't play like most Pac 12 teams. The irony here is Oregon is actually no slouch defensively either. They are top 20 in the country. Had they been matched up w/ any other 5-seed, I would have probably taken them. But the selection committee dealt them a bad blow with Wisconsin, who is simply the better team in every facet of the game. Remember, the Ducks lost their best player (Bol Bol) mid-season, something that isn't even being talked about anymore. A month ago, no one would have thought they'd be in the Tournament, let alone have a chance to beat a team like Wisconsin on a neutral floor. 10* Wisconsin

8* Oklahoma (12:40 ET): I'm again turning to defensive efficiency as the key metric for this NCAA Tournament and why not? It's been pretty foolproof in year's past. Three years ago, few would have predicted South Carolina would get to the Final Four. But the Gamecocks were actually top three in the country in D.E. (Last year's Cinderella, Loyola Chicago, was 17th). It's not the "end all, be all," but it is instructive. In this early Friday matchup, we're looking at Ole Miss team that ranks a rather pedestrian 65th in defensive efficiency going against an Oklahoma side that's 23rd. I think that's pretty significant when the better defensive team is taking points. 

Similar to last season, Oklahoma got off to a great start and then faltered a bit in the teeth of Big 12 play. The only difference is this year's team doesn't have Trae Young. But they are much better defensively (LY's squad ranked 85th in efficiency) and thus capable of winning at least one game (which the Young-led team failed to do LY). The Sooners are allowing a FG% of just 40.2 for the season, which is a very good number (2nd in the Big 12). While they did finish w/ a losing conference reccord, don't let that fool you. This is a team better designed to win in March than on a random Tuesday in January. 

Ole Miss was picked to finish 14th (last!) in the SEC before the season, so tip your cap to the job done here by 1st year HC Kermit Davis. But one thing Davis will have to work on moving forward is the defense, which is particularly suspect along the three-point line. Ole Miss opponents buried over 37% of 3PA, which is a really high number and will mean trouble against an OU squad that has multiple players that can shoot from deep. Also, the Rebels are one of the very worst teams in the field at defending in transition. The last five games saw them allow a FG% of 50.0 (!), so it's no wonder they lost four of the five games. 8* Oklahoma 

10* Detroit (10:05 ET): A few 'dud' performances on the road have really hurt the Pistons lately. First they were held to 75 and 74 points respectively, by Brooklyn and Miami, two teams they are in direct competition w/ for playoff spots. Then, after seemingly getting back on track w/ a couple of wins at home (over the Lakers and Toronto), they go out and lose at Cleveland to the lowly Cavs, 126-119 as 6.5-pt favorites. It's a similar class of opponent here - and a similar number - but this time I look for a much different result as the Pistons should roll the Suns tonight. Lay the points. 

Phoenix also happens to be off a loss as a favorite, which is something you can't say very often. Sure, losing has certainly been common for a team that's 17-55 SU (last in the Western Conference) on the season. But being favored is not something that happens often to the Suns. The fact they lost here at home to Chicago, 116-101 on Wednesday, doesn't exactly bode well for tonight. The Suns trailed basically wire to wire. Speaking of wire to wire, they've been in the basement of the Western Conference virtually the entire season. I see no reason to expect them to play well tonight.

Detroit, on the other hand, should be highly motivated. This road trip will only get tougher w/ stops in Golden State, Portland and Denver forthcoming. They already blew a very winnable game in Cleveland, allowing the Kevin Love-less Cavs to shoot a ridiculous 58.2% from the field. They can't afford to drop another game to a bottom-feeder. Blake Griffin did sit out vs the Cavs, so his return should spark the offense. It should be easy scoring on a Phoenix team that is tied for 28th in points allowed and 29th in efficiency. Covering the spread will require a little defense too and I expect the Pistons to be a lot better here than they were vs. Cleveland. 10* Detroit

10* St. Mary's (7:20 ET): If you recall past Tournament runs (of mine), then you know defensive efficiency is a metric I lean on heavily this time of year. It can be particularly useful when the underdog has a higher DE rating. Such is the case here w/ St. Mary's taking on Villanova. Make no mistake about, this Villanova team is nowhere close to LY's juggernaut that ended up cutting the nets down. That team ranked 11th nationally in DE. This year, the Wildcats ranked 73rd, which (in my eyes) makes them susceptible to suffering a 1st round upset. I'll take the points here.

You have to wonder whether or not St. Mary's would be in the NCAA Tournament had it not been for an upset of Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament Final. But the Gaels did win that game and thus are here as an 11-seed. They are no defensive juggernaut (55th in efficiency), but they have a higher rating than 'Nova and are also comparable on the offensive end (21st vs. 16th). I just don't see the gap between the teams that the oddsmakers seem to. St. Mary's has won a NCAA Tournament game each of the last three years. They play at a very slow pace and also crash the glass at a solid rate. If they can beat the Zags, well, they are capable of beating anyone on any given night. 

Villanova entered LY's Tournament as the betting favorite. That is certainly not the case this year. While they did win both the Big East regular season title and tournament, the league was down. The Wildcats also won the last two games by just four (Xavier) and two (Seton Hall) points. Also, despite a high number of attempts from behind the three-point line, the Wildcats aren't converting at their usual rate in 2018-19. I've had this team earmarked as having the potential for suffering an outright loss in the 1st round for some time. I'm not wavering from that. 10* St. Mary's

8* Abeline Christian (7:10 ET): Little is known about 15-seed Abilene Christian. But Kentucky HC John Calipari seems at least a little scared, at least when it comes to those particular Wildcats' three-point shooting. And for good reason. Abilene Christian is connecting at a somewhat ridiculous 38.6% from behind the three-point line this year. Granted, the level of competition in the Southland is nothing close to what the Wildcats will see here. But given their proficiency from behind the arc and how many points they're getting, I think the underdog is a strong call here. No one will give them a chance. I think they'll outperform expectations rather easily.

So here's the deal on Abilene Christian. They were NOT regular season champs in the Southland (finished 2nd), but did unseat New Orleans in the Tournament Final, 77-60, and were 4.5-point favorites in that game. This is their 1st ever NCAA Tournament berth, but it's an experienced group w/ three seniors and one junior among the starting five. Admittedly, it's not a team w/ a lot of height and depth took a hit when two reserves were dismissed earlier in the year. But this team's level of three-point shooting can keep them in any game. 

Kentucky was really strong down the stretch and should have beaten Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. But they faltered late and lost that game. As per usual, UK has a young roster. They've got plenty of talent, but I can see the players looking past this game and onto the next round. They've only covered 1 of their last 6 games. Also, Coach Cal's team will not be able to trade threes w/ Abilene Christian. Only 23.6% of UK's points come from behind the arc. That's bottom 20 in the country. The three-point shot alone should be able to keep the underdog within the generous spread here. 8* Abeline Christian

8* Vermont (2:00 ET): I'm seen "some" go so far as to label Florida State a "Final Four Darkhorse." Maybe that's true, but the designation has also made the Seminoles a tad bit overvalued here in Round 1. I concede that the Noles have lost only twice since January 22nd. Those losses were to North Carolina and the ACC Championship Game against Duke. They're 14-2 SU the L16 games. But this Vermont team is not to be taken lightly. The America East Champs play great defense and rebound shockingly well given their lack of height. It's also been a two-year journey back to the Tourney for the Catamounts. Take the points. 

Vermont fans feel center Anthony Lamb is as good as any player in the country. He was certainly the best player in his conference. The Catamounts allow just 62.6 PPG, which is the 16th best in the entire country. In conference play, they allowed just 0.885 points per possession. The last five games saw them allow an average of just 52.6 PPG. Only three teams in the country gave up fewer offensive rebounds. Something else that's key is how often Florida State sends its opponents to the free throw line and how good Vermont is at converting when they get to the charity stripe. Unaccustomed to being an underdog, Vermont will be very motivated here. By the way, this game is being played in Hartford, which is much closer to Burlington than it is Tallahassee. 

Back to the journey. Last year, Vermont was one of the top mid-majors in the country. But on their home floor, they were upset by UMBC (on a buzzer beater). We all know what happened w/ UMBC (became 1st 16-seed to win a NCAA Tourney Game). Vermont was not going to be denied this year, however. They got revenge on UMBC is this year's America East Final and here they are, a year more experienced. I think that after making a run to the ACC Final, FSU is due for a letdown. Vermont is the kind of team that pulls upsets in this Tournament. 8* Vermont

10* Over Arizona State/St. John's (9:10 ET): I'm not entirely sure either of these teams belong in the field of 68, but that's all "water under the bridge" now. Arizona State has won six of eight w/ both losses coming to an Oregon team that's as hot as anyone in the country right now. Meanwhile, St. John's is really limping into the Big Dance as they've lost five of seven, including a rather humiliating 86-54 loss to Marquette in the Big East Tournament. Neither of these teams are exactly defensive stalwarts, so I'll be going Over in this Opening Round matchup Wednesday. 

Arizona State comes in averaging a healthy 77.8 PPG and should have little difficulty here scoring against a St. John's team whose last five opponents have combined to shoot over 50% from the field. The Johnnies are allowing almost 80 PPG when away from home, which is a pretty frightening number for a NCAA Tournament team. Four of those last five Red Storm opponents have scored at least 81 pts, including Xavier twice and the Musketeers were one of the weakest offensive teams in the Big East. Overall, St. John's ranks an ugly 111th in defensive efficiency. Only 15 teams that made the field rank lower. 

But ASU is exactly adept at limiting points, even though they held opponents to a 41.3 FG%. St. John's comes in averaging 77.5 PPG, so they also should "get theirs" tonight. All five of their starters are averaging double figures, led by Shamorie Ponds, who scored 25 or more points 10 times in the regular season. Ponds averages 19.5 PPG and topped 20 in nine straight games at one point. The Johnnies had seen four straight Overs before shooting just 32.8% in the loss to Marquette. But Arizona State is only 78th in defensive efficiency, so we'll see much better shooting here. 10* Over Arizona State/St. John's 

10* San Antonio (8:35 ET): A month or so ago, it was no guarantee that either of these teams would make the playoffs. But both have gotten hot and now appear to be virtual locks for the postseason. Miami is still a precarious 8th in the East, but has won 8 of its last 11, including a 116-107 triumph at OKC on Monday. But San Antonio is the hottest team in the league right now w/ not only nine consecutive victories (8-1 ATS), but also six consecutive covers. They just beat the Warriors (here at home) Monday night and I see them continuing to roll here. Lay the points.

Defensive has fueled the Spurs' turnaround as they're now tied for 5th in the West (w/ OKC) at 42-29 SU overall. For awhile, this was looking like the worst defensive team HC Greg Popovich had ever coached in San Antonio. But the Spurs have been #2 in the league in defensive efficiency since Feb 26th, allowing 103.1 points per 100 possessions. This coupled w/ the fact they have been BETTER than usual at the offensive end this season (4th in efficiency), thanks primarily to leading the league in 3PT shooting % (39.8) by a comfortable margin. The win over Golden State improved the Spurs to a remarkable 16-1 ATS at home this season when playing w/ revenge for a road loss. They have revenge here as they lost down in Miami, 95-88, back in November.

The Heat have turned in some superb defensive efforts of their own recently. Notably, they've held Charlotte below 85 pts TWICE this month and Detroit to only 74. Those three wins were crucial in the playoff race. However, save for OKC, none of Miami's recent victories have come against competition the caliber of what they face tonight. It's both impressive and odd that the Heat have played better on the road this season, but I don't think that trend holds tonight as the Spurs are too hot to deny right now. 10* San Antonio

8* Under Pelicans/Magic (7:05 ET): Despite already being eliminated from playoff contention and having a worse overall record, a case can be made that New Orleans has been a better team than Orlando this year even though the Magic are very much alive for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Pelicans do have a slightly better YTD point differential. But they've also had to deal w/ the ongoing Anthony Davis saga and play in the tougher conference. Nevertheless, these two teams will meet tonight in Orlando and for a variety of reasons I'm expecting this to be a low-scoring game, at least lower scoring than the oddsmakers are anticipating. Take the Under. 

Each of the Magic's last four games have gone Under. Two of them saw them get held under 100 points. The other two saw them do the same to their opponents. Probably not coincidentally, the two sub-100 pt efforts (both losses) came on the road. The two times they held the opponent below the century mark (both wins) came here at home. Given where this game is being played, I expect another strong defensive effort here from the Magic. Even in those two road losses, they allowed just 105 and 100 points. In the L5 games, they're allowing an average of 98.6 PPG. Helping the cause is the fact the Pelicans are now limiting Davis to about 20 mins per game. 

New Orleans' recent efforts have been at the opposite end of the spectrum. Five of their last six games have gone Over and - on average - no team's games have a higher average total PPG than the Pelicans (232.1). Their last two games were a 138-136 loss to Phoenix and a 129-125 win over Dallas. Note both were overtime games, however. The L5 games have seen NO allow a frightening 128.6 PPG. But what goes up, must come down and in the case of that average, there's only one direction it can go. 8* Under Pelicans/Magic

10* Temple (9:10 ET): Belmont is the rare at-large NCAA Tournament entrant. The Bruins tied for the regular season title in the OVC (w/ Murray State), but fell to the Racers (who are led by the sensational Ja Morant) in the Tourney Final. I think it's nice that the Bruins got into the field of 68 (they were deserving!), but this is a much tougher draw than most realize. I reckon that Belmont will be the popular play b/c of the story here, but it's a little surprising they are favored considering Temple is the better defensive team and played a far tougher schedule in the American. I'm taking the points here. 

Temple had an early exit in the American Tourney, losing to a lower seed (Wichita State) in the quarterfinals, 80-74 as 1.5-pt chalk. They limited the Shockers to 39.1% from the field, but the problem was the Owls had their own "off-shooting night." The Owls finished 3rd in the American, behind only Houston and Cincinnati. They were one of only two American teams to beat Houston in the regular season. While an extremely fortunate 4-0 in overtime games this year, the Owls were rarely blown out. Their largest loss (18 pts) was to Tulsa of all teams. The only other DD loss came to Villanova. They went 6-3-1 ATS as underdogs.

It's not that Temple is that great defensively; it's also that Belmont is pretty bad at that end of the floor. The Bruins rank an ugly 127th in defensive efficiency, which is a key metric I lean heavily on this time of year. Belmont does shoot the three extremely well (37.4%), but Temple has fared well against such teams, going 8-0 ATS the L2 years vs. teams that shoot at least 37% from behind the arc. I don't think we'll see the usual three-point sharpshooting here from Belmont. They were just 7 of 32 (21.8%) vs. Murray State in the OVC Tourney Final, a potentially bad sign. Temple has an experienced backcourt, led by the AAC's top scorer Shizz Alston Jr. They get the cash. 10* Temple

10* Charlotte (7:05 ET): The mistake here is that the public sees the line an automatically gravitates towards the Sixers, who are third in the East and a "name team." But while Charlotte is currently 10th in the Eastern Conference, they're a much better team than the record shows. This has actually been the case for some time now w/ the Hornets. But the problem has been an incredibly frustrating 5-24 SU record in games decided by three points or less the L3 seasons. Their 10 such losses this year are easily the most in the league. But tonight, I've got them picking up a much needed win! 

Sunday saw the Hornets turn in an absolutely dreadful showing at Miami. They put up only 75 points, which was fine by me as I had the Under (and it was a 46-point winner!) But from Charlotte's perspective, it was a very bad loss. It put them 2.5 games behind the Heat for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It was also their 8th loss in the past 11 games. But despite this, a return home should do the team some good. They're 21-14 SU at home this season, outscoring opponents by about 4.0 PPG. This is a stark contrast to the team's poor performance on the road. 

The Hornets basically have their "backs against the wall" going into this one. If they don't turn things around quickly, then it's time to kiss the playoffs goodbye. The upcoming schedule is challenging. But for as poor as Sunday's performance looks on paper, note it was a close game going into the 4th quarter. But they missed 13 of their final 16 shots, including all eight three-point attempt, and finished the game w/ a season-low 31.3 FG%. They'll be much better tonight, trust me. Philly is coming off a 130-125 win over Milwaukee (in spite of 52 pts from Giannis Antetokounmpo), but prone for a letdown on the road where they're just a game over .500 for the season (and -2.1 PPG). The fact that the Sixers are 3-0 SU/ATS vs. the Hornets in 2018-19 is misleading when you consider all three games were decided by three points or less and all were played before Thanksgiving. Two were overtime games. This is Charlotte's chance to make a statement and I believe they will deliver big-time. 10* Charlotte

8* Under Farleigh Dickinson/Prairie View A&M (6:40 ET): With the exception of North Carolina Central (who plays tomorrow), these are the two worst teams in the entire field of 68. Because of what UMBC did to Virginia LY, we can no longer automatically "write off" a 16 seed's chances, however, odds are that whomever wins here won't be celebrating for long. That's because the winner draws Gonzaga. Neither team here is noted for its defense, but playing in the "big time" figures to have a somewhat drastic impact on the respective offenses. I'll take the Under. 

