THURSDAY

West Virginia vs Xavier (+1) - 4:10pm Pacific - Thursday - Game #811-812

Xavier has set a record for most wins in school history and have been equally impressive in and out of conference play.   With three senior starters and five upperclassmen in the top six including two D-1 transfers, they are one of the oldest and most experienced teams left in the field.  The Musketeers have the most balanced scoring team in the country with six players averaging between 9.8ppg and 12.1ppg.  All six have terrific one on one ability but also play with great teamwork and chemistry.  Xavier has athleticism at every position enabling them to play great defense, rebound, and get to most loose balls.  Guard Stanley Burrell is the reigning A-10 defensive player of the year and will likely be assigned to shutdown WVU playmaker Nichols or sharpshooter Ruoff, each of who is critical to the Mountaineer attack.  West Virginia was fortunate to shoot lights out (57.9%) from 3 point range vs Arizona in round one win.  In round two Duke shot miserably (5 for 22 from 3) and WVU got to every loose ball (+20 rebound margin) to survive.  West Virginia has been foul prone, committing 3 more fouls than their opponent in each of the first two rounds, despite holding late leads and winning both.  This is something that Xavier (75.5% FT shooting, 14th best in the country) will take advantage of.  West Virginia has overachieved all season but will find a tough matchup here.  Take the small dog.

Play:  Xavier +1    1.0 UNIT   |   WIN 79-75
FRIDAY

Stanford vs Texas (-2) - 4:25pm Pacific - Friday - Game #879-880

Rick Barnes mentioned early in the season that this Longhorn team had a chance to be very good and they certainly have not disappointed.  Texas earned impressive non-conference wins vs #1 seed UCLA and vs #2 seed Tennessee, both away from home, even before rotation freshman forward Gary Johnson was cleared to play.  Johnson also sat out recent Big 12 championship loss to Kansas that went down to the wire.  He returned to play a limited role vs Miami Fla last week and will be closer to full strength Friday.  Texas not only has one of the best backcourts in the nation, which is critical at this time of year, but also has above average quickness at nearly every position.  Both of these strengths will enable them to exploit Stanford's two biggest weaknesses, backcourt play and team speed.  Texas can also neutralize Stanford's size advantage with their ability to play zone defense at a high level, having done so throughout the regular season.  Huge 6-10/300 reserve center Pittman has emerged as a factor in recent games and will take up space inside for parts of the game.  Stanford played no one in non-conference play.  Of their four wins over the Sagarin top 25, three came vs slow Washington State, and the fourth came in their last game, a one point OT thriller over Marquette played in Anaheim.  Stanford more or less has given up on their reserve guards as starters Johnson and Goods each played 40+ minutes vs Marquette.  Despite the final score of last game, Texas has coasted through the first two rounds and now will have the huge advantage of playing just 2 1/2 hours from campus.  Give the points.

Play:  Texas -2  |   WIN 82-62


Return to Record Page