January 2002 - NCAA Basketball

January 2

Providence at Villanova (-4) - 4:00pm Pacific
The Wildcats are a team that will be moving forward under new head coach Jay Wright. Former unpopular head coach Steve Lappas has finally left (for UMass) after many disappointing and underachieving teams. This years team only goes about 6-7 deep so they will be limited but this appears to be a very nice spot for them at home. They come into the game at 7-2 and own a win over Temple and a 1 point overtime loss to Penn so they have shown some class. Their home record at The Pavilion has been excellent in recent years. Junior swingman Gary Buchanan is having a breakout year averaging 19.7ppg. 6-10 senior Brooks Sales (8.4ppg, 8.6rpg, 2.1bpg) and junior Rickey Wright (14.7ppg, 7.4rpg) will have size and experience advantages inside. The Providence front court of Gomes (true freshman), Douthit (sophomore), and Laska (sophomore, just returned from foot injury) are all first year starters. Friar returning starter and 3rd leading scorer from last year Augustin has only played in 5 games and is out indefinitely with a hip injury. Friars have lost to Brown and GW at home this year. Wildcats win their Big East home opener. Villanova  1 UNIT 

Ohio State at Purdue (-1) - 4:00pm Pacific
The Boilermakers have already played 14 times and have seen the likes of Stanford, Arizona, Butler, Xavier, Dayton and Cincinnati. They have played without their second leading returning scorer Ken Lowe who may end up redshirting. This has contributed to some of their struggles, but they are about as ready as they are going to be for Big 10 play to begin. Junior guard Willie Deane is putting up big numbers (17.2ppg) in his first year as a starter. Meanwhile, seniors John Allison (10.9ppg) and Rodney Smith (9.0ppg) are playing a little below expectations. Against OSU's young and foul prone frontline this would be a perfect time for the two seniors to step up. Allison at 6-10 has been averaging 10-11 touches per game, but Keady says he wants him to get 20. He had back to back 20+ point games earlier this season and this could be a breakout game for him. Purdue already is making more free throws than their opponents attempt this season. JC transfer swingman Kilgore (said to be the key to teams success) has stepped up his play in recent games. He has scored double figures in 3 straight including a career high 20 in last game while improving his defensive play significantly. Ohio State comes in with an 8-2 record but with a strength of schedule ranking of just 282! The Buckeyes have only played one road game (loss at Louisville) and just two other teams that you have heard of (NC State & Pittsburgh). They beat the Wolfpack and lost to the Panthers, both in Columbus. Look for the Boilermakers to grind out a solid win at home. Purdue  1 UNIT 

January 3

St. Bonnie at George Washington (+3) - 5:00pm Pacific
The Colonials have come a long way since getting blown out at Texas A&M back on November 19th. Combo guard Darnell Miller became eligible in the very next game and since then GW has won 6 of 8 games. The only losses were to UConn by 8 and to Charlotte by 10 in last game. Versus Charlotte they had some excuses, as they were coming off a 21 day layoff and starting center Jason Smith (called the teams anchor by first year head coach Karl Hobbs) was limited to just 19 minutes due to foul trouble. Nonetheless they showed a lot of heart by cutting a 14 point half-time deficit to 6 with 10 minutes left and again to 5 with under 2 minutes left despite playing a very undersized lineup. During the 6-2 streak, GW won on the road at Old Dominion, at Providence, and beat a decent Princeton team at the MCI Center. They are 3-1 at home. Junior Chris Monroe (23.3ppg, 9th in the nation in scoring) is capable of carrying the team by himself but he has some decent support as well. Sophomore Greg Collucci is averaging 12.8ppg and 3.3 made three pointers per game. Good looking freshman guard TJ Thompson is averaging 11.0ppg and is playing with more comfort now that Darnell Miller (6.4ppg, 4.9rpg, 4.6apg) has taken over some of the point guard duties. Miller has done a little bit of everything since his return and surprisingly has shown much needed leadership. Freshman power forward Tamal Forshion (7.1ppg, 4.4rpg) is a really good looking inside player who we will hear a lot from in the future. Senior post man Jason Smith (9.6ppg, 6.5rpg, 2.1 blocks) is solid inside. Sophomore forward Marquin Chandler makes his season debut tonight after serving an 11 game suspension and will add depth. St. Bonnie will be playing its fourth straight road game and third in seven nights. They won an emotional game at UConn two games back before losing in overtime at Kent State on Monday. That game probably should have never gone to OT as Kent led by 9 with 3 minutes to go. Bonaventure is very undersized and thrive on forcing turnovers, but after making it one of the focal points of the 21 day layoff, GW committed only 13 turnovers vs Charlotte and will be ready. Bonnies have lost 10 straight at GW and I look for that to extend to 11 tonight. Colonials win their A-10 opener in a mild upset. George Washington  1 UNIT