Farleigh Dickinson is the champion of the NEC (North Eastern Conference). They tied (w/ St. Francis PA) for the regular season title, then beat St. Francis in the NEC Tournament Final. So that's how they got here. But they are 0-5 SU all-time in the NCAA Tournament, losing by an average of 14 PPG. The Knights do shoot the ball very well from three-point range, 40.3% in fact, which ranks 5th in the entire country! But they also play at a very slow tempo and typically don't throw it up early on in the shot clock. If their perimeter shooting is off here, then it figures to be quite the long night offensively for FDU. 

Conversely, Prairie View A&M will want to speed this game up. The regular season and tournament champs of the SWAC enter the Big Dance on an amazing run, having won 21 of their last 22 games. The Aggies put up some real "eye-popping" numbers in the SWAC Tournament, including dropping 92 on TX Southern in the Final. They've scored at least 81 pts in five of their last six games. But this game is a whole different story against an unfamiliar foe. A&M is actually one of the WORST three-point shooting teams in the entire field, if not country, at 30.8%. But the good news is they do guard the three-point line well, which will come in handy against the jump shooters of FDU. The Aggies rank 31st in the country in 3PT FG% defense and also do a great job at forcing turnovers. My read is that this will not be a typical game - for either side - as it figures to be pretty slow by Prairie View A&M standards while FDU will not be getting off the usual number of three pointers. 8* Under Farleigh Dickinson/Prairie View A&M

8* Portland (10:35 ET): The Blazers lost more than a game 48 hours ago. C.J. McCollum went down w/ a left leg injury in the team's 108-103 loss at San Antonio Saturday and he'll be out for "at least a week." The Spurs were actually my *10* Game of the Week, so I "benefited" from the injury. I feel we can do so again tonight, albeit in a much different way. Portland opened up too low here and should be favored by significantly more against an Indiana team that has been w/o its best player for two months now. The Pacers have done a nice job "treading water" w/o Victor Oladipo, but have lost six of their last 10 w/ all four wins coming at home. Lay the short number. 

Indiana, like Portland, is 4th in its conference. They are coming off a last second loss at Denver Saturday night. In that game, the Pacers got off to a hot start as they were up 34-25 at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 18 in the second. But they went 0 for 11 from three-point range after halftime. Losing 102-100 will be difficult to get over for a team that has now dropped five straight on the road. That includes a 19-point loss to Milwaukee and 17-point loss to Philadelphia. Over the L5 games, the Pacers are averaging less than 100 PPG! 

Even without McCollum, Portland should be okay as long as Damian Lillard has the ball in his hands. Lillard had 34 in the losing effort vs. San Antonio Saturday. He also recently scored 51 in a game. The home court advantage is huge here for the Blazers. Not only has Indiana lost five in a row on the road, they haven't won in Portland since 2007! Portland is 8-1 SU in the L9 head to head meetings w/ Indiana, including a 103-93 road win very early on in the season. Being that they're 25-9 SU at home, I think they overcome the McCollum injury here and get the 'W.' 8* Portland 

10* Under Nuggets/Celtics (7:35 ET): Both of these teams would obviously like to "move up" in their respective conference's standings. Denver has been in a battle w/ Golden State all season for the top spot in the Western Conference and currently trails the Warriors (who play @ SA tonight) by one game. Boston, largely viewed as an underachiever this season, is currently 5th in the Eastern Conference. But I can see them making a late move, getting all the way up to third by the end of the regular season. Regardless of the outcome of this game, I envision it being low-scoring. Take the Under. 

Denver has strictly been an Under team of late. They are 10-1 Under the L11 games and while some of that has to do w/ high totals, they've also been playing some pretty good defense as well. Over the L5 games, the Nuggets have allowed an average of just 105.4 PPG, which is below their season average. During that stretch, only Golden State has exceeded 107 against them. The last two games, both wins at home, were really low scoring. They beat Dallas 100-99 and Indiana 102-100. Of course, the Nuggets' offensive production also goes down when they leave Denver. They are averaging 107.9 PPG on the road this season, well off what they average at the Pepsi Center. 

Denver is fully healthy right now, but Boston is not. Both Al Horford and Gordon Hayward sustained injuries in Saturday's 129-120 win over Atlanta. The last four Celtics games have all gone Over the total, a stark contrast to Denver, though before the four-game streak, Boston had gone Under in six straight. The Celtics have also won five of six and I expect a team that ranks in the top five in defensive efficiency to "show up" tonight. At home, Boston is allowing just 106.6 PPG. This should be a much lower-scoring game than anticipated. 10* Under Nuggets/Celtics

10* LA Clippers (9:05 ET): Bad spot for Brooklyn here as they just got beat in Utah last night and now have to head further West to take on the rested Clippers. The Nets have not been a good bet in the second game of a back to back this season, going just 3-9 SU and 2-10 ATS. They also lose roughly two-thirds of the time when priced as an underdog. They were never really "in it" last night vs. the Jazz, trailing by double digits most of the way. They shot just 35 percent and were dominated on the glass. The loss dropped Brooklyn to 2-6 ATS in the month of March.

The last time we saw the Clippers, they were beating the Bulls 128-121 Friday night. This will be the fifth game of a six-game homestand, so the situation is totally in their favor tonight. The Clippers are looking like a real safe bet to make the playoffs right now as they've won six of seven games in March and have a six-game cushion over ninth place Sacramento w/ just 12 games to play. The top eight in the West have really been solidified at this point. But position is still up for grabs among the top eight and the Clips have a very realistic shot at moving up the standings. They could finish as high as as 3rd (unlikely) were everything to break right. 

Brooklyn is 7th in the East, which has a far more congested race for the bottom few spots. It's a 3.5 game lead over ninth place Orlando and Charlotte, so it's not time to panic yet, but the Nets aren't playing well. They've been held under 100 pts in B2B games for just the third time all year and have really been dominated on the glass in their last two games. As touched on earlier, things have not been good in the second game of a back to back as they're being outscored by 10.4 PPG in that spot. They've also lost seven straight times on the road to the Clippers. Huge edges to the home team in this one. 10* LA Clippers

8* Georgia State (2:00 ET): The Sun Belt Championship Game has wormed its way onto Selection Sunday, but this matchup between UT Arlington and Georgia State may have the most value on the board. The top two seeds benefited tremendously from the SBC Tourney format, which gave both of them a bye into the semifinals, which means they each only had to win one game to get here. Those games were played yday w/ Georgia State beating Texas State 59-46 & UT Arlington beating Georgia Southern 67-58. Georgia State won both regular season matchups against UT Arlington and thus is the top seed here. I look for them to make it 3 for 3 on Sunday. Lay the points.

You may remember Georgia State from a few years ago when they pulled a historic upset (15-seed over a 2) against Michigan State. Ron Hunter is still the coach here and the program is obviously doing well. The Panthers hold non-conference victories this year over East Tennessee State, Alabama, Georgia and a St. Bonaventure team that may end up making the Big Dance. I put a high priority on defense this time of year and Georgia State certainly turned in a strong effort on that end of the floor yday. They held Texas State to 21.8% shooting (season-low for an opponent) and only 15 first half points. It was the Panthers' seventh win in their last eight games and they are 4-0 SU/ATS L4. 

The two regular seasons wins over UT Arlington both saw Georgia State play outstanding defense. They held the Mavericks to 37.5% shooting overall and just 10 of 52 from three-point range. In the home game, UT Arlington shot just 2 of 25 from behind the arc! Despite attempting far more shots, the Mavericks couldn't get the job done either game. Now they did cover in both losses. They lost by five as 6.5-pt home dogs and six as 8-pt road dogs. So this looks like a value on the favorite here. UT Arlington is on a 5-0 SU/ATS run, but that ends here. 8* Georgia State 

8* Under Hornets/Heat (1:05 ET): These division foes met not that long ago. It's only been 10 days, in fact, since the Heat prevailed 91-84 in Charlotte. The Hornets had won both previous matchups, but those came all the way back in October. Nevertheless, right now, these teams are locked in a tight battle for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Miami currently has the edge, but only by a game as they just took a horrendous loss Friday to Milwaukee. Under normal circumstances, losing to the Bucks would not be a big deal. But the Heat blew a 20-point lead at home. 

Charlotte won its last game, 116-110, in Washington. The result was much needed as it stopped a five-game ATS losing skid. It was also just the third win in the last nine games (second over the Wizards). Note that since losing to Miami, the Hornets have been involved in four straight high scoring games, all of them seeing at least 223 or more total pts scored. But I think this one will shape up similar to the last game w/ the Heat where neither team shot the ball particularly well. The Hornets had a 40-point 1st quarter against the Wizards Friday, something that I don't see happening here against a much better defensive foe.

The Under is 11-5 in the L16 meetings, including 5-2 here in Miami. But that's not likely to be what's on the minds of the Heat players heading into this one. Rather, it's "how did we let that one slip away against Milwaukee?" Giving up 73 second half points certainly didn't help, but then again, the Bucks are arguably the top offensive team in the league not named the Warriors. Charlotte is probably incapable of a similar barrage. The Heat remain a top 10 team in defensive efficiency, but they wound up only shooting 40.9% against the Bucks. A division battle this late in the season has all the makings of a low-scoring game. 8* Under Hornets/Heat

10* Auburn (1:00 ET): A late rally yday led to Tennessee stunning Kentucky in one SEC semifinal. The other one saw Auburn stave off Florida after appearing to get away w/ a foul on the potential game-tying three-pointer. Pay no mind to the respective seeding of these two teams. Tennessee might be the 3-seed in the SEC, but they're very much in play for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament were they to win today. Auburn, the #5 seed in the SEC Tournament, is a top 15 team in my eyes and an opponent no one will want to face next week. Only one can win here, obviously. I'll take the points as I'm not at all surprised Auburn got here. They've underachieved somewhat this season, but are finally starting to perform up to expectations. 

Looking at the stat sheet from yday, it's somewhat miraculous that Auburn beat Florida. The Gators shot 60% from the field (season-high) and finished w/ a 32-17 advantage on the boards. But the Tigers did win. They held Florida to a season-low in shot attempts (38) and also converted 19 turnovers into 20 points. Auburn had 56 shot attempts to Florida's 38 and also killed them from three-point range. They were 13 of 29 from behind the arc while the Gators were just 6 of 15. The fact Auburn attempted only five free throws (made only two!) didn't even matter. Really, it was a remarkable performance. 

With just under three minutes to go, Kentucky led Tennessee by eight. As someone holding a UK ticket, I was thinking cover not an outright loss. Back when the Vols were ranked #1 in the country, I was leery of them. In some ways, I still am. This game figures to have plenty of emotion w/ former Tennessee HC Bruce Pearl now coaching Auburn. Of course, this is not the first time Pearl has taken on his former school. In fact, he just beat them 84-80 (as a 2.5-pt home dog) last week. Auburn has now won seven in a row and I give them an excellent shot at pulling the outright upset yet again. 10* Auburn

10* San Antonio (8:35 ET): Based on how this season has gone, it's probably right to assume that Golden State and Denver will finish in the top two spots in the Western Conference. But after that, it's a jumbled mess w/ the other six (likely) playoff participants jockeying for position. The Spurs are in sixth place, but have won seven in a row coming into tonight's home game vs. Portland. The Blazers are in 4th, now by their lonesome, after beating New Orleans (no Anthony Davis) last night. Both teams are in the second night of a back to back (Spurs blew out the Knicks last night), but I say that's an advantage for the team playing at home. Lay the short number.

The Pelicans choosing to sit Davis last night was obviously of great benefit to the Blazers. Still, they were down 37-30 after the 1st quarter before settling down defensively. It was the 4th straight game where Portland scored at least 121 points, which is quite the streak, but I look for that to come to an end tonight in San Antonio where the Spurs will look to slow the game down and play "their style." Note that the Blazers have been outscored on the road this season. Also, while they are a perfect 3-0 SU/ATS this season in the second night of B2B home games, they are just 1-5 SU/ATS in the second of B2B road games. 

San Antonio is a perfect 12-0 ATS at home this season when seeking revenge for a loss in which it allowed 110+ points. They lost up in Portland, 127-118, right before the All-Star Break. That was the third meeting of the season and the home team has gone a perfect 3-0 SU/ATS. The Spurs have gotten back to playing defense as last night's 109-83 beatdown of the Knicks was the sixth time in the seven-game win streak that they held the opponent to 105 pts or less. (Only team that topped it was Milwaukee). Granted it was "only" the Knicks, but yday also marked SA's ninth straight win at home. Something most do not realize about the Spurs is that they rank 4th in the league in offensive efficiency due to shooting 39.8% from three-point range, which is the BEST mark in the league. 10* San Antonio

10* Kansas (6:00 ET): Maybe they'll be having the last laugh in Lawrence after all. After having their historic 14-year streak of winning the Big 12 regular season championship snapped this year, the Jayhawks are now favored (albeit ever so slightly) to win the Big 12 Tournament Final today. The opponent is Iowa State, a team that clearly benefitied from top seed Kansas State playing without its best player yesterday. You have to wonder what would have happened had Dean Wade suited up for Kansas State Friday night. My guess is that it would have resulted in an all Sunflower State final.

Iowa State turned it over 17 times and was not strong offensively for most of the second half. Granted, Kansas State is not just the best defensive team in the Big 12, but also one of the best in the entire country. But the Cyclones blew all of a double digit lead in the 2nd half and needed to hit some critical shots down the stretch to secure the four-point victory. While they've mostly looked good each of the last two days, remember the Cyclones lost five of their final six regular season games. 

Kansas also got a bit of a break in this tournament by getting to play 10th seeded West Virginia in the semifinal as opposed to Texas Tech (who WVU upset in the quarterfinals). The Jayhawks didn't have much problem w/ the Mountaineers last night, winning 88-74 as 9.5-point chalk as they shot 52.4% from the field and had a pair of 40+ pt halves. Iowa State was a tough opponent in the regular season, but they split the two meetings w/ each team winning at home. Not winning the Big 12 regular season title has Kansas highly motivated this week and they get the job done Saturday night. 10* Kansas 

8* Kentucky (3:30 ET): If either of these two schools were to win the SEC Tournament, then they'd be in line for a top seed in the Big Dance. But of more immediate importance is taking this rubber match. The home team rolled in both regular season meetings as UK won 86-69 in Lexington and Tennessee won 71-52 in Knoxville. Like a lot of people, I've had my suspicions about the Vols and I simply believe UK is the better team here. The key is a top 10 ranking in defensive efficiency. 

Since being humiliated in the opening game of the season by Duke (lost 118-84!), Kentucky has been beaten only four times. Three of those were by two points or less (5 pts total!), one coming in overtime (Seton Hall) and another at the buzzer (LSU). The other was to Alabama, which was avenged yday w/ a convincing 73-55 win as 12.5-pt chalk. Coach Cal cited his team's rebounding as key to the win. Now they go to avenge the only other regular season, that being what happened in Knoxville two weeks ago. The Wildcats shot miserably in that game (31.8%) and that's not going to happen again here. 

Tennessee has set a school record for wins this season (28) and like Kentucky most of their losses were close games. The one exception was against the 'Cats. It was a seven-point win over Mississippi State for the Vols on Friday as they shot 51.5% from the field. I wouldn't look for a repeat of that here today. A big key here is that Tennessee gives up 77.9 PPG away from Knoxville, which is a significant increase over what they're allowing in home games. Kentucky's PPG allowed away from home is more in line w/ what they allow in Lexington, thus their higher defensive rating. I like Kentucky (a lot) to move on. 8* Kentucky

8* St. Bonaventure (1:00 ET): I played St. Bonaventure yday and came away even more impressed w/ this group than I already was going into the game. They beat George Mason 68-57 as a relatively short favorite. While that result won't exactly through "shockwaves" through College Basketball, watching the game, this team appears poised to make a run. They are very good defensively and now catch a significant break in that top seed VCU is out of the A-10 Tournament. The Bonnies will face the team that upset VCU, Rhode Island, and once again appear undervalued.

Rhode Island is now on a 6-0 SU/ATS run after upsetting VCU 75-70 yday. It was the third year in a row that the Rams ousted VCU from this event. It was also a huge revenge spot for the Rhodies, who had lost 76-42 the last time they faced VCU. The coaches and players seemed particularly motivated. "They (VCU) were heckling us a lot to get us out of our game," Jeff Dowtin said. The win does come w/ a major caveat, however. VCU lost its leading scorer Marcus Evans in the second half. After he left the game is when Rhode Island made its move. 

Earlier, I touched on the kind of defense that St. Bonaventure has been playing. (Also discussed in yday's analysis). Yesterday marked the 9th time in the last 11 games that the Bonnies held their opposition to 60 points or less. They essentially controlled the game throughout, holding George Mason to 35% shooting overall. While yday was a revenge spot for Rhode Island, today it's St. Bonaventure's turn as they lost up in South Kingstown, 75-63, back in January. The Rams shot 54.3% from the field in that game, something that will not happen again here. That was one of just three games the Bonnies allowed 50% shooting in conference play this year and one of just seven overall. 8* St. Bonaventure

8* Miami (8:05 ET): I'm playing both side and total in this one. Let's start w/ the side as the Heat come in having won five of six, including an impressive performance in a crucial game vs. Detroit Wednesday night. They went on a 21-0 run to start the 2nd half in that one and ended up winning 108-74 as a short home favorite. That leaves them not only 1.5 games up on ninth place Orlando, but also just 2.5 games back of the six seed (Brooklyn). Were the playoffs to start today, Miami and Milwaukee would be a 1st round playoff series. Expect the Heat to treat this as a "playoff game."

