UC Riverside at Cal State Fullerton (-8, play to -9) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #751-752

The Titans are now 4-0 ATS since forwards Ralphy Holmes and Jamaal Brown gained eligibility.  Their lone home game in the span was an easy 10 point win over Denver in which the team played brilliantly.  Since then they went on the road and stole a game in overtime at CSUN and then played very competitively before losing at Pacific.  Ralphy Holmes (1st team all-conference 2 years ago) is every bit as good as advertised and Brown (Western Kentucky transfer) is a much better scorer than most people anticipated.  His inside scoring particularly gives the team a boost.  Point guard Bobby Brown is the best at the position that I have seen in the conference.  He is just a sophomore but plays beyond his years.  He has tremendous range, is very quick, and has great handles.  Virginia transfer Jermaine Harper burst out of a mini-slump with a career high 25 points in last game at Pacific.  If he gets going this team will really be difficult to defend.  Forwards King & Asprilla provide good defense and some offense when needed.

 

UC Riverside is not a good basketball team.  Senior center Vili Morton is the lone bright spot but he rarely gets the ball in good scoring position and his free throw shooting (.574 for the season) has been awful lately.  He was held to just 8.0ppg in first two Big West games.  The remaining starters do not like to shoot much and for good reason, they are not good shooters.  The team is shooting just .421 for the season but only .296 in two conference games.  Freshman forward Larry Cunningham is an exciting prospect off the bench but he may shoot too much sometimes (.365 for the season, 3-for-19 last two games) and is turnover (2.3 per game in 18 minutes) prone.  It is surprising that the Highlanders were able to beat LMU back in November.  That is their lone quality win this season but it was in Riverside.  They are 0-5 on the road and this will be their third straight away from home.

 

Fullerton fans are very excited about this team and for good reason.  Second year coach Bob Burton has assembled a very talented team.  Point guard Brown and forward Holmes are both worthy of 1st team all-conference consideration.  Rest assured no other Big West team has a former part time starter at an ACC school (Harper) coming off their bench.  If Fullerton plays with the same type of energy seen in their last home game, they may not lose at Titan Gym all year.  Look for a double digit win.

 

Official Play:  Cal State Fullerton -8  1 UNIT

 

Washington at USC (+7, play to +6) - 7:30pm Pacific - Game #757-758

I had no problems with the firing of Henry Bibby.  Far too often the Trojans looked unprepared and undisciplined on both sides of the court.  Interim coach Jim Saia has the team playing hard and playing well.  They have won five out of their last eight games despite only playing twice at home in the same span.  USC played much better than expected in recent two game road trip to Oregon.  The performance at Oregon was the best I have seen the Trojans play all year.  They actually led 80-77 with 4:00 left but were outscored 13-3 to end the game.  They followed that up with another good showing at Oregon State where they led at halftime and by as many as 7 in the 2nd half before giving way.  A reason for the teams improved play is the return of senior center Jeff McMillian who is easily the teams top inside player.  He has averaged 11.25ppg in last for games and is also the the teams best rebounder.  Promising guards Gabriel Pruitt and Nick Young have been in the starting lineup for several games now and are both getting better with experience.  Sophomore guard Lodrick Stewart has been a consistent scorer (15.5ppg leads team).

 

Washington has looked good in spurts but really have not put together a full 40 minute game in some time.  They have only been at full strength in two games this season so they may be going through adjustments with different players going to and from the injured list.  They really had to dig down deep to get by the two northern California schools last week, especially Stanford who was just a play away from a win.  That is a sign to me that they are not clicking on all cylinders.  The Huskies are not going to beat a lot of teams with their defense and it is particularly worse when playing away from home.  In two true road games this year, Washington gave up 99 points on .589 shooting to Gonzaga and 93 points on .493 shooting to Loyola Marymount.  Both were ATS losses.

 

USC is going to do well against teams who go up and down and do not play stingy half-court defense.  That is probably why they had some success against UAB and Oregon.  Washington is another team who definitely fits into the same category so USC matches up well here.  The Trojans have been knocking on the door in last two games and this will easily be their biggest home game of the season.  This is a great opportunity for Saia and the Trojans to get a marquee win.  They will be fired up for it.  Take the points and expect a close game.

 

Official Play:  USC +7  1 UNIT