January 5

St Joseph's (-1.5) at UMass - 11:00am Pacific
Hawks are coming off a very well played game on New Year's Eve vs Gonzaga. They lost by 3 in the end as Gonzaga's Dan Dickau hit tough shot after tough shot. I look at the loss as a major positive as the team recovered from back to back embarrassing losses and once again proved they can compete with high caliber opposition. Leading scorer Marvin O'Connor returning from a 1 game absence and playing through a foot injury went 2-for-13 for a season low 8 points. He should be a bit more healthier today. The Hawks only committed 8 turnovers and outrebounded Gonzaga 35-31, who coming into the game was the nations best rebounding margin team. UMass still a work in progress right now and have already been beaten by what I believe to be lesser teams both at home (Holy Cross by 2, UConn by 10) and on the road (Marshall by 15 last time out). I have never been a fan of new UMass coach Lappas. SJU desperate for a win as they have now lost three straight. A-10 preseason heavy favorite will be ready for their conference opener. St. Joseph's  1 UNIT

NC State at Virginia (-8.5) - 11:00am Pacific
The undefeated and #4 ranked Cavs should roll here. Some people have questioned their strength of schedule but they have gone on the road and beaten two solid teams in Auburn and Georgetown and were also about to put away Michigan State before the game was postponed due to a wet floor. UVA is a team with tremendous talent and is going to continue to improve as the season progresses. Roger Mason (18.3ppg, 5.9apg, 4.0rpg), Chris Williams (15.6ppg, 6.8rpg), and Travis Watson (13.0ppg, 10.6rpg) are studs. The bench is easily 10 deep with some very promising young players. Meanwhile, nothing seems to ever work right for Herb Sendek and NC State. It looks like their long NCAA tournament drought will continue. The Pack's steady point guard Archie Miller has not been practicing much (only playing in games) due to injury and they just lost freshman forward Levi Watkins to a knee injury suffered in last game for the season. Watkins was just starting to come on as a key reserve. The entire Wolfpack frontcourt is made up of 4 freshman and 1 sophomore and their are only three upperclassmen in the nine man rotation. I just do not think they are ready for a trip to Charlottesville. Cavaliers by double digits. Virginia  1 UNIT

TCU at South Florida (-7.5) - 4:00pm Pacific
USF is off to a great start at 9-3. They are the only team to have beaten Pitt this year and blew out Cal by 20 here. They had previously only lost twice, both to teams ranked in the top 15 but were upset last time out by a very hungry Florida State team. USF played well throughout the game and watching it I was amazed they could lose it, but some untimely turnovers and cold shooting late sealed their fate in a 4 point loss. Forward BB Waldon was limited to a season low 17 minutes due to 1st half foul trouble and an elbow to the head in the second half. He did return late in the game but never got into a groove and finished with just 7 points. I really feel the Bulls will bounce back and play a strong game here in their conference home opener. TCU has only played in one other true road game this year, a 13 point loss at Texas Tech in a game that was never close. Two games back they lost at home to North Texas by 7 as a 15 point favorite and last time out started their entire second team vs Baylor. Guard Corey Valsin (24 minutes per game) only played 3 minutes, forward Jamal Brown (26.4 minutes per game, teams leading rebounder, and double digit scorer) only played 5 minutes, and point guard Nucleus Smith (18.6 minutes per game) did not play at all in last game. Not really sure what is going on with the Horned Frogs, but in any event they are outmatched here. Bulls by double digits. South Florida  1 UNIT

Kent at Marshall (pick) - 4:30pm Pacific
The MAC is not really my specialty but Marshall is a team I have been following closely this year. They have a legit NBA prospect in G/F Tamar Slay (20.0ppg, 6.1rpg) and two players who should vie for all-conference honors in F/C J.R. VanHoose (17.3ppg, 11.9rpg) and G Ronald Blackshear (Temple transfer who just became eligible 2 games back, 16.0ppg). Slay & VanHoose are both seniors as is Letece Williams (12.7ppg, 8.3rpg). Freshman Ronny Dunn has emerged as the teams point guard and has been sharp. The team really hit its stride in last game as Blackshear made his first start and scored 26 points in a 15 point win over UMass. The Herd will be trying to avenge three straight losses to Kent including an overtime loss here last year that was Marshall's only home loss of the season. The Herd have gone an impressive 62-9 (87%) at home in head coach Greg White's 5+ years here. Kent is coming off a big blowout win over Ball State. Surely they are not THAT good and may experience a bit of a letdown tonight. Kent is clearly less effective away from home and their only road win this season came at 4-8 Illinois State. They lost on the road at 2-9 Youngstown State two weeks ago. Herd will be up to the task and move to 3-0 in conference play. Marshall  1 UNIT 

Iowa (+1.5) at Ohio State - 5:00pm Pacific
Iowa is currently my pick to win the Big 10. The Hawkeyes have won 6 straight games in impressive fashion including a win on the road at Missouri by 18 points. If they can win there like that, they are certainly capable of a road win here. They blew a lead late and lost to Missouri on a neutral court earlier in the year but made no doubt who the better team was in the second meeting. Their two other losses are to #1 Duke and on the road at Northern Iowa in an upset. They clearly have responded well since then. Iowa is loaded with talent and experience. The senior duo of Luke Recker and Reggie Evans alone is enough to beat most teams. Both freshman sensation Pierre Pierce and JC transfer Chauncey Leslie have looked good manning the point. Glen Worley, Ryan Hogan, Jaren Reiner, Duez Henderson, and Brody Boyd could easily start for a lot of teams. Ohio State is coming off a quality win at Purdue in which they shot an unheard of 61% from the field. They will not shoot that well today and will have to do more to make a believer out of me. Steve Alford's Hawkeyes go to 2-0 in conference play. Iowa  1 UNIT