Milwaukee has been the best team in the league this season by virtually every metric. They just dominated New Orleans their last time out, putting up 130 pts in the process. The Bucks' offense is obviously great and they also happen to rank #1 in defensive efficiency. But defense seemed to be non-existent for stretches against the Pelicans, particularly in giving up a 41-point third quarter (Bucks were fortunate to score 45 themselves in that 3Q). It was the fifth time in six games that the Bucks gave up at least 113 points. That's a problem moving forward as this team will almost always be laying points.

Meanwhile, defense has not been an issue for the Heat. There have been four times in the NBA this year that a team has held an opponent to eight points or less in a quarter. Three of those have come from Miami! The latest was that decisive 3Q vs. the Pistons Wednesday as they outscored them 33-8 in that stanza. The last time they hosted Milwaukee, they kept the Bucks in check, holding them to 87 points. That was the Bucks' second lowest point total in a game all season. They shot 9 of 43 from three-point range and Giannis Antetokounmpo was held to a season-low nine points on 3 of 12 shooting. Take the points here. 8* Miami

8* Under Bucks/Heat (8:05 ET): So, if you read the writeup on the side, it should be pretty obvious that I'm also going w/ the Under in this one. Again, "there have been four times in the NBA this year that a team has held an opponent to eight points or less in a quarter. Three of those have come from Miami! The latest was that decisive 3Q vs. the Pistons Wednesday as they outscored them 33-8 in that stanza. The last time they hosted Milwaukee, they kept the Bucks in check, holding them to 87 points. That was the Bucks' second lowest point total in a game all season. They shot 9 of 43 from three-point range and Giannis Antetokounmpo was held to a season-low nine points on 3 of 12 shooting"  (reprinted from writeup on side). 

I do expect Milwaukee to be better defensive than they were against New Orleans. After all, like I said, this is the #1 team in the league in defensive efficiency (a very important category).  The Under is 6-1 in the Bucks' last seven conference games. The Under has also cashed in both of this season's matchups against the Heat, easily so in the one here in Miami. This total is higher than either of the previous two meetings, which seems like a mistake by the oddsmakers. 

Miami has held three of its last six opponents below 90 points. Will that happen again here? Probably not, though it is worth mentioning they held the Bucks below 90 when they last hosted them. The Heat are also in the top 10 in defensive efficiency for the season. The Under is 5-1 in the last six meetings overall and 16-5-1 the L22 meetings here on South Beach. 8* Under Bucks/Heat

8* Phoenix (8:05 ET): After having their nine-game win streak snapped Wednesday (by Golden State), this would seem to be a "trap game" for Houston. Not that I think they'll lose. But laying this many points is a dangerous proposition. It was a two-point loss to the Warriors, on national TV, though the Rockets trailed by as many as 13 (at home) and Golden State was playing w/o Kevin Durant. James Harden seemed to "shrug" off the loss while HC Mike D'Antoni was vocal about his team needing to learn from the mistakes it made in the game. Bottom line is I think the Rockets have a letdown tonight. Take the points.

Phoenix has actually played better of late. They'd won four of five (covered all five games!) before running into Utah two nights ago. That was a game I cashed the Under as the Suns were held to 97 points by one of the league's premier defensive teams. Houston is not a premier defensive team as they rank 12th in scoring and 21st in efficiency. The Suns have recently beaten both the Bucks and Warriors, so they won't be intimidated here. The fact they rank near the bottom of the league in both defense and rebounding is mitigated by the fact the Rockets aren't strong in either of those areas either. In fact, these are the two worst teams in rebounding rate in the entire league.

Many of the Rockets' wins during their 9-game streak were close. So that's another reason not to want to lay the points here. They're also 2-10-1 ATS the L13 games vs. teams with a losing SU record and have actually failed to cover its last four games against foes w/ a win percentage below .400. That shows they are prone to take "lesser" foes too lightly and given the spot, I think that'll be the case again here. 8* Phoenix

10* Virginia (7:00 ET): Despite getting off to a slow start yday vs. NC State, Virginia ended up winning by 20 (76-56) and comfortably covering as 11.5-pt chalk. Just imagine the result had the Hoos not been down at the half! Meanwhile, there was nothing easy or comfortable with Florida State's 65-63 win over Va Tech yday. That game went to overtime, putting them at a severe disadvantage today against the ACC's top seed. Virginia won the lone regular season meeting, by 13 points, in Charlottesville. It should be a similar result tonight in the first of two ACC semfinals. Lay the points. 

Virginia leads the country in scoring defense, giving up only 54.6 PPG. That defensive prowess was on full display yday (particularly in the 2nd half) as they held NC State to 38.8% shooting for the game, including 3 of 20 from three-point range. It was the Cavaliers' ninth win in a row overall. This season has seen them go 8-0 ATS when on a win streak of that length. There have been plenty of wins for a team (29-2 SU overall) that I consider the best in the country right now. I feel that because of LY's historic upset at the hands of UMBC, the Hoos are going to be severely undervalued this month. Such is the case here. 

Florida State shot just 34.1% from the field in the first meeting w/ Virginia and finished w/ a season-low 52 points. Virginia has a habit of doing that to its opponents. FSU got points from 10 different players yday and 33 total from its reserves. Still, it took a late three-pointer to send the game to OT where the Seminoles won on a Terrance Mann basket w/ just 1.8 seconds remaining. FSU has won 13 of its last 14 games, but the lone loss was by 18 to North Carolina. They are simply not on the same level as the other three semifinalists in the ACC. 10* Virginia 

8* St. Bonaventure (2:30 ET): A big key in handicapping today's card is there are a great number of rested teams facing opponents that played yday. That very situation presents itself in all four games of the Atlantic 10 Tourney where the top four seeds all got byes into the quarterfinals. Count St. Bonaventure among that group and the Bonnies are laying just a small number to George Mason Friday afternoon. George Mason was fortunate enough to draw a poor George Washington team in its opening round contest, but still only won by four points. I'll be laying the short number here.

GMU has actually been fortunate enough to play GW two straight times. (They also beat the Colonials 81-65, on the road, in the regular season finale!). But yday's tournament battle was a lot tighter as the Patriots' biggest lead was only eight points and that came early in the 1st half. They actually trailed by as many as five in the second half. Keep in mind they were nine-point favorites at the betting window. St. Bonaventure is a team they split with in the regular season as each team won by double digits on its home floor. While George Mason won the 1st meeting by 15, St. Bonaventure was more dominant w/ a 23-pt win in the rematch.

Other than GW, the only other team George Mason has defeated over the last month was Richmond, who also finished near the bottom of the A-10 regular season standings. Meanwhile, St. Bonaventure is hot, having won seven of its last eight games. The favorite has covered the spread in each of the last nine meetings between these schools and that's mainly been the Bonnies, who are 6-1 ATS the last seven matchups. Big edge to the Bonnies on defense as they rank 57th in the country in defensive efficiency while GMU is 151st. The Patriots also are allowing opponents to shoot a blistering 54.4% from two-point range, which is last in the A-10. Furthermore, GMU is now 0-6 ATS following its last six SU wins. 8* St. Bonaventure

8* UCF (2:00 ET): The American Conference's Tournament is being played in Memphis, which obviously gives the host team some advantage. But it won't enough today for the Tigers to overcome a very underrated UCF team. While Memphis had to play yday, UCF got a bye into the quarterfinals. That, to me, is just as important as the homecourt advantage here for Memphis (if not more so). Now UCF did not fare well in their previous venture here, losing by 20 points. But that and a loss in the regular season finale (at Temple) will have them fully motivated this afternoon. Lay the short number.

Memphis really didn't need any kind of additional advantage for its 1st round matchup w/ Tulane. The Green Wave were the worst team in the American this year and quite possibly one of the worst teams in the entire country this year, excluding the smaller conferences. Tulane finished the season 0-19 SU vs. the rest of the American and 4-28 SU overall. So don't go putting much stock in the Tigers' 83-68 win yday. They totaled a season-high 52 pts in the 1st half, a number they won't come close to matching today. It was the second time they beat Tulane in the last month (both at home, no less), so the fact the Tigers have also won five of six is also slightly misleading. 

UCF has had nearly a full week to "stew" over losing to Temple in the regular season finale. While that was called an "upset," Temple actually did go off as a 2.5-pt betting favorite. The loss dropped UCF out of the Top 25 and also halted an eight-game ATS win streak. Their only SU loss in those eight games was by five at Cincinnati. They later avenged that defeat and also won at Houston on 3/2, which was one of just two conference losses suffered by the Cougars all season. These teams like to play at VERY different tempos and I think it's going to be a problem for unrested Memphis here today. 8* UCF

8* Hawaii (11:30 ET): The Big West is one of the few leagues that does NOT provide any advantage to the top finishers from the regular season. The conference tournament is a straight ahead format w/ the top eight teams playing four quarterfinal matchups. Now the bottom two teams from the reg season don't even get a chance to play in the tournament, but considering how bad UC Riverside and Cal Poly both were, that's of little consequence. The final quarterfinal of Thursday pits 4-seed Hawaii against 5-seed Long Beach State. The Warriors will be looking to make it a 3-0 season sweep of the 49ers after beating them twice in a week two months ago. 

Long Beach State will arrive in Anaheim on a five-game win streak. But three of those wins were by five points or less and the other two were against the two teams that didn't qualify for this tournament. Before that stretch, LBSU had lost eight of nine w/ the only win coming in OT against Cal Poly (worst team in the Big West). At one point in the season, the 49ers were eight games below .500. Even w/ the strong finish, they are only 14-18 SU overall. Half of their eight league wins came against those bottom two teams. This is a team that gives up 79.5 PPG away from home.

Hawaii actually won a pair of games here on the mainland to end its regular season. They held Cal State Fullerton to 59 points in the regular season finale. Offensively, the Warriors turned in two of their better efforts of the year against LBSU. They tied a school record w/ 14 made three-pointers (on 27 attempts) in the second matchup, which was on the road. Note that Hawaii was one of only three teams in the entire Big West to finish the regular season w/ a winning SU record. They should easily move onto the semifinals to face one of the other two, top seeded UC Irvine (who is the clear class of the league). 8* Hawaii

10* Over Mavericks/Nuggets (10:35 ET): Denver got a much needed offensive outburst Tuesday night, scoring 133 points at the expense of the defensively challenged T'wolves. That snapped a nine-game Under streak for the Nuggets. More importantly (for them), it was a win, just their second in the last six games. Yet they are still very much alive for the top spot in the Western Conference, just one game back of the Warriors. Here, I think they should again put up a ton of points as they face a struggling Dallas team. Take the Over. 

The Mavericks have lost six in a row and 11 of their last 12. Not helping is the fact rookie sensation Luka Doncic is not 100%. Tuesday against San Antonio, Doncic didn't even score until the final minute of the first half. He finished w/ only 12 points and had nine turnovers. It was clearly one of the worst games of his career. Now, the last time Dallas faced Denver, they were w/o Doncic entirely. It was only the third game Doncic missed all season and the Mavs managed only 104 points on 40.5% shooting. Obviously, Doncic's health is worth monitoring here, but this Over bet stands with or without him.

Denver didn't shoot well in that previous meeting either, finishing w/ a FG% of only 40.8. They shot 60% against Minnesota Tuesday and upped their scoring average at home to 116.5 for the year. The Mavericks' scoring average hardly drops on the road, even though their won-loss record (6-27) is far worse than it is at home (21-13). The problem lies on the defensive end as they're giving up 113.1 PPG on the road, compared to just 106.3 PPG at home. When the teams met here in Denver earlier in the year (December), the final score was 126-118, an easy Over. Similar story here. 10* Over Mavericks/Nuggets

10* East Carolina (10:00 ET): This line would seem to be inflated even though Wichita State just drubbed East Carolina nine days ago. The Shockers won 72-55, as 14.5-point favorites, but of course that came was played in the friendly confines of Koch Arena. It was the second time beating the Pirates this year as back in February it was a 16-point win in Greenville. Wichita State certainly got hot down the stretch, winning 9 out of its last 11 games. Meanwhile, ECU has won just twice in its last 16 games and both wins were against horrendous Tulane. Despite those respective trajectories, I maintain the line is inflated and I'll take the points. 

When a team comes into its conference tournament red-hot, I think there needs to be a little trepidation when they start laying big numbers. Wichita State has a track record, but this edition is not the strongest. They really did beat up on the bottom of the American, a designation which clearly applies to East Carolina, but I'm not sure we should go trusting a team that was three games below .500 on January 26th and only 2-6 SU in conference play. Of the last nine wins, two were against ECU, two were against Tulane, two were against Tulsa, two were against SMU and the other vs. UConn. That's the bottom five teams in the American. Three were by three points or less, including the regular season finale vs. Tulane, who did not win a single conference game this season. 

East Carolina was clearly the American's second worst team this year w/ the only non-Tulane win being a shocker over Cincinnati. But down the stretch, they did have a few tough losses, including two in overtime. Over the last three seasons, they are 16-4 ATS following B2B games where they had five or less steals. Is anyone going to confuse the Pirates for a "good" team? No. But they deserve more credit than they are getting Thursday. Too many points for a team that shoots just 38.7% away from home (Wichita State) to lay. 10* East Carolina

8* South Florida (1:00 ET): The American's conference tournament gets going Thursday w/ four 1st round matchups. The winner here moves on to face top seed Houston, so the odds are long for either UConn or USF going very far in this event. Neither is exactly displaying "peak form" lately either. UConn no longer resembles the program once known for coming up huge in March. The Huskies have just two wins in their last nine games. One of them was against USF, who is just 1-6 its last seven games. Something will have to give here and surprisingly, I side w/ the Bulls in this one.

There were two regular season matchups between UConn and USF and they split the pair, each winning at home. UConn was clearly overvalued as a 3.5-pt road favorite back in January, losing 76-68. They did gain a measure of revenge just 11 days ago in Storrs, but won by only two points (70-68) and thus missed out on covering (were -3!). That second meeting was an ugly shooting day for both teams. Ironically, on the day they retired Ray Allen's number, UConn didn't make a single three-pointer (0 for 15). They shot just 38.5% for the game. Fortunately for the Huskies, USF was even worse overall (32.8%) even though they made three 3-pointers (3 of 18).

Here in Memphis, the teams should shoot better. But how much good shooting did UConn "use up" in their regular season finale against East Carolina. They shot 62.5% from the field in the 82-73 win as 6.5-pt road favorites. The Huskies definitely won't be shooting that well again today. South Florida is the superior defensive side in this one, giving up just 67.0 PPG, which is a respectable number. Certainly a lot better than UConn, who gives up 77.9 PPG away from Storrs. UConn also won just two games away from home all season. That is shockingly bad. 8* South Florida 

10* Oregon (11:30 ET): The Pac 12 was rightly maligned this season and may only end up sending one team to the Big Dance depending on how this tournament plays out. Regular season champ Washington figures to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament, but if they also emerge victorious this weekend in Las Vegas, then the rest of the league could very well be shutout. At the opposite end of the spectrum, there were two teams in the Pac 12 that turned in absolutely horrific regular seasons. Those were Washington State and Cal. I'll fade the former here as they've got no chance here. 

Oregon is a team that came into 2018-19 w/ high hopes, but those mostly went "out the window" when Bol Bol went down w/ a season-ending injury. Still, the Ducks have persevered and actually finished the regular season on a 4-0 SU/ATS run. One of those wins came against Washington State, by 11, as 6.5-pt road favorites. You'll note the spread is several points higher today (neutral setting) but the Ducks also beat the Cougars by 20 as 13-point favorites in Eugene earlier in the year. They also just knocked off Washington in the regular season finale. In three of the last four games, Oregon has not given up more than 51 points. 

Ironically, Wazzu was the one team to top 51 against the Ducks. But they may not do so here. The Cougars come into this game on a five-game losing streak, having failed to cover all five times as well. Defensively, they are very bad, giving up almost 80 PPG. (Oregon gives up only 63.7 PPG on the year). Having already taken two DD losses to the Ducks in the regular season, I don't see why the tournament will be any different for Wazzu. Oregon is 25-12 ATS the L3 seasons when coming off a conference win. 10* Oregon

10* Under Jazz/Suns (10:05 ET): Utah has taken a couple of "bad" losses recently. I went against them both times: a road loss to Memphis and home loss to OKC. In each instance, the Jazz were the betting favorite. Such is the case again tonight, but at least they're playing a Phoenix team that shouldn't provide much resistance. Then again, the Suns have gone 4-1 SU and 5-0 ATS their last five games. They just upset the Warriors (as 16.5-pt dogs!) in Oakland. So maybe this ISN'T the layup Utah is hoping for. Regardless, I'm taking the Under here as the Jazz are usually good defensively and the Suns have been better (at least recently). 