January 6

Oregon (-2) at Arizona State - 5:30pm Pacific
I have been high on Ernie Kent and the Ducks for several years now. Being in the same conference as Stanford, Arizona, UCLA, USC, and Cal, the Ducks never seem to get their due respect. The posted RPI's of 36 in 98-99, and 29 in 99-00, before a disappointing season last year (RPI of 110). This year however they are back strong and could make their biggest run yet in the Kent era. They are 10-3 right now and 3-0 in the Pac-10. All three of their losses came in succession on the road but they have since won 6 straight games. They just do not beat teams, they blow them out. Their average margin of victory is 29.8 in their 10 wins. Point guard Luke Ridnour and forward Luke Jackson are blossoming as sophomores after learning the ropes last year. Freddy Jones is in his senior year and has always been a potent scorer. Huge 7-2, 300 pound Chris Christoffersen (9.6ppg, 5.6rpg in just 21 minutes) is starting in his senior season and will be in the NBA next year. JC transfer Robert Johnson (8.5ppg, 7.5rpg) has exceeded all expectations at power forward bringing size, strength, athleticism, and has started in every game. The bench is as deep as anyone could want. The Ducks are coming off an impressive win at Arizona by 10 points but it was not even that close as AU hit a 3 at the buzzer and 10 was as close as they had been since the first half. They beat them by 30 in the first meeting. I am so high on these team that I even bet $150 on them to win the NCAA championship at 100-1. They have the ability to make a sweet 16, elite 8 run similar to USC last year. Arizona State lost at Oregon by 13 in the first meeting. The Sun Devils still have not put everything together and seem to have to work for everything no matter who they are playing. I look for the Ducks to get another big win and go to 4-0 in the Pac-10. Oregon  2 UNITS

January 9

Notre Dame at West Virginia (+6.5) - 4:00pm Pacific
WVU has a lot of value tonight as they are coming off three consecutive blow out losses, but I assure you they are a much better team than the last three games show. They were beaten soundly by Valporaiso and Pepperdine in Arizona's Fiesta Bowl tournament and then returned to the east coast and lost to a St. John's team who looks to have turned the corner after beating Miami, Fla by 11 last night. That was their fourth consecutive road game and they have played 8 of their 13 games away from home. The Mountaineers showed their class not once but twice this year with high quality true road game wins at New Mexico and at Tennessee. Most ranked teams do not have those kinds of credentials. WVU suffered a big blow prior to the start of the season as starting point guard Tim Lyles suffered an ACL tear and was lost for the season. Fortunately, Dale Catlett has a promising freshman guard that would have challenged Lyles for the starting job anyhow. His name is Jonathan Hargett and he is averaging 14.8ppg & 4.8apg. He scored 28 at New Mexico and 20 at Tennessee. He will match up with ND freshman guard Chris Thomas. Thomas is the much more heralded of the two, but I believe Hargett is every bit as good if not better. Senior power forward Chris Moss (18.5ppg, 8.0rpg) is called the best #4 man in the Big East by Catlett and senior guard Lionel Armstead (11.3ppg) is one of the more underrated guards in the league. Notre Dame has not been too impressive in my eyes. They have gone 2-1 in their 3 true road games this season but the wins were by 1 point over Miami, Ohio and over an outmatched Canisus team. Last years Troy Murphy led 20-10 Notre Dame team trailed by 8 at half-time and escaped here with just a 3 point win. Irish reserve forward Swanagan (9.3ppg, 6.8rpg) hurt his ankle in last game and could be limited. WVU will be looking to avenge 4 straight losses to ND. It is their first home game in three weeks and they need a win badly. Mountaineers can with this game outright with just an above average performance. Take the points. West Virginia  1 UNIT

January 12

Kansas (-2.5) at UCLA - Noon Pacific
The Jayhawks finished last season one of the hottest teams in the country eventually losing to Illinois in the sweet 16. They have picked up right where they left this year going 13-1 playing the nations 9th most difficult schedule and currently ranking #1 in the RPI standings. Not only is this team very good but they are playing with hunger after failing to win the Big 12 or finish in the top 10 either of the past two seasons. Junior Drew Gooden is having a monster season averaging 20.6ppg & 12.4rpg and is deserving of 1st team All-American consideration. Fellow juniors Collison (15.6ppg, 8.6rpg) and Heinrich (13.6ppg, 5.1rpg, 5.9apg) have also been outstanding. Freshman Simien, Miles (team leader in assists), & Langford have brought in great speed & athleticism off the bench. The team has not been challenged since Simien became eligible 9 games back. Their only loss came vs Ball State in Maui in the first game of the season after a leg cramp caused a defensive breakdown that led to the game winning basket. They have reeled off 13 straight wins since. KU leads the nation in scoring (92.6rpg), outrebounds opponents by 11.7 boards per game and averages 11.3 steals. The Bruins are still without a healthy point guard as freshman Cedric Bozeman only played 7 minutes (all in the first half) vs USC on Thursday. It showed as UCLA gave up some critical turnovers in the second half. The Bruins are coming off an ego blowing loss to the Trojans by 4 points. The game would have never been as close if not for uncanny shooting from forward Matt Barnes who netted a career high 34 points on a previously unheard of for him 7 three pointers. I am well aware that UCLA has been an enigma in recent years always playing lights out when you least expect it. However, even their A game will not be good enough today. Lavin will not be able to pull this one out of his ass. Kansas has convincing road wins at Arizona and Colorado already under their belts and beat Big 12 rival Nebraska by 39 in last game showing their sharpness. Jayhawks win convincingly. Kansas  2 UNITS