In those last two games, the Jazz did not shoot the ball well. They finished the Memphis game w/ a 42.7 FG% and were even worse against OKC (36.4%). Admittedly, those are two of the better defensive teams in the league. Phoenix is near the bottom of the league in both points allowed and efficiency. But aside from a 127-120 loss at Portland, the Suns have been much better on the defensive end of late. During the five-game ATS win streak, they've allowed an average of "just" 109.6 PPG. The four games besides the Portland one saw them give up no more than 111. The Under is also 4-1 in the Suns' last five home games. 

The Under is also 4-1 in the last five meetings between these two. None of those five totals were as high as this one is. The only previous matchup this season saw the Jazz hold Phoenix to 88 points. Now that was in Salt Lake City and the Suns were without their top two scorers. They also went just 3 of 17 from behind the three-point line. But I still maintain this O/U is too high. Utah scored only 89 points against OKC on Monday and isn't really an offensive juggernaut to begin with. The Under is 5-0 the last five times the Jazz have been off an ATS loss and I expect this to be a pretty low-scoring affair. 10* Under Jazz/Suns 

8* Marshall (10:00 ET): Marshall is a team I've jumped on a couple of times recently and both times they easily covered. In some ways the Thundering Herd benefited from C-USA's wacky "pod" system of scheduling at the end of the regular season. After every team played 14 games, the teams were grouped 1-5, 6-10 and 11-14. You then only played the teams in your own pod. Marshall swept their pod, going 4-0 SU and ATS. Thus, they actually finished tied w/ the second best record (11-7 SU) in league play. Yet because of said "pod" system, they're still seeded 6th. So that is to their detriment as they won't even get a 1st round bye in the C-USA Tournament. 

But expect the Herd to make some noise in this event. Sure, I made the point that this is a much better team at home (where they won't be playing anymore). But they're hot. Also remember that this was a NCAA Tournament team a year ago (won 25 games!) and returned four starters. It was absolutely a disappointing start to the season, but they have the horses to finish strong. Their 1st opponent in the C-USA Tournament is Rice, who has been playing all of its recent games against the lowest tier of teams in the league. Facing Marshall will be a big step up in class for the Owls. 

Because Rice was in the 11-14 pod, they actually played the same team back to back in their last two regular season games. It was Charlotte, who didn't even qualify for the tournament. The Owls really had nothing to play for in their last game (though it was Senior Day) and they lost to the 49ers 78-70 as 5.5-pt favorites. Two of Rice's recent wins came against the two teams that did not make this tournament: Charlotte and UTEP. They did beat Marshall earlier in the year, 74-69, but that was at home. So revenge comes into play here and I don't think the Thundering Herd will take it easy on the Owls.  8* Marshall 

8* USC (3:00 ET): What a tumultuous season in Tucson as the Arizona program has been clouded by the specter of this NCAA investigation. It would almost be appropriate then for the Wildcats to bow out in the first round of the Pac 12 Tourney. They did have a three-game win streak in late February, but those are the only wins for the team going all the way back to late January. Overall, the Wildcats come into the postseason tourney having dropped 9 of their last 12 games, both SU and ATS. USC hasn't been much better, but the Trojans did Arizona 80-57 in the regular season. 

USC has lost and failed to cover four in a row. But they had a tough schedule at the end of the reg season, having to play the final three games on the road. You may recall that I faded them last Saturday in Colorado. It was actually my *10* Game of the Week. But the thinking there was CU was a terrible matchup for the Trojans, both in terms of rebounding and getting the game in Boulder. That wound up being true. Today's game is not in hostile territory and Arizona happens to be one of the two teams in the Pac 12 averaging fewer rebounds per game than the Trojans. 

In the 80-57 blowout of the Wildcats in the regular season, USC completely dominated every facet including the boards. They held Arizona to 27.8% shooting, including 5 of 25 from three-point range. It was arguably their best game all season, certainly in conference play. An argument can be made that USC deserved a better regular season record as they were 0-3 in overtime games. The Trojans should defend better here (compared to recent efforts) and they are the better three-point shooting team. 8* USC

8* Omaha (9:00 ET): This is the Summit League Finals. The top seed in this tournament (South Dakota State) was stunned in the Opening Round, losing to a bad Western Illinois team. That result has certainly "opened the door" for #2 seed Omaha to advance to its first ever NCAA Tournament (program was not D-I until 2011-12 season). The Mavericks have played two close games so far here in Sioux Falls as have their opponents, North Dakota State. Carson Wentz's alma mater was a more direct beneficiary of South Dakota State getting knocked out early as the Bison got to play Western Illinois in the semifinals yday. But they won only 76-73.

The Bison's leading scorer Tyson Ward made just 1 of 6 field goal attempts yday, but he and the rest of the team got bailed out by a season-best 20 pt effort from Sam Griesel. NDSU did lead by as many as 15 early in the 1st Half, but could not shake the Leathernecks and actually trailed briefly w/ less than 10 minutes remaining. I can't stress enough how bad Western Illinois was during the regular season. This is a big step up in class for the Bison tonight and they've already lost twice to Omaha during the regular season. Those games were decided by a total of 21 points.

Those two regular season meetings played out very differently w/ Omaha winning 90-77 at home and 58-50 on the road. The Mavericks come in off a 1-pt victory over IUPFW last night where they were held to a season-low 24 pts in the second half. But they didn't allow a single basket over the game's final four minutes either. A quick look at the regular season standings confirms that South Dakota State and Omaha were the clear class of the Summit League this year. Again, it's a major break for the Mavericks not to have to deal w/ the top seed here (who would be playing on its home court). I look for them to move on. 8* Omaha

10* LA Lakers (8:05 ET): Imagine thinking the Lakers were going to make the playoffs this year. LeBron James made what I considered a pretty "lateral" move (in a basketball sense), leaving the Cavs for LA as the roster he joined on the West Coast wasn't much better than what he was playing w/ in Cleveland. Plus, he was moving to the (much) tougher conference for the 1st time. The end result is the Lakers will be considered one of the most disappointing teams in the league for 2018-19, even if it actually benefits them long-term to MISS the playoffs. 

James missed a lot of time after injuring his groin on X-Mas Day. But since he came back, the Lakers are only 4-10 SU in the games that he has played. He'll be working on a minutes restriction the rest of the way plus the team's 3rd leading scorer (Brandon Ingram) and point guard (Lonzo Ball) have already been shut down for the season. The team's #2 scorer (Kyle Kuzma) has also missed three straight games w/ an ankle injury, though there is a chance he could return for tonight's game in Chicago. James will play, carrying a real "skeleton crew" into the Windy City as the Lakers look to snap a rather ugly five-game losing streak.

As dire as things seem for the Lakers right now, with LeBron they can still defeat the lowly Bulls, who could be w/o their leading scorer Zach LaVine here. LaVine (23.3 PPG) sat in Sunday's 131-108 loss in Detroit, a poor effort even by this team's low standard. Even w/ LaVine in the lineup, the Bulls are dead last in the league in offensive efficiency. At home, the Lakers beat the Bulls by seven back in January. I know LA is 0-8 ATS its last eight games, but this is a real "buy low" spot on them and I expect them to be motivated to win. 10* LA Lakers 

10* Under Appalachian State/LA Monroe (8:00 ET): The Sun Belt Tournament gets underway Tuesday w/ a pair of 1st round matchups. LA Monroe is forced to play this "extra" game due to losing a head to head tiebreak w/ Coastal Carolina. I don't envision Appalachian State providing much resistance, however, laying this many points w/ the Warhawks doesn't sound like a particularly good idea either. What I do like here is the total. It was set way too high considering both teams have been going Under far more than they have been going Over of late. App State is 5-1 Under its last six games while ULM is 5-2 Under in its last seven. Take the Under here. 

The rest of the SBC Tournament will take place down in New Orleans, but these 1st round games are at campus sites. That's a big edge to LA Monroe tonight (as well as for South Alabama playing Arkansas State). The Warhawks went 12-2 SU at home during the regular season and did average an impressive 84.6 PPG. They shot very well vs. App State in both regular season meetings (above 51% both games) and averaged 82.5 PPG. But this is the postseason now and I don't think we'll be seeing that level of scoring. Note that La Monroe just turned in one of its better defensive efforts, holding Little Rock to 62 pts in the regular season finale.

App State shot 56.5% from the field in the first game vs. La Monroe. But that was at home and a season-best FG%, at least for conference play. The Mountaineers were held to 43.5% in the rematch, which took place on 2.28. Thus, that second meeting was lower scoring and stayed Under. Things would have been even worse offensively for ASU in that game had it not been for a career-high 47 pts from Ronshad Shabazz. Simply put, I'm NOT expecting the Mountaineers to score much here. They shot just 39.0% in the reg season finale vs. South Alabama. La Monroe shot just 41.1% in its last game and only got to 79 pts because of a big night at the free throw line. 10* Under Appalachian State/LA Monroe 

8* San Diego (11:30 ET): It's become almost automatic for Gonzaga and St. Mary's to meet in the WCC Tournament Final every year. In fact, we've gotten that exact Finals pairing 7 out of the last 10 years (but not last year). The three times we didn't see the pairing, BYU made it in place of St. Marys. (Gonzaga has made the Final every year since 1997!) As per usual, Gonzaga and St. Mary's have received the double byes into tonight's semifinal round by virtue of finishing 1-2 in the regular season. But there's an upset-minded team looking to spoil the party this year and it's San Diego, who has gotten on a real late-season "roll." 

This year's WCC Tournament has already featured plenty of upsets as neither Gonzaga nor St. Mary's will be facing "who they thought they would." San Diego is the 7-seed and just stunned BYU 80-57 on Saturday to get here. It was the Toreros' third straight excellent defensive performance in this tournament. They'd previously held Portland to 47 points on 33.3% shooting and Santa Clara to 45 points on 27.8% shooting. Now those were games they were favored to win. But they were 3.5-point dogs against BYU and limited them to 31% shooting from the field. I'm counting on that USD defense coming up big again tonight. 

St. Mary's has been off since 3/2 when they lost the regular season finale, at home, to Gonzaga. They were held to just 55 points in that contest, which is bad news considering the team's 18-32 ATS record the L3 seasons coming off an Under. The Gaels are not as strong this year as they have been in past years. Now don't tell that to San Diego, who will be playing w/ double revenge here for a pair of double digit losses in the regular season. The Toreros shot the ball horribly (29.4%) the last meeting, which I don't expect to be the case here. In what figures to be a low-scoring game, taking the points is the way to go. 8* San Diego

10* Oklahoma City (9:05 ET): As much respect as I have for the Jazz (remember, I called for them to go on a big January run and they did), I don't like them laying points to a superior team like the Thunder, even at home. Yes, OKC has gone just 1-9 ATS its last 10 games. But they were in a horrible spot their last game, coming off a win in overtime at Portland and playing w/o rest against the Clippers. They lost 118-110, but I'm calling for a bounce back here as this team is "due" to start covering. Take the points. 

You may recall that I just played AGAINST Utah in their most recent game. I took Memphis, as a home dog, and they beat the Jazz outright by a score of 114-104. Utah trailed most of the way and was forced into an unusually high number of three-point attempts. Now the Grizzlies do lead the NBA in scoring defense. But OKC isn't too shabby in the defensive department either, ranking 5th in efficiency. Three players fouled out in Friday's loss to the Clippers, including Paul George and Russell Westbrook, which obviously didn't help in an already less than advantageous situation.

The Thunder are 3-0 against the Jazz this season, including two one-point victories. The last time they played was Feb 22nd and that was a double overtime game. It's pretty surprising that OKC has only three wins in its last 10 games, two of them requiring OT and the other coming by just four points. They are too talented for such a streak to continue and I believe the better team is getting points in this one. The Thunder are a solid 9-6 ATS when getting points this season and Utah has failed to cover four of the last five times it has been favored, losing two of those games outright. 10* Oklahoma City

10* Eastern Michigan (7:00 ET): The MAC Tournament gets underway Monday. These 1st round matchups are being played at campus sites, quite an edge for the home teams, who will have to win four times this week to make the Big Dance (next three rounds all played in Cleveland). Here we have the #6 vs. #11 seed matchup w/ Eastern Michigan hosting Ball State. The latter did not end its regular season well (at all) as it dropped five of six, the lone win coming by just a single bucket. Overall, Ball State is 2-11 ATS its last 13 games w/ seven straight non-covers.

So laying just a small number w/ EMU seems to be a good idea here, especially considering they swept the regular season series. It was a two-point win in Muncie back in January, then a seven-point win here in Ypsilanti just a week ago. Last week's game saw the Eagles largely in control from start to finish. They led by 12 at halftime and held the Cardinals to 38.5% shooting for the game. For the season, Eastern Michigan went 11-6 SU here at home while holding foes to 66.2 PPG on just 40.2% shooting. Ball State has averaged just 61.4 points over its last five games.

The Cardinals' regular season ended w/ a 64-57 loss at home to Northern Illinois (were 5-pt favorites). They are 9-26 ATS the L3 seasons when coming off a game that went Under the total. Eastern Michigan also lost its reg season finale, but covered the spread at Toledo in a six-point defeat. They are a perfect 3-0 SU and ATS off their previous three losses and I trust the Eagles' defense to get the job done here. Ball State is basically a wounded animal at this point, waiting to be put out of its misery. 10* Eastern Michigan

8* Wofford (7:00 ET): This is the Southern Conference Final and top-seeded Wofford is in the rare position of being a "smaller" mid-major that does NOT have to win its conference tournament. The Terriers are ranked 22nd in the country coming into Monday and will likely be even higher once the new poll comes out later today. I say that because they're now on a 19-game win streak (school record) after rather easily dispatching of East Tennessee State in the semifinals yesterday. But despite their "assured" NCAA Tournament status, I'm still laying the points here w/ Wofford as they have something to prove.

Because they "need" to win tonight, I'm figuring UNC Greensboro might be a pretty popular underdog tonight. But the Spartans have expended a lot of energy the last two days in coming from behind to defeat both Samford and Furman. Sunday, they ended the game on a 21-10 run to win 66-62. Saturday, they were down 12 to 7-seed Samford at the half and down six w/ six minutes to go. Privately, I think Wofford has to be ecstatic to draw UNC Greensboro in this spot, rather than Furman, who I had rated as the stronger potential opponent. 

UNC Greensboro has pulled off a number of come from behind efforts to get to 28-5 SU on the year. But they got drilled both times they faced Wofford, losing by 29 and 30 points. With this game being on national TV, I don't think Wofford is going to be prone to any sort of letdown. Rather, I look for them to make their presence felt on a national level as they look to go into the NCAA Tournament w/ a fairly decent seed (a 6 or 7?). The Terriers are 20-0 SU vs. the rest of the SoCon, winning by an average margin of 17 PPG. They have covered the spread in 10 of their last 11 games, only failing when the were asked to lay 23.5 against VMI. 8* Wofford

10* Memphis (6:05 ET): The Grizzlies came through for me in a major way Friday night, upsetting the Jazz (here at home) by a score of 114-104. The most impressive thing about that win is the Grizz led virtually "wire to wire" against a very good team. If they can beat Utah, then certainly they can beat Orlando, even as the Magic try and jockey themselves into playoff position in the Eastern Conference. Orlando just beat Dallas Friday night, but they weren't as fortunate at the betting window as they failed to cover as 6.5-pt chalk (won 111-106). Unfortunately for them, they were outscored 33-19 in the fourth quarter. 

As I stated in the writeup for Friday night's play on Memphis, they are a good defensive team, which will allow them to stay in most games. This has been the basis for me taking them multiple times in the home dog role. They now rank #1 in the league in scoring defense (103.8 PPG allowed), just ahead of Indiana. They forced the Jazz into taking an abnormal number of three-pointers Friday. As for the Grizzlies' offense, it does rank near the bottom of the league, but there are now several new pieces starting to gel together. Count Jonas Valanciunas among them. He contributed 27 pts against the Jazz and is now averaging 19.2 PPG on 61.5% shooting in six games here. 

Orlando has failed to cover in three straight and this could be a rare instance of them going off as a road favorite. That's only happened six times previously this season and they've lost three of those six games outright. My own personal numbers indicate Memphis should be favored here as they go for their first three-game win streak since November. The Grizzlies are 4-0 ATS in March and have played better than the SU record would indicate. I'll continue to take them until the oddsmakers give them the respect they deserve. 10* Memphis

10* Over Wisconsin/Ohio State (4:30 ET): Wisconsin needs a win today to lock up the #4 seed in the Big 10 Tournament while Ohio State is just trying to get off the NCAA Tournament bubble. A loss today in the home finale would drop the Buckeyes to 8-12 SU in the Big 10, not a death knell, but they are on pretty shaky ground and trending downward w/o their leading scorer/rebounder Kaleb Wesson. Despite OSU playing without Wesson and Wisconsin being incredibly stingy at the defensive end, I expect this game to go Over the total, which is too low. The teams have not met previously this season. 

In the two games so far w/o Wesson, Ohio State has scored only 51 and 50 points in losses to Purdue and Northwestern. But both of those games were also played on the road. Here in Columbus, the Buckeyes are averaging a far more impressive 75.8 PPG. Even with Wesson playing in most of the games, they average only 59.8 points in "true" road games. The Under is 9-3 in those true roadies, but the Over is 12-6 in all other OSU games this season. The Buckeyes played a horrible game at N'western on Wednesday, missing the first 13 shots they took and finishing the game just 26.6% from the floor, including 4 of 26 on three-pointers. They can't possibly shoot any worse today. 

Wisconsin just allowed its season-low in its last game (45 points) vs. Iowa, but that was also the third time the Badgers held an opponent below 50 pts this season. They are top five in the country in defensive efficiency. But despite all that, I'm still looking for an Over here as Wisconsin did give up 75 points in its last road game plus they should find their way offensively against a struggling Ohio State squad. The Over has cashed each of the last four times these teams have played and is 7-3 in the Buckeyes' last 10 home games. The Over is also 4-0 in Wisconsin's last four games vs. teams with an overall winning record. Look for this one to sneak Over. 10* Over Wisconsin/Ohio State

8* Under Bulls/Pistons (12:05 ET): Two of the worst shooting teams in the league, statistically speaking, collide Sunday afternoon in the Motor City. The Pistons are red hot and as a result have seized the 6th spot in the Eastern Conference pecking order. They've won 11 of 13 w/ the most recent win coming Friday against these Bulls. That game saw them come back from a 21-point deficit, scoring 43 pts in the fourth quarter. Playing at home, Detroit is unlikely to fall into any sort of similar deficit just as they are not likely to have a 43-point quarter again. Nor are the Bulls probably going to turn in a 66-point half here. Take the Under. 

Chicago raced out to a 66-49 halftime advantage on Friday, based on the strength of forcing 11 first half turnovers, which were converted into 20 points. In the 2H, they forced only seven turnovers and those were converted into just four points. As alluded to above, the Bulls are not a sharp shooting team. They are dead last in the league in offensive efficiency. Note that despite the big 1st half from the Bulls on Friday, and the Pistons' huge 4Q comeback, the game still stayed Under by a few points. The Bulls shot 51% from the floor Friday. The last time they shot above 50%, they went Under in their next game. 

Detroit finished w/ a 54.2 FG% Friday, a number usually uncommon for them. Now it was the third time this month that they shot 53% or better and the Over is still 9-2 in the Pistons' last 11 games. However, this is a team that still ranks 28th in the league in field goal percentage (at 44.1). Only Cleveland and New York are below them. One positive for Detroit here is they shouldn't have to worry much about the Bulls from behind the three-point line. Chicago is 27th in the league in three-point attempts and 29th in three-pointers made per game. Familiarity breeds an Under. 8* Under Bulls/Pistons

10* Under Suns-Blazers (10:05 ET): The Suns arrive in Portland on a rare three-game win streak and have won four of their last five overall. Though not a season-best win streak, they can match it w/ another win tonight (previous 4-game win streak took place back in December). Easier said than done, however, as they'll be playing a Blazers team that's looking to bounce back from a couple of defeats. Also, the entirety of Phoenix's current win streak has come at home. They have the fewest number of road wins in the league (5) and have dropped nine in a row to Portland.

The Blazers are off B2B losses for the 1st time since right before the All-Star Break. Previously, they had won six of seven w/ the only loss coming by two points at Toronto. Poor defensive efforts were the culprit in both defeats, more notably when they gave up 120 pts to a Memphis team that is last in the league in scoring. The 129-121 loss to OKC was an overtime game that saw Damian Lillard get ejected at the end of regulation, a game where he scored 51 points. But Lillard's teammates did not shoot the ball particularly well. It will likely be a more even distribution of scoring tonight. 

Portland has gone Over in four straight while Phoenix has gone Under in three straight. So something's gotta give tonight. The Suns are a poor defensive team playing on the road, but I still believe this total is too high. Suns' games still "only" average 222.5 PPG. Blazers' games average 224.1 PPG. Portland is a much better defensive team at home (only 108.6 PPG allowed) and the Under is 6-1 in their last seven games after giving up 125 or more the previous time out. The total here is significantly higher than what it closed at for the teams' last meeting back in January. 10* Under Suns/Blazers 

8* Neb-Omaha (9:30 ET): This is a quarterfinal in the Summit League Tournament, which gets going today in Sioux Falls, SD. Second seeded Omaha is one of two teams that really dominated this league during the regular season (top seed South Dakota St being the other). There's quite a gap between those two teams and the rest of the field, so I thought it would be an opportune time to take advantage of that fact w/ the pointspread being widely available (not always the case in the Summit League). Omaha should easily roll onto the semifinals. Lay the points. 

The Mavericks went 13-3 SU in conference play during the regular season. They split w/ South Dakota St (who finished 14-2 SU), but unfortunately were swept by Oral Roberts, losing both times by four points or less. But overall, this is a team that has won 16 out of its last 19 games, including 12 of 14. They concluded the regular season w/ an easy win over last place Denver (who didn't even qualify for the tournament), 86-76 as a four-point favorite. That was the Mavericks' 3rd straight road game. 

Omaha's quarterfinal opponent is a North Dakota team they beat twice during the regular season, scoring 90+ pts in both games. The road win was a lot closer (92-91) as the Mavericks breezed to a 90-72 win at home. The Fighting Hawks did have a three-game win streak snapped in their reg season finale as they lost by 15 at South Dakota. But note before that three-game win streak, the Fighting Hawks were just 3-9 SU in league play. They were a perfect 4-0 against Western Illinois and Denver, the two worst teams in the league, and just 2-10 SU vs. everyone else. The last time these teams played, Omaha shot a blistering 56.5% from the field. 8* Neb-Omaha

10* Colorado (5:00 ET): This would appear to be the proverbial "two ships sailing in opposite directions" type deal. USC has lost three in a row and six of eight (also 2-6 ATS). Colorado has won and covered seven of its last nine games, including B2B blowouts here in Boulder. The Buffaloes still have a chance to finish in the top four in the Pac 12, if Oregon State were to lose at Washington State or if Utah lost at home to UCLA. That would mean a first round bye in next week's conference tournament. They have beaten USC 8 of the last 12 meetings, including 69-65 (as 4.5-pt dogs) back on Feb 5 in LA. At home, the Buffs should roll today.

USC has been pretty horrific on the defensive end of late. They've given up a combined 176 pts the L2 games, including 22 made three-pointers. Consider that the Trojans shot better than 55% from the field Thursday and still lost by nine to Utah. This is their second three-game losing streak in Pac 12 play this season. Unlike the first time, they don't have the luxury of facing Cal the next time out. They are 1-8 ATS their last nine road games against teams with winning home records. They give up 82.8 PPG on the road this year and Colorado has gone 12-3 SU here in Boulder this season. 

A big edge for CU in this matchup comes on the glass. They are the top team in the Pac 12 in rebounding differential (+5.5 per game) while USC ranks 10th (-1.7). USC was really dominated on the glass by Utah on Thursday. No Pac 12 team likes the "2nd road game in three days" scenario, but Boulder is a particularly tough place to play (altitude). Colorado crushed UCLA at home Thursday night, 93-68, as six-point chalk. For a second straight game, they held their opponents below 40% shooting. It would appear as if the Buffs have all the key advantages heading into this one and I'm expecting a rout. 10* Colorado

10* Marshall (12:00 ET): I jumped all over the Thundering Herd earlier in the week and they rewarded us w/ an easy 94-78 win and cover over FIU. I had said that this was a completely different team at home and sure enough, they responded in kind. For the season, they are now 11-3 SU in Huntington and averaging an impresive 87.9 PPG. I also went over how the "pod" format being used by Conference USA may end up hurting the Herd, but the bottom line is I expect them to continue a strong finish to the regular season here in the finale vs. Florida Atlantic. Lay the points.

For awhile there, Marshall was having a real rough go of it, especially at the betting window. There was a stretch where they'd lost seven of eight game and things got even worse ATS w/ a 10-game slide. That's what landed them in the "pod" w/ the middle of the pack C-USA teams, rather than competing for a top five seed w/ the big boys. I went over this unique "pod" format in the last writeup. But just to rehash, after every C-USA team played 14 games, they were broken up into three groups. If you were a top five team after the 14-game mark, you were assured no worse than a top five seed for the conference tourney, but would only play fellow top five teams for the remainder of the regular season. The same thing holds true for the teams that were 6 through 10 in the standings as well as 11 through 14. 

The bottom line is that Marshall has taken advantage of their "pod" and finishing strong. They've now won four straight, scoring 85 or more pts in every game. Despite likely entering the C-USA Tournament as the probable 6-seed, there's a chance they could end the season actually tied for 2nd place in the standings, which is kinda unlucky. They've already beaten FAU once this season, 96-84 here in Huntington. They were 11-pt favorites for that game. Curiously, they are laying a lot less for the rematch. As stated in the previous writeup, Marshall has underachieved this season as they returned four starters from LY's 25-win team. FAU just took a brutal three-point home loss to La Tech on Wednesday following a six-day layoff. That makes this a pretty rough spot facing an opponent that's started to rediscover itself. 10* Marshall 

8* Golden State (10:35 ET): The last time that the top two teams in the Western Conference faced off, Denver was feeling pretty good about itself. They came in ahead of Golden State in the standings and had won 8 of their last 10 games. Plus, they were getting the Warriors at home. It quickly turned into a nightmare though w/ the Dubs erupting for a NBA-record 51 point 1st quarter en route to a 142-111 thrashing. I seriously doubt that things will be that one-sided again tonight, but the end result will be the same w/ Golden State coming out ahead by a comfortable margin.

Warriors HC Steve Kerr has come out and said that the team owes the paying customers at Oracle Arena a better effort. He was referring to the fact they just lost here at home to Boston, by 33 points, which was the worst home loss of the Kerr-era. Thus I suspect Denver is again likely to feel the wrath of Golden State here. I know that the Dubs have not been a great team to bet on this season (worst ATS record in the league!), but they are usually "money" coming off a SU loss. They are just 2-12 ATS their L14 games overall, so we're getting them at a cheap price as a result. 

This is a really important game considering the Warriors have just a one-game edge over the Nuggets on the standings. It's on ESPN. I don't expect Golden State to lose in such a spot and the pointspread just seems rather short. Despite the fact they haven't been nearly as dominant as past years, this year's Warriors still sport the second best efficiency rating and point differential in the league (trailing only Milwaukee in both categories). After losing four of their last six games outright, the Dubs should be in an ornery mood at Oracle tonight and looking to prove a point. 8* Golden State 

10* Memphis (8:00 ET): The Grizzlies are a team I've used w/ high frequency of late. That may seem odd, given where they currently reside at in the standings, but they're #2 in the league in scoring defense and almost always getting points. That's a solid combo and a big reason why they have covered three straight and four out of their last five. During that time, they've beaten the Lakers, Dallas (by 30!) and Portland. The two losses were by a combined six points. Their last four losses have been by a total of 17 pts. So in what figures to be a low-scoring game here vs. Utah, I'm grabbing the points.

Utah was able to avenge a loss to New Orleans its last time out. They had dropped the front end of a home and home w/ the Pelicans Monday, losing 115-112 at home. But they bounced back w/ a 114-104 win in the Big Easy Wednesday night. Note that Anthony Davis played only limited minutes in both games. Utah is a good team, but only a .500 proposition on the road, which makes laying points seem like a bad idea in this situation. Memphis is only giving up 102 PPG at home this year, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that they are 9-6 ATS as a home dog. 

Excluding the second night of back to backs, Memphis has been a profitable team to bet on this season. They've also fared better against their own conference than they have against the East, which seems odd. Though most generally don't think of them this way, Utah has actually been an underachiever this season as they have been favored in 48 of their 64 games. I expect them to finish the season pretty well, but the Grizzlies have given them trouble, winning two of the previous three matchups (all took place before Thanksgiving). Interestingly, both times they won, the game was in Salt Lake City. The Jazz failed to top 100 points in all three games. 10* Memphis

8* Cornell (7:00 ET): Cornell has lost five in a row, the last four all coming out on the road and those four road losses got progressively worse (in terms of margin) as the trip wore on. It was a nine-point loss to Princeton, 18 pt loss to Penn, 23 pt loss to Yale and 24 pt loss to Brown. Fortunately, the Big Red get the final two games of the regular season at home. The first is against a Harvard team they already beat once, 67-61 as 9.5-point road dogs. Going by that line and result, it would certainly appear as if we're getting some solid value on the home dog for tonight's rematch. Take the points.

Harvard is tied w/ Yale for the conference lead and swept the regular season series, so they have the tiebreaker. That means all the Crimson need to do is win their final two games and they are Ivy League regular season champs. But these last two games are both on the road where they are just 6-7 SU this season and have been outscored. The Crimson have won three straight, but all three wins were by single digits and the last two came at home. They shot 51.2% in the 1st meeting w/ Cornell and still lost. I don't imagine they'll shoot that well again.

Cornell actually pulled off a stunning rally in upsetting Harvard the first time around, coming back from a 13-point halftime deficit to take the game outright. They scored 46 pts in the second half after scoring only 21 in the 1st. They did have almost a 2:1 edge in FT attempts, but that could very well be the case again tonight as they are playing at home. Something to keep in mind about Cornell is that they have played 17 of their 28 games on the road. They're a solid 7-4 SU at home and tonight will be just the fourth time they've gotten points in their own gym. 8* Cornell

10* Buffalo (6:00 ET): Though 19th ranked Buffalo has already clinched the MAC regular season title, expect no shortage of motivation from them Friday night. First off, it's Senior Night. Secondly, they'll be looking to avenge one of the two losses they suffered in conference play this year. This is the first time all season UB finds itself in a revenge spot. There was no rematch with the other MAC team they lost to (Northern Illinois). So Bowling Green should be forewarned that this final game of the regular season could get pretty ugly for them. Lay the points.

It was back on February 1st that Buffalo lost at BG, 92-88 as an eight-point road favorite. The loss to Northern Illinois was by just a single point, so this team is seven points away from being on the verge of completing a perfect MAC season. The Bulls' 27-3 (SU) record puts them as one of six teams in the country w/ an overall win % of .900 or better. They are perfect here at home (14-0), outscoring opponents by 23.2 PPG. They have outscored conference opponents by 14.2 PPG, whether it's home or the road. The first meeting w/ BG saw them blow an eight-point halftime lead. They haven't forgotten. 

Bowling Green has sputtered some down the stretch, losing three of its last four. Their last game was easily the worst performance of the season as they were drubbed by Akron, 91-67 (as 2.5-pt dogs). Giving up that many points to an offensively challenged team like Akron is not a good sign for tonight. The Zips shot nearly 58% from the floor and were 14 of 31 from three-point range despite coming in as the MAC's worst 3-pt shooting team. I realize that Buffalo is 0-3 ATS its last three games, but two were on the road. The Bulls were 15 of 34 from behind the arc in their last game. This is an experienced group, so Senior Night is a big deal, and a win here would set a new school record for a single season. 10* Buffalo

8* Illinois State (9:35 ET): The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament gets going Thursday and as always the event takes place in St. Louis. Tonight, the bottom four teams must play just to get into the quarterfinals. I like Illinois State's chances against last place Evansville. While the regular season didn't end particularly well for the Redbirds, they did sweep both meetings from Evansville. They won comfortably both times as well. So I don't think doing so a third time will be much trouble here. Evansville has posted only two SU wins since January 16th! Lay the points. 

One of those two Evansville victories came in the reg season finale, an upset of Valparaiso (on the road) as five-point underdogs. Ironically, the only two games that the Purple Aces won over the last two months both came at Valpo's expense. They'd lost seven in a row between the victories and are just 2-11 SU the L13 games overall. Last weekend's win was all the more surprising because Evansville had just one "true" road win prior to it. Following a SU win, the Purple Aces are just 2-8 SU, 3-6 ATS this season. I just don't see them winning B2B games at this juncture. 

Illinois State held Evansville to 38.2 and 32.7 percent shooting in its two regular season victories. The Redbirds have lost six of eight themselves and got somewhat of a "raw deal" having to play this extra tournament game as they finished tied w/ Northern Iowa for 6th, but lost the tiebreaker. Outside of Normal, ISU hasn't exactly been "gangbusters," but they did win at Evansville. They lost the regular season finale at Southern Illinois despite four players finishing in double digits. Interesting here to note is that Illinois State is 17-5 SU all-time in the MVC Tournament when playing an opponent they swept in the regular season. That includes 10 straight wins, four of them coming against Evansville. The Purple Aces are also short-handed w/ Dainius Chatkevicius still suspended. 8* Illinois State 

10* Coastal Carolina (7:00 ET): We're into the final week of the Sun Belt's regular season slate and both teams here figure to finish in the middle of the league's pack. Coastal Carolina's SBC record is 8-8 SU as they just pulled off a nice upset over the weekend, going on the road and beating La Monroe 97-91 as 5.5-point pups. South Alabama perhaps pulled off a bigger shocker, beating 1st place Texas State 77-63 as 3-pt dogs, albeit at home. This is a revenge spot for CC after losing by seven down in Mobile back in January. I think they get the job done in Thursday's rematch. Lay the points.