Cal Poly SLO at CS Northridge (-1) - 7:05pm Pacific 
The Matadors had a 22 win season last year and lost in the NCAA tournament to the above mentioned Jayhawks. This is their first year in the Big West. They played a ridiculously tough schedule in the early going playing 7 road games in an 8 game span. Their strength of schedule ranking is rated #10 in the country by Sagarin and #36 by RPI, far ahead of any other Big West school. Cal Poly's schedule in contrast ranks #175 & #260 respectively. Replacing 4 starters and the difficult schedule have been big factors in CSUN's 3-10 start but the team did bring in 5 quality newcomers and has played much improved basketball in recent weeks. They are 2-2 in conference play so far with a big 11 point win over a very well playing Pacific team and lost by just 3 on Thursday night to a good UCSB team that should battle for the league title. In the UCSB game, CSUN leading scorer Markus Carr (16.9ppg) has his worst shooting night of the season going just 3-for-18 yet they were still right their and the end. Cal Poly lost 4 starters from last year as well. They are 9-4 heading into this game but have played a weak schedule as indicated above. They are 3-4 in road games but the wins have been over Libscomb, Eastern Washington, and last place league foe CS Fullerton (3-10 overall, 0-4 in Big West) by only 1 point. They are coming off a 16 point loss on Thursday to the same Pacific team that CSUN beat. Matadors are 50-19 at home under Bobby Braswell and earn another win tonight. CS Northridge  1 UNIT

January 14

San Diego State (+9.5) at Utah - 6:00pm Pacific
The Aztecs are playing solid basketball right now winning 6 of their last 8 games. The only two losses in that span came at Duke by a very respectable 13 point margin and at BYU on Saturday by 11 in what was a close game throughout. Even more notable about the BYU game was that starting guards Al Faux (18.4ppg) and Tony Bland (16.7ppg) combined to shoot just 5-for-28 and the Aztecs still managed to stay competitive. During the above mentioned 8 game span, SDSU owns a 15 point home win over then #16 Fresno State and a quality road win at Hawaii. UH is currently 15-2 and SDSU is the only team to have beaten them on their home floor. The recent SDSU surge was to be expected. Leading scorer Al Faux missed the first five games due to suspension, it took some time for Michigan transfer Brandon Smith to recover from early season injury, and starting center Mike Mackell (JC transfer) has turned up his agressiveness in recent games. Meanwhile, forward Randy Holcomb (18.3ppg, 9.9rpg) is having a great season. Everything seems to be falling into place now. Utah is coming off a huge 23 point win over UNLV in which they set a record making 17-of-26 three point shots. The Utes lost 2nd leading scorer and leading rebounder Chris Burgess three games back probably for the season due to injury. Aside from last game, Utah has not been very impressive. Their strength of schedule ranking (68) is more than twice as high as SDSU (31) and it is highly unlikely that the Utes will be able to shoot with the same success in back to back games. SDSU is 7-0 in its last 7 games following a loss and an outright upset would not be out of the question tonight. Take the points. San Diego State  1 UNIT

January 15

Villanova at Virginia Tech (+4) - 4:30pm Pacific
Tech has a goal of reaching the Big East tournament in New York this year and to do so they must not finish last in their division of the Big East. This is really a must win game for them as they are off to an 0-4 start to conference play and have three straight road games following tonight. They have had some setbacks as leading scorer and all around best player Carlos Dixon sat out 4 games with a foot injury. He is just now getting back in game shape. JC transfer starting point guard Eric Branham missed the first few games with a wrist injury which he later reinjured and had to wear a protective sleeve on which has just recently been removed. Tech almost upset Virginia on the road earlier in the season which shows that they are a capable team. They gave Miami, Fla all they could handle on Saturday losing by 9 in the end. The local newspaper called it their best effort and performance in some time. They have outrebounded all four of their Big East opponents and have a +9 rebounding margin for the season. Their achilles heal has been turnovers with 20.4 per game which ranks last in the Big East. However, since conference play began and Dixon returned they have cut it down to 15.5 per game. Villanova comes in with the 2nd worst turnover average at 19.9 per game but have gotten worst in conference play at 21.5 per game. The Cats have lost two straight games and this will be only the 2nd time all season they have left the city of Philadelphia. I am looking for an outright win for the Hokies. Virginia Tech  1 UNIT