Coastal Carolina had dropped five of six before beating La Monroe Saturday. Devante Jones scored a season-high 30 pts for the Chanticleers in the upset and Zac Cuthbertson added 25. The win snapped a four-game losing streak on the road. But here at home Coastal Carolina is 8-3 SU and outscores opponents by a healthy 12.2 PPG. Their final two regular season games are both here in Conway. Note that if the Chanticleers were to sweep this week, then there is a chance they could finish fifth in the Sun Belt. They've covered four of their last five at home and are 14-5-1 ATS the L20 times off a SU win.

South Alabama really lucked out Saturday when Texas State's leading scorer Nijal Pearson (18 PPG) failed to make a single shot from the field (0 for 8). The Jaguars were able to pull away in the second half, but I certainly wouldn't look for them to shoot 62.8% from the floor again nor 10 of 17 from three-point range. They really killed Texas State from three-point range as the Bobcats were just 5 of 25. Note USA is just 2-9 SU on the road this season and sees their scoring average dip down to 68.2 PPG. The win over Texas State represents their best offensive game (in terms of shooting %) this entire season. 10* Coastal Carolina

8* Over Knicks/Suns (9:05 ET): The Suns have actually won three of their last four games, which includes shocking triumphs over the Lakers and Bucks. But tonight's opponent can attest to the fact that when you're a bad team, the "good times" don't often last for very long. It wasn't too long ago that the Knicks had won three of four, but they've since reverted back to their "past ways" by losing three straight. That leaves NY at a putrid 4-30 SU their L34 games. In a battle of teams w/ the worst SU records in their respective conferences, I expect plenty of points to be scored in this one. Take the Over.

Phoenix has scored no fewer than 112 pts in each of its last five games. But it was a stunning effort at the defensive end that was largely responsible for Monday's upset of the Bucks here at home. The Suns held Milwaukee, the league's 2nd highest scoring team to just 105 pts on 36.8% shooting. It was the second time upsetting the Bucks this season. But suffice to say such a defensive effort is quite "out of the ordinary" considering the Suns rank 28th in the league in points allowed and 29th in defensive efficiency. After B2B games (both wins) where they allowed fewer than their season average, expect Phoenix to regress tonight defensively. 

The Knicks have given up plenty of points recently. Five of their last six opponents have scored at least 115 and they too are a bottom five team in defensive efficiency for the season. The first time these teams met, which was back in December, saw the Suns prevail 128-110 in MSG. A similar combined point total here is definitely not out of the question considering neither side really has anything to play for and thus defense will be "lax." Honestly, with the two teams separated by just one-half game in the "race" for the league's worst record, the loser here is probably the ultimate winner. 8* Over Knicks/Suns 

10* Charlotte (7:05 ET): These two Southeast Division teams met twice in October and haven't played since. The Hornets took both games, a stark contrast to the way the rivalry had gone in recent seasons. Coming into 2018-19, the Heat had gone on a six-game SU win streak (5-0-1 ATS) at Charlotte's expense. Tonight's game might be as important as any of those prior contests. That's because the Hornets and Heat come into Wednesday tied for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Despite sporting 29-34 records, they are actually tied for the division lead, one-half game up on Orlando. 

The Hornets can be incredibly maddening, particularly when it comes to their shortcomings in "close games." Over the L3 seasons, the team's record in games decided by three points or less is an unfathomable 4-24 SU. They come into tonight having dropped 8 of 11 overall, including 118-108 here at home to Portland on Monday. But even w/ that loss, Charlotte is still 20-13 SU on its homecourt, a vast improvement from their 9-21 SU road record. Another positive is that the Hornets are 7-3 ATS their L10 games vs. teams w/ a losing record. 

Miami has dropped 9 of 11 (w/ three 3-game losing skids), but has since rebounded to win three of its last four games. The latest win came by just a point over Atlanta, 114-113, even though they outshot the Hawks 55.7% to 41.8%. (The key was Atlanta taking and making far more threes). The Heat's last two losses were both by only three points. So them taking the court as underdogs might seem tempting. But the Heat are only 1-9 ATS their previous 10 division games. They've also only had to play two road games since the All-Star Break. 10* Charlotte 

10* Marshall (7:00 ET): Conference USA adopted a strange format for determining its seedings for the upcoming tournament in Frisco, TX. Rather than play a traditional schedule, teams were grouped into three "pods" after everyone played 14 league games. If you were a top five team after the 14-game mark, you were assured no worse than a top five seed for the conference tourney, but would only play fellow top five teams for the remainder of the regular season. The same thing holds true for the teams that were 6 through 10 in the standings after that 14-game mark. Both FIU and Marshall are in that "pod," meaning upward mobility is limited to the sixth seed, no matter how well either team plays down the stretch. Strange times, indeed.

Sure enough, both of these teams have picked up their level of play since the "pod" format started. FIU has won four straight while Marshall is on a three-game win streak. Thus, both are now actually tied for 4th place in C-USA w/ 9-7 SU records, even though (again) neither can be seeded higher than 6th. Confused yet? Well, let's get to what you NEED to know here. Marshall already beat FIU once this year, 105-97 (no overtime!) and for a second time will get to host them here in Huntington. That's a big edge considering the Thundering Herd are 10-3 SU at home this season and averaging 87.5 PPG. FIU is just 5-7 SU in "true" road games this year, giving up 85.7 PPG. 

This "pod" format created some unique scheduling spots and for Marshall, they actually had a 12-day break. They responded by upsetting both La Tech and North Texas on the road as 7 and 5.5-point dogs respectively. This was a 25-win team LY that brought back four starters. So it's been a bit of a disappointing year, particularly at the betting window where before the B2B upsets, they'd failed to cover 10 in a row. But the Herd seems back on track now and I like them laying a shorter number than what they laid in the first matchup w/ FIU. Unlike the previous two times they've taken the floor, FIU hasn't had at least a week off between games. 10* Marshall 

10* Under Rockets/Raptors (8:05 ET): So I cashed the Under on Houston's last game, which for them was an outright win in Boston (115-104 as 2.5-pt dogs). It's a similar total (and pointspread) for tonight's game in Toronto and I'm sticking w/ the Under. The Rockets may have won five straight, averaging 118.2 PPG in the process, but I don't see them hitting that number here as the Raptors are allowing just 107.9 PPG at home for the season. Note that Toronto's last game, a 112-107 loss in Detroit, went to overtime. So the number of total points scored there is a bit misleading. 

Toronto is a top seven team in defensive efficiency. The key here for them will be keeping James Harden in check. Harden registered 58 pts in a come from behind victory over Miami last Thursday before scoring 42 more against Boston. That's 100 pts in two games, but note in the two games prior he had been held to 17 of 50 shooting, including an absolutely woeful 1 of 21 from three-point range. So I expect Harden's scoring to curtail some here tonight. He did not shoot the ball well in the first meeting w/ the Raptors (9 of 25) even though the Rockets still won 121-119.

Toronto was tied w/ Detroit 100-100 at the end of regulation Sunday, so Over bettors got a real "break" there. The Raptors shot only 38.5% from the floor in the loss, but that was after shooting 55.6% in a win over Portland the game prior. They'll finish somewhere in between tonight. The Under is 7-3 the L10 times Toronto has allowed 100+ points in their previous game. This total just looks too high to me as it's two top tier teams playing on national TV, which should mean more defensive intensity from both sides. 10* Under Rockets/Raptors 

10* Green Bay (8:00 ET): This will be the third time in three weeks that I'm siding w/ the Phoenix. The first two have gone quite well as I had them in wins over Detroit and Wright State. The latter was an upset as a 4-point dog just last week. Both games were here at home as is this one, which is the opener of the Horizon League Tournament. They draw a UIC team they beat twice during the regular season, both times by five points or less, but I expect the rubber match to be the easiest win of them all as Green Bay seems to be "peaking" at the right time. Lay the points.

As I talked about each of those last two times I played Green Bay, they are a much better team here at home. They've gone 11-3 SU here, averaging 87.1 PPG. Equally as important as those offensive numbers though is how the defense improves. While the Phoenix give up 85.6 PPG on the road, a pretty frightening number, they are only allowing 75.0 at home. The fact they are outscoring opponents by double digits here at home for the season makes getting home court advantage for this 1st round Horizon League matchup so critical.

The last time these teams played, Green Bay staged a dramatic rally, coming back from a 19-point halftime deficit. That was on the road, just 10 days ago. That game saw the Phoenix held to a season-low 20 points in the 1st half, which won't happen here. They won the season's first meeting 90-85 here at home. UIC is not a good road team, so them being the lower seed definitely hurts. They are 4-11 SU/ATS on the road this season, getting outscored by more than seven points per game. I know they were dominating (for the 1st half) the last time they played Green Bay, but that was at home. This spread is way too low. 10* Green Bay

8* Chicago (7:05 ET): Indiana was a team I expected to regress after they had gone an extremely fortunate 11-2 SU in games decided by three points or less last season. But for much of this season, it appeared as if the team might actually IMPROVE upon last year's 48-win total. Then Victor Oladipo went down w/ a season-ending injury. The Pacers lost the first four games w/o Oladipo, but then shockingly would go on to win the next six and eight of nine overall. But they've started to slip again, losing three of four, and I'll grab the points in tonight's matchup w/ the Bulls as I think Indiana is a vulnerable favorite here. 

Now Chicago is by no means a good team. But they do come into this evening having gone a very solid 5-2 SU/ATS their last seven games. They did just fail at an attempt to sweep a home and home w/ fellow bottom-dwellar Atlanta on Sunday, losing 123-118. That came on the heels of a wild 4OT affair two nights prior when they beat the Hawks 168-161 in the third highest scoring game in NBA history. The Bulls are 0-3 SU vs. the Pacers this season, but all three losses have been by six points or less and this is the first time they'll get to face them since the Oladipo injury took place.

The Pacers are off a loss here as they fell right here at home to Orlando Saturday night, 117-112 as three-point favorites. That game saw the team get clearly bothered by the officiating, which irked HC Nate McMillan. But Indiana also allowed Orlando to shoot 50% from the floor, which you don't see very often by a Pacers' opponent. Another key player in handicapping this game is Otto Porter Jr, who the Bulls acquired at the trade deadline from Washington. They are 6-2 SU w/ Porter in the lineup and 0-2 when he sits. He sat Sunday, but will be back tonight. Something else worth noting is that Indiana is just 4-8 ATS in division games this season. 8* Chicago

10* Utah (9:05 ET): Both of these teams come off somewhat improbable wins. A career-night from Donovan Mitchell (46 pts) led to the Jazz coming back from a 17-point deficit and beating Milwaukee 115-111. Note they were actually five-point favorites in that game and it was their fourth straight win. New Orleans, without Anthony Davis, was able to forge an even bigger comeback Saturday night in Denver. Down by as many as 19, the Pelicans won that game 120-112 as 13.5-pt underdogs. So something is going to have to give here. I'm banking on the more consistent commodity, that being Utah. Lay the points. 

The Jazz are currently 6th in the West, but this is a team that is capable of doing some real damage come playoff time. The last two games have seen them beat two of the top teams in the league, Denver and Milwaukee. Defense has been outstanding the last four games w/ every opponent held under a 42.4 FG%. Here at home, this has been an excellent team. They've won eight of nine, including five straight, to improve to 21-10 SU here for the year. The are already outscoring visitors by 6.6 PPG. 

New Orleans has been able to deal w/ the Anthony Davis distraction to remain relevant in the playoff race. But if they have an issue, it's winning on the road. Yes, they've just won at both Phoenix and Denver. But that's only improved their road record to 11-24 SU. Tonight will be their third road game in four nights. They give up 116.4 PPG on the road and are a bottom five team in the league in overall points allowed. Utah has massive edges when it comes to the defensive end and getting this game at home. 10* Utah

8* Over Kansas State/TCU (9:00 ET): Few would have expected Kansas State to be in the position that they're currently in after they got off to an 0-2 start in Big 12 play. But, buoyed by one of the nation's top defensive efficiency ratings, the Wildcats have won 12 of their last 14 conference games and enter the final week of the regular season w/ a chance to win the outright conference title. If they win the next two games, they'll do no worse than share the honor w/ Texas Tech. But to do that, they'll certainly have to play better than they did last week when they went 0-2 ATS vs. Kansas and Baylor.

TCU is a team that had high hopes coming into 2018-19. But I didn't really view them as a Top 25 squad and they were a fade for me in the early part of the season. Tonight is the Horned Frogs' final home game and they've lost five of their last six. They too have not had a great last seven days. After losing 104-96 to West Virginia (triple overtime game), they had little left in the tank for a very good Texas Tech team, who beat them 81-64. The Horned Frogs allowed nearly 57% shooting in that loss, which took place right here in Ft. Worth. 

More often that not, Kansas State holds its opponents under its season scoring average. They certainly did that to TCU in the first meeting, winning 65-55 in Manhattan. The Horned Frogs average over 75 PPG for the season and the Over is 7-3 in their last 10 games. Kansas State, as good as they are defensively, is 6-3 Over its last nine games. Two of the three Unders came last week. It was a dismal offensive showing at home vs. Kansas and then a slow start in a win (but non-cover) over Baylor. Even though this game is on the road, I expect better offense here from the Wildcats. Dean Wade is back and looking healthy. He scored 20 points vs. Baylor. The Under is 4-0 in the L4 meetings w/ TCU, but I anticipate a much more high scoring game than the last one here tonight. 8* Over Kansas State/TCU

10* Washington (6:05 ET): The Wizards simply could not find any offensive rhythm Friday night vs. Boston as they shot just 40% from the field and lost 107-96. That was just fine by me as I was holding an Under ticket. But for the Wiz themselves, the loss dropped them four games off the playoff pace in what has been quite the disappointing season. Tonight, they're back home and that's ultimately the key here as neither they or their Sunday opponent (Minnesota) is a very good road team. The T'wolves have lost two in a row on the road and I played against them both times. Let's make that three. Lay the short number. 

Washington has just one win in its last six games. Ironically, it was on the road against Brooklyn. But note they've gotten only one of those last six games at home. It was against Indiana and they were in the second night of a back to back. Tonight, they're rested and home, the first time in this situation since a Feb 8 win and cover against Cleveland. The Wiz are a respectable 16-12 SU at home this season (16-11-1 ATS). While far from the most dominant home court edge in the league, it's still a far cry from their somewhat heinous 8-25 SU (9-23-1 ATS) road record. 

Speaking of heinous road records, Minnesota is now just 9-23 SU away from the Twin Cities after losses to Atlanta and Indiana earlier this week. They won just one road game in February and it was against woeful Knicks. They've given up at least 122 pts in each of their last five road losses and are just 4-17 SU when priced as the road underdog this season. Both teams badly need this game, but Washington is the lucky one to get it at home. They are 14-7 SU at the Verizon Center since 11.20 and 4th in league in PPG at home w/ 117.0. They are +2.8 pts per 100 possessions here while Minnesota is -4.5 points per 100 possessions on the road. 10* Washington

10* Georgia Tech (6:00 ET): The Yellow Jackets have never been a contender in the rugged ACC this season and will come into the final week of the regular season sporting a 4-12 SU record in conference play. They've lost 9 of 10, but today is Senior Day in Atlanta and that should provide some motivation to win the final home game. Their only SU win in those L10 games was here at home, over Pitt, on 2.20. I have to say that Georgia Tech "feels" like it should be better considering they rank in the top 30 nationally in defensive efficiency. Of that top 30, you can expect almost every team to make the NCAA Tournament.

Earlier this week, the Yellow Jackets had no answer for one of the top teams in the country, Virginia, who smashed them 81-51. It was the Jackets' second straight double digit road loss. But as mentioned above, this is a home game and the final one at that for the departing senior class. Given there will be no major postseason tournament for this team, expect them to treat this as the biggest game of the season. Giving up only 63.7 PPG at home is a nice foundation for Ga Tech. Interesting is that the last two games with a spread of two points or less, they won both. 

Boston College comes in here having covered five in a row and they just upset Louisville in Chesnut Hill Wednesday. That makes the Eagles ripe for a letdown though, at least in my eyes. They've got two regular season games left, both of which will be at home, and the next one is North Carolina. It will be very easy for the Eagles to overlook this game. This is a team that has won just three of its last nine games straight up. They were lucky that L'ville couldn't make a shot on Wednesday. But this isn't a great defensive team by any means nor are they great offensively. Ga Tech opponents are shooting below 40% for the year. 10* Georgia Tech

8* Under Rockets/Celtics (3:30 ET): It wasn't pretty, but Boston finally got a win Friday night (their 1st since the All-Star Break!) by beating Washington (here at home), 107-96 as 9.5-pt chalk. Their own co-owner just referred to February as the "worst" he can remember. Maybe that's overstating things, but the team has been a disappointment. But I still wouldn't be surprised to see them make a move up the Eastern Conference standings before the end of the regular season. Things won't be easy today, however, as the Rockets come calling for a nationally televised home game.

Houston has won its last four games, scoring at least 118 points every time, but all four wins were relatively close (none greater than eight points). On Thursday, they needed every bit of James Harden's 58 points to overcome a 21-point 2H deficit and beat the Heat 121-118. That came on the heels of another 2H comeback, albeit not quite as dramatic, against Charlotte the night prior. Despite the high scores, the Rockets have not shot the ball particularly well during this win streak. In fact, their 49.4 FG% vs. Miami was their highest in a game since a win back on 2/1 vs. Denver. 

Because they're facing the Rockets, this is a high total for a Celtics game. Of course, it's not quite as high as it was for their last game vs. Washington, which was my Total of the Week. I had the Under and that was never in doubt as the teams stayed 28 points clear of the number. Boston remains a top four team in the league in defensive efficiency, which will be key moving forward. Each of their last three games have stayed Under, but that also has just as much to do w/ the fact they were held below 100 pts in two of the games. They've failed to score 100 in three of their five games since the All-Star Break. 8* Under Rockets/Celtics

10* Memphis (8:35 ET): Dallas snapped a five-game (SU and ATS) losing streak on Wednesday w/ a 110-101 win over Indiana. The Mavs are a team that plays significantly better at home (21-10 SU) than on the road (6-24 SU) and they'll be hosting Memphis tonight. But the role of favorite hasn't been all that kind to the Mavs. The last time they were asked to lay points, they lost outright - here at home - to Miami by double digits. The Grizzlies, with the top scoring defense in the Western Conference, should certainly be able to "stay in" this game and have a great shot at pulling the outright upset. Take the points. 

Memphis is off a bad home loss to Chicago Wednesday night, which was their fifth loss in the last six games. Note, however, that four of those losses have been by six points or less. The team is w/o top draft choice Jaren Jackson Jr for the foreseeable future, but that defense should be able to keep them in most games, including this one. The Grizz allow just 104.1 PPG, so as an underdog, they're still an attractive wager. Note that when playing on exactly two days rest this season, the team's SU and ATS record is 8-3. 

Dallas has traded away four starters in an attempt to build for the future. In what projects to be a pretty low scoring game (by modern NBA standards), taking the points just seems like the right way to go here. Despite being division rivals, Memphis and Dallas have met only one time previous to this in 2018-19 and it was the Grizzlies winning 98-88 at home back on November 19th. That time, the Grizzlies were playing the second night of a back to back. With a pretty tough stretch of upcoming games, Memphis should come in really focused tonight. 10* Memphis 

10* Under Kentucky/Tennessee (2:00 ET): I was on UK in the 1st meeting, which was definitely a "statement game" by the Wildcats, who ended up winning 86-69 as four-point home favorites. They haven't lost since and, in fact, are 13-1 their last 14 games (only loss coming to LSU on a last-second tip-in). Coach Cal's team is definitely rounding into "Final Four form," but today they've got to go to Knoxville where Tennessee has not lost all season. After starting the year 23-1 SU, the Vols have lost two of their last four games. This should be a low-scoring struggle as I'm on the Under. 

The first game saw Kentucky shoot a blistering 54% from the field en route to 86 points. That was NOT the most points allowed by Tennessee in any game all season as Kansas scored 87 against them early in the year (a loss) as did Arkansas (a win). Memphis even scored 92 on them in another game the Vols won. So they've definitely had their share of high-scoring games. But at home, they are giving up only 60.9 PPG. So look for a rather dramatic decrease in Kentucky scoring today (compared to the 1st matchup). Tennessee opponents are shooting below 40% for the year.

Kentucky is an excellent defensive team. They rank top 10 nationally in efficiency and they are holding SEC opponents to just 38.7% shooting. Ten of their last eleven games have gone Under, the game vs. Tennessee being the lone exception. The Under had been 13-4-2 the past 19 meetings. Tennessee is also 18-8 Under following an ATS loss. Both teams struggled in victories earlier this week, having to overcome halftime deficits. In those last 11 games, UK has not allowed more than 72 points. 10* Under Kentucky/Tennessee

10* Arkansas (1:00 ET): The Razorbacks were able to end a six-game ATS losing streak on Tuesday w/ a surprisingly competitive effort against Kentucky as they lost by only four at Rupp Arena. But at the end of the day, it was still the Hogs' sixth straight up loss in a row. They've faced a fairly rugged gauntlet of late, only getting two games here in Fayatteville since their last win, which came on February 5th vs. Vandy. Today shapes up as their best shot at victory in a while as they host an Ole Miss squad that has be emotionally drained coming off a tough loss to Tennessee. I'm backing the home team in this one! 

Ole Miss lost by two to Tennesse, at home, a game which ended in protest after a questionable call went against them to seal the deal. Ironically, in a one-poing win over Georgia last weekend, it a was a protest BEFORE the game that caught attention as the Rebels' players kneeled during the national anthem over pro-Confederate rallies that were taking place near the arena. Thus, it's been a real whirlwind of emotions lately and this just reeks of a trap game as the Rebels just got done taking one top 10 team down to the wire and have another (Kentucky) set to come to Oxford next week. This is commonly referred to as a "sandwich spot" and it's not an enviable position for the road team.

Back on January 19th, these teams met in Oxford w/ Ole Miss prevailing 84-67 as 6.5-pt chalk. It was one of Arkansas' worst performances of the season as they never led. At the time, Ole Miss was ranked #18 in the country, but they've since fallen out of the polls. Like Ole Miss did against Tennessee, Arkansas led much of the way against Kentucky, even going up by as many as 15 (on the road!). I just look at the Razorbacks as a team that's lost so many close calls against top tier opponents (eight loss by 6 pts or less!) that they're due to break through one of these times. 10* Arkansas

10* Under Wizards/Celtics (8:05 ET): Washington has gone Over the total in 10 straight games. So it's no surprise we've got a high total Friday night in Boston. But the Wizards are highly unlikely to put together the same kind of offensive performance they turned in Wednesday night in Brooklyn (scored 125 points). That was just their NINTH road win of the year and previously the Wiz had lost four in a row overall. Tonight's matchup is pretty conducive to an Under considering the Celtics are a defensive-minded team, but have failed to score even 100 points in three of their four games since the All-Star Break. 

Boston's struggles are front and center in the league right now. They are 0-4 since the Break and there's been a lot of finger-pointing. The most recent setback came Wednesday, here at home vs. Portland. They lost that game 97-92 even though they held the Blazers to 35% shooting in the first half. Portland also really struggled in the game from three-point range. If there is one "silver lining" for the Celtics, it's that they still rank fifth in the league in defensive efficiency. But anytime you fail to score 100 pts three times in a four-game span, offense is a real concern.

So this is obviously a very high total. It's just the second game all year for Boston w/ an OU line of 230 pts or more. The previous high was 232, set on 1/26 vs. Golden State. That game, a 115-111 loss, did stay Under. While 12 of the last 16 meetings w/ the Wizards have gone Over, including seven of eight here in Beantown, the OU line for the last meeting was substantially lower than it is tonight. We're talking a double digit change from the oddsmakers. While that last game resulted in final score of 130-125, it was an overtime game that saw 30 pts scored in the extra five minutes. 10* Under Wizards/Celtics 

8* Brooklyn (7:35 ET): These two Eastern Conference playoff contenders just met a week ago, in Charlotte, with the Nets winning 117-115. D'Angelo Russell matched a career-high w/ 40 pts in that game, including the go-ahead three-pointer in the final minute. That was just one of a number of close losses Charlotte has suffered this season. They lead the league w/ 10 losses by three points or less. That doesn't even include Wednesday's painful setback at the hands of Houston where they lost 118-113 as five-point home underdogs after blowing a 12-point second half lead. 

Brooklyn is also off a loss here. They too fell at home Wednesday night, to the Wizards, 125-116 in a game they were favored to win by five. Things started well w/ the Nets racing out to an early 10-0 lead. But it was all downhill from there as they ended up trailing by as many as 28 at one point! I expect a strong bounce back effort tonight. That was just the third SU loss (in 19 tries) for the Nets as a favorite this season. They are a perfect 2-0 ATS when off a SU loss as a favorite. Despite Wednesday's loss, they remain in sixth place in the East and now are getting Spencer Dinwiddie back (has been out since 1/23). With Caris LeVert also back in the fold, this is as close to "full strength" as the Nets have been all season. 

Charlotte now has some work to do as they've fallen out of the top eight in the East. They've lost three in a row overall - all at home. Losing three in a row on your own court is obviously a HUGE missed opportunity. But especially so for the Hornets, who are only 8-21 SU on the road. This is one of those situation where I'm NOT buying into the revenge angle. If Charlotte couldn't beat the Nets at home, I don't see them getting the job done in Brooklyn. This is the 4th head to head meeting of the season and the Nets have won two of the previous three. 8* Brooklyn

10* Rider (7:00 ET): Rider's attempt at a late season renaissance continues Friday w/ a home date against the first place team in the MAAC, Iona. At one point, the Broncs were 5-0 SU and leading the conference themselves. But a shocking mid-season swoon very nearly derailed them. From January 19th to February 12th, they went 0-9 at the betting window and 3-6 straight up. They were favored in all nine games. Many of those games were the second time they'd faced a conference foe, which is also the case tonight. But this is a rare revenge spot for the Broncs, who lost at Iona 77-71 (as 2.5-pt favorites) on January 25th. 

Despite that mid-season swoon, winning the MAAC regular season title is still in play for the Broncs. They are 10-6 SU in conference play, which is one-half game back of Iona. So a win tonight would mean more than just "revenge." But the revenge angle is pretty strong here. When Rider lost to Iona last month, it was their 1st conference loss. At the time, no one could have foreseen what would ensue. But the Broncs have turned things around. They come into tonight on a three-game win streak, including a 16-pt win over Niagara last Friday. They are now 10-2 SU at home. 

Given Rider was a 2.5-pt favorite at Iona last month, we're getting some good value for this rematch. Sure, the oddsmakers had to make some sort of adjustment, but this looks to be an overreaction. Yes, Iona has won six straight, covering the spread in the last five. But a good number of those wins were close games. At one point, the Gaels were just 2-12 SU away from home this season. They are still allowing 80.2 PPG on the road. Rider lost a good number of close ones during their losing streak and they are much better than their record. When seeking revenge for a road loss, the Broncs are 11-3 ATS the L3 seasons. 10* Rider

10* Green Bay (7:00 ET): On a six-game win streak, Wright State has improbably climbed to the top of the Horizon League. It wasn't that long ago that I was writing the Raiders had been an "unlucky team" early in the season, dropping six games by six points or less. But that "worm has turned" as they have four such WINS during a 10-1 SU stretch. As good as this team feels right now, I think there ought to be some trepidation about laying points w/ them on the road. While 14-2 SU (10-3-1 ATS) at the Nutter Center this season, Wright State is just 4-9 SU away from home. 

Green Bay is a team that won big for me two Saturdays ago. I released them as a ~SIGNATURE~ *10* ULTIMATE POWER release here at home vs. Detroit and they won 82-73, more importantly also covering as a short favorite. The Phoenix won their next game too, on the road, by just one over UIC. But they came up short on Sunday, losing by 11 at IUPUI, despite holding a slight advantage at halftime. Like Wright State, Green Bay plays a lot better here at home. They're 10-2 SU, averaging an impressive 89.0 PPG. Not only is that markedly better than how much they score per game on the road (75.6), we see similar improvement on the defensive end. They give up just 74.8 PPG at home as opposed to 85.6 PPG on the road. 

I think the home court edge is critical here and you have the revenge angle in play as well. Back on January 26th, Green Bay lost at Wright State by a score of 87-75. As you might expect, the Raiders shot the ball well at home (55 percent) while the Phoenix struggled to find their own rhythm. But it should be a reversal of fortunes tonight as Green Bay's scoring differential goes from -10.0 per game on the road to +14.3 at home. Wright State averages 8.6 PPG less on the road than at home while they allow 8.1 PPG more. 10* Green Bay 

10* Indiana (7:05 ET): Both of these teams lost last night and for me, that meant two very different emotions. I happened to fade Minnesota, who I said "wasn't a very good road team" and sure enough they lost outright (as a 4.5-pt favorite) in Atlanta. Unfortunately, I took Indiana and the Pacers lost to the Mavericks. For tonight, Indiana is back at home while Minnesota is still on the road. That's a big edge for the former, even as they continue to trek on w/o leading scorer Victor Oladipo. The T'wolves' road record is now just 9-22 SU. When it comes to playing the second night of a back to back, that's an edge for the Pacers too. They are 8-3 SU in this scenario while Minny is only 2-6 SU. 

Tonight will be Indiana's first home game since their first game after the All-Star Break. They won that previous home game, beating New Orleans by a score of 126-111. The Pacers' home record is 23-8 SU and they outscore the opposition here by nearly 10 PPG. In last night's analysis, I touted the Pacers defense (and rightly so!), only for the offense to let me down (they scored only 101 pts). That defense gets even stingier here at home, allowing just 99.2 PPG. Again, Indiana ranks #1 in the league in scoring defense. This is the first time all month that they will be coming off B2B losses. 

In addition to being better in the second game of a back to back and having the home court edge, Indiana's edge defensively will be even larger than usual in this matchup. Minnesota gives up 115.7 PPG on the road, which obviously ranks near the bottom of the league. Obviously, the fact last night's game went to OT has to be factored in, but the T'wolves did just give up 131 pts to a pretty bad offensive team last night. Then there's the simple fact they played an overtime game last night. That makes the back to back scenario even more challenging than usual. Minnesota did win the season's first meeting w/ Indiana, but that was back in October and they have not swept a season series since 2006-07. The T'wolves are 0-6 SU when playing on the road in the second game of a back to back. The Pacers are 6-0 SU when playing one at home. 10* Indiana

8* Orlando (7:05 ET): As they are wont to do, Golden State started slow last night before mounting a big comeback. Only this time, they couldn't pull it out. They lost down in Miami on a buzzer beater, from Dwyane Wade of all people. It was a miracle shot, but don't let that mask the fact the Warriors trailed by as many as 24 to a team that had just lost at home to the lowly Suns. The Dubs have the worst ATS record in the league (25-35-1 ATS) and as good as they are, I don't like the idea of them, unrested, laying this many points on the road to a rested Orlando squad. Take the points. 

The Magic are also looking to recover from a bad loss here, the only difference being they've had a full day off to recover. In their case, they lost 108-103 to the Knicks on Tuesday as 7.5-point road favorites. I know New York is really bad, but Orlando probably shouldn't be giving that many points to anybody, at least on the road. It was their second loss to a "bad" team in the L3 games as they also fell to Chicago last week (at home). In between, however, they pulled a big upset in Toronto, beating the Raptors 113-98 as 6.5-point road underdogs.

Tonight, the Magic are back home and in their customary role of underdog. This is a team that has lost only twice in its last eight games and those two losses came by a combined six points. Golden State has not been good in the second game of a back to back, going just 2-5-1 ATS this season. Orlando's bench was outscored by a stunning 75-7 margin by its Knicks counterparts on Tuesday as they blew a double digit 2H lead. Note that earlier in the year, the Magic were competitive against the Warriors, losing by only six on the road. It took 49 points from Kevin Durant for the Dubs to win that game. This is a terrible spot for the Champs and I like the home dog. 8* Orlando

8* Arkansas Little Rock (7:00 ET): Arkansas Little Rock will do its two-game trek through the Peach State this week as it visits the Sun Belt's two Georgia schools. Up first is Georgia Southern, who is looking to win this league as is the team Ark Little Rock will play Saturday, Georgia State. There has been no previous meeting this season. Ark Little Rock having to travel does put them at a distinct disadvantage, but this is too many points to pass up. While Georgia Southern does come in on a four-game win streak (also 4-0 ATS), the double digit spread seems a bit high. Take the points. 

The Eagles have largely been feasting on the bottom of the SBC recently. The only previous time they were a double digit favorite this year was against last place Troy. On the flip side of that, Arkansas Little Rock hasn't gotten double digits since a game (they covered) at Georgetown pre-Christmas. They are 3-1 ATS overall as underdogs of 10 or more, the only non-cover coming at a Nevada team that's spent much of the year in the top 15.

The Trojans last five losses have come by a total of 20 points, none coming by more than seven. So they've played better than the record shows. They certainly aren't a great defensive team, which seems problematic when facing an opponent that averages over 80 PPG. However, one interesting thing about Georgia Southern is that they do NOT shoot well from three-point range at home. They are just 28.4%. UALR actually is the better three-point shooting team here and shoots a solid 48.5% overall from the field.  8* Arkansas Little Rock

8* Indiana (8:35 ET): The Pacers have persevered nicely w/o leading scorer Victor Oladipo (who is out for the rest of the season), even though they did just lose in Detroit Monday night. Said perseverance can mostly be attributed to a defense that ranks #1 in the league in efficiency. Now they have allowed an average of 112 PPG since the All-Star Break, but I look for that number to come down after tonight's tussle w/ Dallas, who is among the lowest scoring teams in the NBA. The Mavs, who are 0-5 SU and ATS their last five games, average just 108.7 PPG. 

This is a rematch from a game last month in Indiana where the Pacers won big, 111-99 as 7.5-point chalk. That was actually right before the Oladipo injury occurred. After losing their first four games w/o Oladipo, the Pacers have gone 8-2 SU the L10 games. The last time they were off a loss, they came back to defeat New Orleans by 15 points the next time out. Against the Pistons, Indiana fell into an early hole (trailed by 16 after 1Q) that they ultimately could not climb out of. But they showed me something by battling back to make it a 113-109 final. 