TCU at Houston (-3.5) - 5:30pm Pacific
Have been watching the Cougars closely since Michigan transfer Kevin Gaines became eligible 8 games ago. They have gone just 3-5 in that span but have played much better than that record indicates. Their five losses: by 7 to Texas Tech on a neutral court in a game they led for most of the game, by 4 at LSU in a game that was close throughout and they had a chance to win late, by 1 on a crazy buzzer beater vs NC State, by 3 at St. Louis, and on Saturday were beaten soundly by a red hot Cincinnati team. They did get a nice road win at Tulane prior to that. As you can see this team is improving and is very much overdue for a marquee home win. Instate foe TCU seems to fit the bill perfectly. The Horned Frogs have lost 4 of 5 games and are 0-4 on the road this year. I love what Ray McCallum is doing with Houston and the teams work is finally going to pay off with a nice win tonight. Houston  1 UNIT

Wake Forest at Virginia (-1.5) - 6:00pm Pacific
I think it is a good bet that Virginia will not lose many more home games. They were surprised by NC State and then again on the road at Clemson but rebounded nicely to win a close game over North Carolina on Saturday. That win should go a long way for their confidence and the two prior losses should do wonders for their focus and effort tonight. Senior guard Adam Hall is expected to miss the game with a foot injury but Hall has actually been in a shooting slump (34% shooting, 3 of 25 from 3 point range last 9 games) and freshman guard Keith Jenifer had replaced Hall in the starting lineup at UNC before the injury. Jenifer (averaged 22 minutes and 9 points in last two games) and fellow freshman Jermaine Harper have played in every game this year and both have averaged double digit minutes. They will be up for the challenge tonight. Meanwhile, the line has probably been adjusted a point or two because of Hall's absence. Wake Forest is a perfect 9-0 at home but just 4-3 away from home. Too many things would have to go right for them to compete here and I do not see it happening tonight. Cavaliers avoid a 1-3 start to conference play with a big win. Virginia  1 UNIT 

January 16

Louisville at East Carolina (+7) - 4:00pm Pacific
The Pirates are in a spot similar to Virginia Tech last night. They are just getting used to some key players back into the rotation. They have good home court fans, play very hard, and are an up and coming team. Sophomore forward Gabriel Mikulas not only was Colonial Conference rookie of the year last year but also made 1st team all conference as a freshman. He led ECU in scoring and was second in rebounding last year. He was suspended for the first 13 games of this season for games played in Europe but in two games since his return has averaged 16.0ppg, 8.0rpg, and 3.5apg. He is a great all around player who instantly makes this team better. 6-10 true freshman Moussa Badiane became eligible for the second semester 8 games ago and averages 7.1ppg, 4.7rpg, and an amazing 4.1 blocks per game in just over 23 minutes a game. Sophomore forward Erroyl Bing made the CAA rookie team last year as well and this year leads the team in scoring (16.3ppg) and rebounding (8.8rpg). Perimeter shooting has been a weakness for the Pirates so far but Kenyatta Brown, Fred Primus, and Brandon Hawkins are all senior guards and at least one of them is going to break out before long. Having an inside presence like Mikulas should help the cause. ECU played solid in two recent home games vs two of the hottest teams in the country in C-USA foes Cincinnati (lost by 10) and Charlotte (lost by 9). They competed well in both games (trailed Bearcats by 5 with 2:30 left). Not only are the Pirates on the improve but also get to face a much easier opponent today in Louisville. The Cardinals have played fewer road games than any C-USA team. They are 1-2 away from home this year with a win at UAB. However, in that win they had the services of starting point guard Carlos Hurt who had 14 points and 6 assists vs the Blazers. He is out for at least one more game with a back injury. Louisville does not have a deep bench and is clearly not road tested. Expect the Pirates to play well and contend for an outright win. Take the points. East Carolina  2 UNITS

January 19

East Carolina (+8.5) at St. Louis - 11:10am Pacific
I believe the Pirates still posses some value and are worth playing right back. They played very well and led Louisville almost start to finish in last game. The importance of the return of Gabe Mikulas is immeasurable. He scored 14 points and by himself drew 4 critical fouls on the Louisville frontline. This while being limited to only 15 minutes due to his own foul trouble. Meanwhile, leading scorer Erroyl Bing had one of his worst games of the season going 1-for-6 for only 6 points. The slack was picked up by point guard Travis Holcomb-Faye (20 points, 9 assists) and freshman shotblocking sensation Moussa Badiane (10 points, 6 blocks and altered several others). Brandon Hawkins also had a big game with 18 points. ECU is still on the improve and was very competitive in their first C-USA road game at UAB in which they lost by 9. That was Mikulas' first game back after serving the 13 game suspension. The Louisville game gives them a lot of confidence heading into this and they will be playing with a big revenge factor having lost 90-54 here last year as a non-conference opponent before joining C-USA. SLU lost 3 starters and a key reserve from last year while ECU returns all 5 starters. The Billikens meanwhile could easily be overlooking the Pirates after last years easy win and with Cincinnati due up here on Tuesday. SLU is coming off back to back road losses including a 28 point loss at Charlotte in last game. They played that without leading scorer and starting point guard Marque Perry (reoccurring concussion). His status for this game is uncertain. If the line moves either way sharply, you can expect that his status has been updated. If he cannot go it would be a major blow to them. Even with Perry and at home, SLU has not been too impressive. They are 8-9 overall with a #108 strength of schedule ranking. Last place DePaul is the only decent team they have beaten convincingly here. Take the points. East Carolina  1 UNIT

Minnesota at Michigan (-1) - 1:35pm Pacific
Before Wednesday's home game vs Northwestern, the Wolverines had a 2-2 conference record with two very winnable home games on tap. Unfortunately, they got off to a horrible start and fell behind 21-9 early playing right into the hands of the Wildcats' methodical style. Michigan did fight back with a 28-13 second half run and drew within one point late but could not get over the hump losing 58-54. That was their first home loss to an unranked team this year. They are now 5-3 at home with the other two losses coming vs then #15 Boston College and #1 Duke. This team has some talented players (LeVell Blanchard, Bernard Robinson, Chris Young) and I look for them to bounce back from the disappointing loss with a win here. They just played at Minnesota 10 days ago losing 90-82. They led at halftime and still have a bad taste in their mouth from it. The revenge and home court differential factors alone should give the Wolverines a win here. Minnesota is only 1-5 on the road this season. Their lone win came at Purdue as they went on an amazing 2nd half flurry outscoring the Boilermakers 53 to 31 to get the win. A big reason for their road troubles is lack of a true point guard. Shane Shilling unexpectedly transferred out of the program before the season started and current starter Kevin Burleson is really an off guard. This will continue to be a concern for the Gophers all season. Minnesota will also be playing their third consecutive road game in the last 7 days. Look for the Wolverines to snap their losing streak. Michigan  1 UNIT

Iowa State (-2) at Kansas State - 5:00pm Pacific
It was expected to be somewhat of a down year for the Cyclones and they are off to a disappointing 9-9 start. A large part of their struggles can be attributed to a knee injury that kept point guard and 2nd leading scorer Jake Sullivan out for three games and hobbled for several others. He is just now getting back to 100% and has averaged 17.8ppg in four conference games. He has been instrumental in ISU's recent improved play not only from a scoring standpoint but ball handling as well as the Cyclones have reduced turnovers and increased assists in recent games. These are two areas they had struggled in earlier in the season. Head coach Larry Eustachy this week called senior forward Tyray Pearson (19.2ppg, 8.3rpg) a better low post scoring threat than former great Marcus Fizer. The Cyclone's last three games have been noticeably impressive. They knocked off #17 Missouri by 4, lost to then #6 Oklahoma State by only 3 points, and most recently lost on a buzzer beater at Colorado. They led the Buffs by 10 in the second half and by 6 with 5 minutes to play but could not get anything to go right at the end of the game. They were able to almost win despite leading scorer Pearson having a career worst shooting night going 4-of-17 for just 10 points. He had averaged 29 in prior two games. Kansas State is not a very good basketball team. They have played 10 of their 14 games at home this year but still are only 6-8. Their six wins have come against: Troy State, UW-Green Bay, Tennessee State, Gardner Webb, North Texas, and Fairleigh Dickinson. They have lost at home to Wichita State and Western Carolina and lost at Northwestern by 23. Starting senior forward Travis Reynolds (9.4ppg, 6.3rpg) was suspended indefinitely by head coach Woolridge two games back which does not help matters. Expect the Cyclones to take care of business here and get a much deserved first road win of the season. Iowa State  1 UNIT

Syracuse at Tennessee (-3) - 5:00pm Pacific
There is not a better 6-9 team in the country than Tennessee. 6-8 junior forward Ron Slay missed the first two games of the season and saw limited minutes in the next three due to injury but has averaged 17.3ppg & 7.5rpg in 10 games since. 6-10 junior Marcus Haislip was ineligible for the first 6 games of the season but has averaged 16.0ppg, 6.8rpg, and 2.0 blocks in 9 games since returning. Completing an impressive frontline is senior Vincent Yarborough who has played in every game and averages a team high 19.3ppg, with 7.1rpg, and 3.0apg. Right when it appeared everything was coming together for the Vols, they just keep getting snakebitten time and time again by opposing teams late game heroics. They have lost 7 games by a combined 16 points and all were decided in the final 5 seconds or in overtime. They have not been playing cupcakes either, their strength of schedule ranks #5 in the country. They lost at Memphis by 2, at Louisville by 1, at Wisconsin by 3, vs #2 Florida by 4 in OT, at Georgia by 3, and at Miss State by 1 in OT on Wednesday. First year coach Buzz Peterson did announce one change, senior guard Jenis Grindstaff will replace junior Thaydeus Holden in the starting lineup and I expect the minor shakeup to be a positive one. Only 6 of the Vols 15 games have been here at home and they should be relishing the opportunity to host #7 Syracuse in front of a national television audience. The Orangemen have played 15 of their 18 games in the state of New York. They have not been very impressive in any of their three true road games. They were beaten by 16 at Georgia Tech, struggled for a 7 point win at Providence and a won at West Virginia by 6. Tennessee is much better than any of those teams. Vols frontcourt will be too much for the Orangemen to handle. Look for the SEC to score one on the Big East. Tennessee  1 UNIT