It's not been a good stretch for Dallas, who last won on February 10th. Since then, it's been five straight losses, all by nine points or more. Now the Mavs are 20-10 SU at home, so I understand why the oddsmakers are respecting them here. Rookie Luka Doncic also missed the first two games after the All-Star Break. But even w/ Doncic back in the lineup and producing a triple double, the Mavs had no answer for the Clippers on Monday. 8* Indiana

10* Memphis (8:05 ET): This number appears far too short, especially given what the Grizzlies just did to the Lakers. I had 'em as they pulled the outright upset Monday, here at home, leading most of the way. Throw in the fact that this is a revenge spot for the Grizz and I'm actually quite confuse as to how we're able to fade the Bulls at such a cheap price here. I shouldn't have to tell you that Chicago is one of the worst teams in the league. They'd actually won three in a row before losing to Milwaukee Monday, so maybe that's why the spread is so short. Whatever the reason, lay the points. 

It was exactly two weeks ago that Chicago beat Memphis in the Windy City, 122-110. They were -1.5 at the betting window. It was both teams' final game before the All-Star Break. The Bulls got a number of atypical contributions in that win, including a career-high 37 points from the recently acquired Otto Porter Jr (who was 16 of 20 shooting!) and a season-high 25 from Robin Lopez. That win snapped what was an 11-game home losing streak for the Bulls, so a case can be made that they were clearly the more motivated team that time out. That certainly won't be the case tonight. 

What's most perplexing about Chicago's offensive effort two weeks ago is that it came against the Western Conference's best scoring defense. The Grizzlies are only giving up 104.1 PPG for the year. Again, a case can be made that w/ that previous meeting coming right before the Break, Memphis may not have been fully motivated. Note that at home, the Grizz allow only 101.5 PPG. Chicago is dead last in the league in offensive efficiency and may not have Porter this time around (leg injury) or PG Kris Dunn (migraine), both of whom sat out the loss to the Bucks. 10* Memphis

8* Drake (8:00 ET): Heading into Wednesday, Drake finds itself in a three-way tie atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings (along w/ Loyola Chi and Missouri State). This is pretty impressive considering the Bulldogs lost their leading scorer (Nick Norton) almost two months ago to an ACL injury. The team is coming off a loss, 67-60 at Illinois State over the weekend, but what's impressed me most about Drake is that they haven't dropped B2B games since early January, which is when the Norton injury took place. They've won 9 of their last 12 overall and I'm laying the points tonight. 

Indiana State suffered a similar loss to Drake over the weekend, losing by almost the same score to Missouri State (67-61). Larry Bird's alma mater was able to (just barely) cover the pointspread, however, as they were 6.5-point dogs. But the Sycamores have mostly struggled in MVC play this season, going just 6-10 SU. They've yet to post B2B victories and two of their six wins have been overtime games. They already lost at home to Drake, 68-62, last month as a one-point favorite. In that game, ISU shot just 3 of 22 from three-point range.

Drake has been incredibly effective against the pointspread this season, covering 19 of their 26 lined games. They are 9-2 ATS when favored. They're also 12-2 SU and 9-2 ATS at home. Scoring jumps up to 79.7 PPG here in Des Moines, which is bad news for an Indiana State team that is allowing 77.3 PPG on the road, a big jump from how many they give up in Terre Haute. When seeking revenge for a home loss this season, the Sycamores have lost all five times. Meanwhile, there have only been two times previous to Sunday where Drake was held to 60 pts or less. They came back to win AND cover the next time after both occasions. 8* Drake

8* Atlanta (7:35 ET): I've said it before, but Minnesota is not a good road team (just 9-21 SU overall). Now the last time I said this, they did go out and take care of business against the (hapless) Knicks, winning 115-104 as four-point favorites. They've continued to cover ever since as Monday's 112-105 (home) win over Sacramento marked the T'wolves' sixth straight win against the spread. They test that perfect 6-0 ATS run tonight in Atlanta, where again they'll be a road favorite. I remain steadfast in my belief that this team is a shaky road favorite. Take the points. 

Atlanta already beat Minnesota earlier in the year, doing so as 10-point road dogs back in December. It was an overtime game, but it should be pointed out that the Hawks led by as many as 22 in regulation. Given that they've already won in Minnesota, beating the T'wolves at home isn't asking for that much. The Hawks did snap James Harden's 32-game streak of scoring 30+ points on Monday, but still lost at Houston by a score of 119-111. They did cover as 12.5-pt dogs. Atlanta has now covered in three straight and four of its last five. They've scored at least 111 pts in all four ATS wins, making them attractive here in the customary underdog role. 

This will be Minnesota's fourth game in six night and third on the road. That's a tough spot, especially for a team that usually struggles on the road. In their last road game, the T'wolves surrendered 140 points. Now that was in Milwaukee, but still, the bad defense becomes almost a greater concern when laying points. Despite a 10-18 SU record, Atlanta has actually outscored its opponents at home this year. They've covered each of the last two times as a home dog, including an outright win over the Lakers. 8* Atlanta

10* Georgetown (7:00 ET): Neither of these teams have been playing particularly well of late and in the case of both, it's basically a "waiting game" until the Big East Tournament next month. Georgetown lost at Creighton on Saturday, by 13 points, in a game where they didn't play much defense. It was the Hoyas' third loss in the last four games, though the one win was a big one, here at home against Villanova. DePaul has lost three in a row, all by double digits, their latest also coming against Creighton. The Blue Demons didn't play over the weekend, but that time off won't be nearly enough for them to compete here. Lay the points. 

We should probably expect plenty of points in this game. Both teams just let Creighton shoot better than 50%. In the case of DePaul, they've allowed three straight opponents to shoot better than 52% from the floor. Neither they nor G'town is exactly stout defensively. The Blue Demons are allowing 78.8 PPG on the road while the Hoyas allow 77.9 PPG overall. But the difference is G'town has proven it can score, especially here at home where they average 85.4 PPG. Remember, in their last home game, the Hoyas beat Villanova and scored 85 pts in the process.

The 79 pts DePaul allowed to Creighton was actually "nothing" compared to what they allowed in losses to Marquette and Butler that saw them give up 90+ in both games. So I believe G'town can "name" its point total tonight. This will be the first of two regular season meetings between these squads; the road team won both times LY. Given DePaul is just 3-6 SU on the road this season, I don't see a road win in the cards for them. The two times G'town has been a home favorite in the -3.5 to -6 range this season, they've covered. 10* Georgetown

8* Texas A&M (9:00 ET): LSU played TWO overtime games last week and ended up splitting the pair. I faded them last Wednesday when they lost outright here in Baton Rouge to Florida. But give the Tigers their due for then bouncing back and delivering a huge win over Tennessee Saturday, also here in the Bayou. LSU has now gone to OT a somewhat ridiculous five times here in SEC play, winning four of those games. That's pretty fortunate and despite them knocking off the Vols, I still say they're overrated as a top 15 team, which is where they are in the latest polls.

Texas A&M has found success in the underdog role lately, knocking off both Alabama and Arkansas in the last seven days. The Aggies were getting points in both games and have now won four of their last five overall. LSU is obviously a tougher opponent than either Bama or Arkansas, but it's not as if the Aggies aren't up to the challenge. This is a team that beat Kansas State earlier in the year. They did lose (by 15) at home to the Tigers last month, making this a revenge spot. That game saw the Aggies fall apart late as they were only trailing by one at halftime. They were also coming off the upset win over Kansas State just four days prior. 

LSU also got a season-best 36 points (including six threes) from Tremont Waters in that first meeting. Waters may not play in tonight's rematch due to the same illness that kept him out of the Tennessee game. The fact that Tigers still won despite not having their leading scorer (and rebounder) is a little stunning to me. Something worth noting here is that this will likely end up being the most points LSU has laid in any SEC game this season. I know they've beaten both Tennessee and Kentucky, but they also lost outright here at home to Arkansas as 10-point chalk. I'm taking the points in what should be a clear letdown spot for the favorite. 8* Texas A&M 

10* Boston (8:05 ET): This is a huge game for the Celtics. They've lost both games since the All-Star Break and are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Thus, a win at Toronto would not only allow for them to make up some desperately needed ground, it would also demonstrate that all the "disappointment" and "frustration" that's been bandied about this season is nothing more than useless noise. The Celtics have beaten the Raptors twice already this season (lost to them once) and this is a statement game for them in my eyes. Take the points. 

Of Boston's two losses since the Break, one was definitely excusable while the other was not. It shouldn't be too hard to determine which is which. The first one came by just one point in Milwaukee, a game where I had the Under and that bet cashed by 30 points. The second was to Chicago as 10-point road favorites as they gave up 126 pts to arguably the worst offensive team in the league. I think it's worth noting that other than Milwaukee, Boston is the only team in the league to rank in the top six in both offensive and defensive efficiency. They also have the league's third best point differential (better than Toronto's). 

The Raptors also come off an embarrassing loss, theirs coming right here at home at the hands of 6.5-point underdog Orlando (Kawhi Leonard did not play). That was just the sixth home loss of the year for Toronto, but they are sliding at the pay window w/ an 0-4-1 ATS record the L5 games overall. I do believe that Boston is the better team here, no matter what the records may say. The Celtics are also a perfect 6-0 ATS this season in road games where the total is 220 pts or higher. We have seen them perform well w/ their "backs against the wall" several times this season. It also should be pointed out that two of their last four losses have been by one point. 10* Boston

8* Ball State (7:00 ET): Unlike the other MAC play in this report, we are NOT taking the team playing w/ legit revenge for a loss earlier in the season. But in both cases, the home team comes in undervalued. Here, Ball State has already beaten Toledo, doing so 79-64 back in early January. The reason for the Cardinals coming in undervalued for the rematch is because they've dropped two straight close decisions, both as favorites, over the last week. I don't see them losing a third in a row, so grab them at this price at home where they are better than the record shows. 

Toledo had lost B2B games itself before beating Northern Illinois, 57-54, over the weekend. They did not cover the spread though (-10), so that makes it three straight ATS losses. They have not fared well vs. Ball State the L3 seasons, dropping all five games and going just 1-4 ATS. Last month, the Rockets shot just 36.2% at home and despite being a pretty strong defensive team, I'd worry about them travelling as Saturday marked a season low in points scored and they're just 3-2 SU the L5 games despite opponents shooting just 38.7% from the field. 

Ball State is also no slouch defensively as they've held visitors to a field goal percentage of just 38.9% for the season. They also come in averaging 80.2 PPG here in Muncie. Thus, I was pretty shocked to see that the Cardinals home record is only 7-5 SU this season. They are 32-12 SU their L44 games here and that includes a 28-point win over Toledo last season. Coming off a bad offensive showing vs. Central Michigan over the weekend, I expect them to bounce back tonight. The 23 pts scored in the 2H vs. CMU was a season-low and caused them to blow all of a double digit halftime lead. So that was a bit of a misleading final as was Toledo's win that same day considering the Rockets overcame an 11-point 2H deficit to win the game. 8* Ball State

8* Eastern Michigan (7:00 ET): Ok, here we are taking the team playing w/ revenge as Eastern Michigan looks like a bit of a bargain laying a short number at home. I've taken my fair share of shots at the Eagles this year, most of them being successful ones, but I like them here. They did lose up in Mt. Pleasant about a month ago (despite shooting nearly 60% from the floor!), which snapped a six-game win streak over Central Michigan. The Chippewas have been shockingly good ATS in conference play this season, going 11-2-1 overall, including 8-0-1 the last nine game. But that streak ends here. 

On Saturday, Eastern Michigan was able to just barely get by rival Western Michigan, 77-76 here in Ypsilanti. They needed overtime to get the job done, but largely dominated the extra session, taking an eight point lead w/ just over one minute remaining. Western Michigan was able to make it interesting at the end, but was never really in position to win. (They hit a meaningless three-pointer as time expired). The Eagles have now won four of five and despite some woeful shooting from three-point range and the FT line, they still average 74.3 PPG at home.

Given how well Central Michigan defends the three-point line, I wouldn't be surprised if the Eagles have another rough night from distance here. But I think the Chippewas' reputation (7-2 ATS as a dog) may have caught up w/ them here. They did rally back from a double digit deficit at halftime to beat Ball State on the road Saturday. But winning B2B games on the road seems highly unlikely. Before Saturday's win, they'd lost four in a row away from home. Given that they'd gone 4-0 ATS in those losses, they were due to win one and they did just that in Muncie Saturday. But I just don't see lightning striking twice w/ this team as they are giving up 77.4 PPG in conference play. Eastern Michigan shot well over 60% from two-point range in the 1st meeting. 8* Eastern Michigan

8* Memphis (8:05 ET): Before the season even started, I thought expectations were too high for the Lakers and it didn't take long for that mindset to come to fruition. LeBron James did miss all that time due to injury, but the fact is that the King is now back and the team remains a game below .500. They've lost three of four, all w/ James in the lineup, the most recent setback being an outright loss at New Orleans (who didn't even play Anthony Davis) as 6.5-point chalk. Again they are laying points on the road Monday and again I think they'll struggle to win, let alone cover.

Memphis is having another tough season in its own right. They are off an embarrassing loss to Cleveland on Saturday, a game where they actually checked in as a slight underdog. It was their fourth loss in a row overall, but they were at least competitive against good teams in the two at home. One home loss was to San Antonio by a single point and the other was by six to the Clippers. Truthfully, the Grizzlies have been more competitive than you think. Six of their last nine losses have been by six points or less. That's owed to the fact they have the league's 2nd best scoring defense (104.0 PPG), which can really keep them in any game, even if 1st rd DC Jaren Jackson Jr doesn't play again here. 

The Lakers are pretty bad on the road. Their SU record is 12-18 and they give up over 116 PPG. Not surprisingly then, they are a poor 5-10 ATS this season as a road favorite. They are just 14-21-2 ATS as a favorite of any kind and they've failed to cover 19 of 27 times when facing an opponent that has a losing record. For a team that's only in 10th place in the West, this is far too many points to lay in this spot. My own power ratings actually have this game as a near pick 'em. Take the points. 8* Memphis 

8* Phoenix (7:35 ET): The Suns' losing streak has now hit 17 games, a low point historically for the franchise. But at least they were competitive Saturday in Atlanta where they lost by just eight after falling apart late. Phoenix doesn't have second-leading scorer TJ Warren for the foreseeable future and will be playing a Heat team they are just 1-16 SU against since 2009, including eight straight losses here in Miami. Yet despite all that, I still give the Suns a legit shot at pulling an outright upset here. Miami is both short-handed and not very good at home. Take the points. 

Miami won the season's first meeting, 115-98 in Phoenix. They were 8.5-point favorites for that contest, so you might be "batting an eyelash" at the fact they're laying a similar number at home. But as I just alluded to, the Heat are not a great home team, or even a good one. They are one of just four teams in the league to have fewer wins at home than on the road. The difference of four wins is actually the largest in the league. Not only does scoring drop at home, the Heat also allow more PPG here. They have not won a home game since 1/12, losing five in a row at American Airlines Arena. The most recent one was Saturday when they lost by 23 to the Pistons.

Goran Dragic is back for the Heat, who are trying to make the playoffs. They also will have Hassan Whiteside in the lineup tonight, which wasn't the case when they played Phoenix the first time. But they likely won't have James Johnson, Justise Winslow and Rodney McGruder, three key rotation players, tonight. Like I mentioned above, the Suns did fight hard in Atlanta Saturday night, even having the lead going into the fourth quarter. My view here is that Miami likely wins, but it'll be a close game throughout. The Heat's most recent game doesn't exactly inspire confidence in them laying this many points and they are already 5-9 ATS when coming off a DD loss. 8* Phoenix

10* Over Blazers/Cavs (7:05 ET): Somebody break up the Cavs! They've won two straight, just the the third time they've pulled that off all season. They've actually won three of their last four games. But there's yet to be a single three-game win streak in Cleveland since LeBron James left town. Following the previous two win streaks, the Cavs would go onto suffer a home loss both times. I do expect them to lose tonight, but I feel even stronger about this being a high-scoring affair due the Cavs' poor defense and the fact they are now stronger offensively w/ Kevin Love back in the lineup. Take the Over.

Portland is off a very impressive win in Philadelphia. They scored 130 points on a Sixers team that is pretty respectable on the defensive end. Cleveland is anything but respectable defensively as they come into this game ranked dead last in efficiency. The gap between them and the 29th team in DE is actually larger than the difference between 24 and 29! So I'd expect the Blazers to score plenty again here. They torched Cleveland for 129 pts in the first meeting, which was last month at home. They've also averaged 116.8 PPG their last five games.

Cleveland has scored 111 and 112 in the two games since the All-Star Break. Love led the way w/ a season-best 32 points Saturday vs. Memphis, despite sitting out the final 5:23. Among all the Western Conference playoff contenders, Portland is NOT exactly one of the premier defensive teams. They give up 112.9 PPG on the road. So the Cavs should score plenty tonight as well. Them scoring 112 against a Memphis team that is #1 in the league in points allowed was pretty impressive. Portland has gone Over in five out of its last six games vs. teams with losing records. 10* Over Blazers/Cavs