January 21

Wyoming at San Diego State (-2.5) - 9:00pm Pacific
We talked at length last week about the Aztecs appearing to be coming together. They went 0-2 but played well on their two game road trip at BYU & Utah last week and returned home on Saturday to beat Colorado State by 12. They are now a perfect 8-0 at home which includes a double digit win over Fresno State. This is their first nationally televised home game of the season. It is a big opportunity for them to not only move to 2-2 in conference play but also make a statement by knocking off one of the MWC favorites in Wyoming. The Cowboys have not played in 9 days and are just 2-4 on the road this year. Their wins came by just 3 at Denver and at UNLV by 10 in a game that the Rebels shot just 27% from the field. Similar to Minnesota on Saturday the Cowboys do not have solid point guard play. Senior Chris McMillian (last years starting point guard) is redshirting with an injury leaving a true freshman and a JC transfer who is really an off guard to run the team. This leaves them susceptible to turnovers and giving up big runs, especially on the road. Aztecs are an improving team with plenty of talent and will be ready to demonstrate it tonight. San Diego State  1 UNIT

January 23

Marshall (-2) vs West Virginia - 5:00pm Pacific
Big things were expected from the Herd when Temple transfer Ronald Blackshear became eligible 7 games back. They looked good going 2-0 in his first two games but the wind was suddenly taken from the sails after a disappointing home loss to Kent. They have now lost four of their last five games including an embarrassing home loss to Buffalo on Saturday in which they led by double digits before allowing a 21-3 run. Marshall let their tempers get the best of them as they were hit with three separate technical fouls including one on leading scorer Tamar Slay that was his 4th personal foul at the 12:37 mark of the 1st half. Needless to say that hindered their chances. Slay probably has an NBA future as one of those rare players that possess an "in-between" game. Blackshear has been as advertised averaging 16.9ppg despite shaking off the rust. Senior J.R. Vanhoose (16.1ppg, 10.6rpg) is having another solid season on the interior. It is only a matter of time before this team gets hot. The type of atmosphere that this instate rivalry brings may just be what Marshall needs. West Virginia has won 5 straight games in this series. This will be seniors Slay, Vanhoose, Williams, and Butler's last opportunity to beat the Mountaineers. West Virginia comes in having lost 7 straight games. They have shot just 38% from the field during that span. They were very frustrated after close home losses to Notre Dame & Syracuse and now starting point guard Jonathan Hargett is expected to miss 1-2 weeks with a knee injury. He led the team in assists, was a close second in scoring, and made two game winning shots earlier in the season. WVU is now down to 3rd string point guard Jay Hewitt who went 0-for-6 and did not score in 27 minutes making his first start in last game. Meanwhile, starting center Chris Garnett broke a team rule and will not start. Coach Gale Catlett says he may not play him at all. Catlett has come under fire from local papers and fans who claim he has lost control of the team. Their shot selection has indeed been awful this year. Marshall is the better team and wants the game badly. Give the small number. Marshall  2 UNITS

January 26

Ohio State at Minnesota (+2) - 1:30pm Pacific - Game 591-592
The Golden Gophers have had a full week to think about the two leads they blew on the road at Wisconsin and at Michigan last week. The Michigan game was particularly disturbing for them as they blew a 10 point lead in the final 6:16 (fortunately for us). This is a key game for them that can put them right back on the map and I am confident that with the extra time to prepare Dan Monson is going to have his team ready to win today. Minnesota is 9-1 at home this year with quality wins over Oregon & Michigan State. Ohio State comes in red hot with a 9 game winning streak but their only road tests during the streak were vs UMass, Purdue, and Northwestern. All three of those were single digit games and I believe Minnesota is a tougher place to play than any in that group. It is very unlikely the Buckeyes will be able to get up for this game and match the Gophers intensity level today. Take the points. Minnesota  2 UNITS

Stanford at USC (-1.5) - 3:00pm Pacific - Game 601-602
There is no doubt that the Trojans have risen to the status of one of the Pac-10's elite teams. This years version might not get as far in the NCAA tournament but they are every bit as good of a team. They have not made many mistakes as they come in with a 14-4 record. Two of their losses came at Fresno State & at Arizona with the other two coming to Pepperdine and Cal (Thursday night) on buzzer beating 3 pointers. If you have not seen USC's new additions recently you will be surprised how much they have progressed since early in the season. Freshman guard Errick Craven earned a starting job midway through the season and has emerged into an impact player averaging 11.4ppg. He has filled the spot vacated by Jeff Trepagnier very nicely. European import center Kostas Charissis was a suspension casualty to start the season and may have had his best game of the season vs Cal with 8 points and 10 rebounds. Senior holdovers Granville, Clancy, and Bluthenthal are as good as ever. I really felt that the Cal/USC game was much better played than the UCLA/Stanford game. Stanford took advantage of a lackluster UCLA effort and got a big win on Thursday making this a much more critical game for the Trojans than it is for the Cardinal. USC is not getting enough respect here. Give the small number. USC 2 UNITS

South Carolina at Ole Miss (-3) - 10:00am Pacific - Game 541-542
The Rebels are quietly having another very strong season. They come into the game with a 15-4 record. Only Kentucky has won more SEC games than Ole Miss is the last five years. The Rebels are 10-1 at home this year with the only loss coming by a point to George Mason early in the season. They have won 86 of their last 95 games (.905 winning percentage) at home. The Rebels have very balanced scoring with 4 players averaging double figures and a fifth at 9.9ppg. They get good leadership from senior point guard Jason Harrison and always play tough defense. The Rebels are allowing opponents to shoot just 41.5% from the field compared to the Gamecocks who allow 44.7% shooting which is second to last in the SEC. South Carolina is amidst a very tough stretch right now. They have lost three of five games but their two wins came on the road at Arkansas by 2 and at Tennessee by 34. However, the Razorbacks appear to be struggling right now having lost 4 straight and the Vols clearly did not come to play as they lost emotional leader Slay to injury for the season prior to the game. In-between those two games South Carolina was upended by Vanderbilt in Columbia. Look for the Rebels to continue to roll at home. Mississippi  1 UNIT

UMass (+8.5) at St. Bonnie - 4:00pm Pacific - Game 613-614
The Minutemen appear to be back on track. They snapped a 5 game losing streak by putting together back to back double digit wins over Temple & GW. 6-11 center Micah Brand came out of a three game slump with 17 points against the Colonials. UMass has finally settled in to a nice 7-8 man rotation. They do have good talent and also showed they could play on the road by winning at NC State earlier in the season. I feel that the honeymoon is over at St. Bonnie. They got off to a red hot start but are only 4-4 in their last 8 games and are still being overpriced. They were beaten soundly at Fordham in last game as they played just 7 players and only 6 more than 6 minutes. UMass is a team that can take advantage of the Bonnies lack of size and depth up front. 6-11 Brand and 6-10 Ryhmer should have field days. I expect this to be a very close game with a possible outright upset for the Minutemen. Take the points. UMass 1 UNIT

January 30

Mississippi State at Auburn (-1) - 5:00pm Pacific
Auburn has fallen on some hard times losing 4 straight games and 6 of 7 overall. On the flip side 4 of the 7 games were on the road and the two home losses were both by single digits vs Arkansas and Kentucky. They have been hurt by some injury problems and I believe the majority of their performances are better than looked. They did beat #15 Alabama here two weeks ago and earlier in the season the Tigers beat Marshall by 18 and took Virginia down to the wire so they are more than capable of winning tonight. Cliff Ellis has been tinkering with us lineup for sometime now but has made it clear that he is going to give promising freshman Marco Killingsworth and Brandon Robinson more playing time. The duo ranks 3rd and 5th in scoring and 1st and 4th in rebounding on the team respectively. Newcomer JC transfer Derrick Bird is second on the team in scoring. One thing about relying heavily on newcomers is they are more prone to struggles on the road and typically play much better at home. After a very lackluster performance at Tennessee over the weekend, I am expecting Auburn to come out with a lot of effort and play very well tonight. Marquis Daniels, Adam Harrington, Lincoln Glass, and Kyle Davis along with those mentioned above give Ellis plenty of talented options. Miss State comes in with a 3-3 conference record. Two of their wins came in overtime and they are 0-3 on the road in conference play with loss margins of 8, 11, and 13. The Bulldogs are now 4-23 on the road in SEC play under Rick Stansbury. Miss State is coming off a big win over an LSU team that collapsed in the 2nd half and are overvalued here. Auburn has won 9 of 10 in this series including 5 straight in Auburn. Look for the Tigers to rebound with a solid win tonight. Auburn  1 UNIT

Florida State at Georgia Tech (-2.5) - 6:00pm Pacific
The Yellow Jackets will not get a better chance for their first ACC conference win than tonight. No team in younger than Georgia Tech. Not just by number of underclassmen (5 freshman & 4 sophomores in 10 man rotation) but by their actual ages as well. The home and road differences that I touched upon above apply even more so here. Yes, Tech is 0-7 in ACC play but 4 of those losses came by 7 points or less and only in the 25 point loss to Duke were they not competitive and have a shot at winning in the 2nd half. Paul Hewitt is an excellent coach and this team has a lot of potential. Because of their youth there is no limit as to how much they can improve from game to game. They open up a two game homestand tonight against an unranked opponent after playing five straight ranked teams, three of which were on the road. Tech has been a dangerous team at home this year. They have beat Syracuse and Wisconsin here earlier in the year and took both Virginia and Maryland to the wire in their last two home games. Senior point guard Tony Akins has been consistently strong all season. 7-0 freshman Schenscher returned 2 games ago from an 8 game absence and gives them added size and depth down low. Their is a lot of raw talent on this roster. It was nice to see Florida State knock off Duke, but clearly the Seminoles still have their shortcomings. This was shown when they had to come from behind at home to beat Clemson two games ago. FSU is 0-4 in ACC road games with loss margins of 21, 15, 17, and 21 at Maryland in last game which had to be a blow to their confidence. Look for the Yellow Jackets to get the monkey off their back with their first in conference win tonight. Georgia Tech  1 UNIT

January Recap

We made a very strong comeback in January.  We closed the month winning three straight 2 UNIT plays, and four straight for those of you who played Marshall closer to game time as the line closed at pick and they won by 2.  We had a 3-0 day on 1/15, and a 4-0 day on 1/26.