Ilinois State at Western Michigan (-1) - 11:00am Pacific - Game #529-530
The Broncos have a solid young basketball team. They are just 3-6 but have played 7 of their 9 games away from home and have not played a single cupcake game. They have already faced four top 100 opponents in Virginia Tech, San Diego State, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia. They snuck by Virginia Tech in Orlando and earned a nice win over a good San Diego State team here in Kalamazoo. WMU is led by junior center Joe Reitz, a quality inside presence not often found on mid major level teams. The Broncos have plenty of contributors with seven of their top nine scorers back from last year and highly touted freshman recruit guard David Kool (Michigan's Mr. Basketball) is coming off his best game of the season after sitting out first three games and working his way into the rotation. Ten players are averaging double digit minutes. The Broncos have lost by only 2 at Indiana State, by only 5 at Temple, and by only 2 at Northwestern in OT last time out. They return home today where they are a perfect 2-0 on the season.

Illinois State was brought back to Earth last time out losing at Evansville by 28 points and snapping a six game win streak. The Redbirds did win impressively at St John's early in the season and had a nice stretch of home wins but I do not think they were ever as good as their current power rating suggests. The loss at Evansville was also their conference opener which made it even more disappointing. This will be another tough road challenge against probably a better all around team in WMU. The Broncos will also be looking to avenge a 17 point loss at ISU in November of last season. At that time WMU was extremely inexperienced but they became a much stronger team at the end of last season and have continued to progress this year. Give the small number.

RAS Official Play: Western Michigan -1   1 UNIT

Santa Clara at Stanford (-6) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #583-584
Stanford is quietly developing the deepest and best front line in the West. Freshman 7 foot twins Robin and Brook Lopez, both McDonald's All-Americans, have been better than advertised. Robin leads the Pac-10 in blocked shots while averaging 9.9ppg & 7.0rpg. Brook just returned to action two games ago after missing five games with a back injury. He's averaged 9.0ppg in just 10.5 minutes per game. Junior forward Taj Finger and junior center Peter Prowitt (returned from injury 3 games ago) are experienced big bodies to add to the mix. Forward Lawrence Hill has blossommed as a sophomore and leads the team with 15.9ppg and the conference in FG% (.622). Sophomore point guard Mitch Johnson (4.7apg) and shooting guard Anthony Goods (20 3-pt shots made) are performing well in the backcourt. Wing Fred Washington provides a little bit of everything and important senior leadership. Stanford is already 6-1 and has a real chance to surprise in the very tough Pac-10 conference this year.

Santa Clara has played well in their last two games but take a big step up in class tonight. The Broncos will not have the same frontcourt size advantages they have grown accustomed to and their offensive efficiency may suffer because of it. Stanford's big men are much quicker and more athletic than Santa Clara's and it will cause problems for them on both sides of the court. Santa Clara's two similar tests this season, at Cal, and at Missouri State, resulted in 25 and 27 point losses respectively. Expect Stanford to take care of business and win this convincingly. Give the points.

RAS Official Play: Stanford -6   1 UNIT

Northern Arizona (pick) at Pepperdine - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #613-614
The Lumberjacks have an experienced upperclassmen dominated team. They play smart, shoot well, rebound well, and are very comfortable playing an uptempo game. NAU played two road games vs top 10 opponents in the first week of play, and five of seven on the road overall to start the season. After losing to UNLV by 40 the team responded with an easy blowout win over San Francisco and followed that with another easy win over an NAIA opponent. They will now look to build momentum before beginning their defense of the Big Sky regular season championship. NAU did win on the road at Arizona State in November so they are more than capable of winning away from home. Leading scorer Rubin Boykin, an athletic power forward, figures to have a field day against the awful Pepperdine interior defense. NAU also features one of the best 3-point shooters in the country in guard Steven Sir (.470 behind the arc) and have a +3.8 rebounding margin against Pepperdine's -12.1.

The losses continue to pile up for Pepperdine. Most recently they lost to Cal State Bakersfield, a Division 2 team. The Waves are now 2-9. They are giving up 85.4ppg, allowing opponents to hit .479 from the field, and are getting killed on the boards. Pepperdine has received some timely second half shooting to stay competitive in several games they should not have been in, but simply lack consistent playmaking on both sides of the court, particularly when games get close. The Waves have some impressive recruits lined up for next season, but until then will continue to struggle. Expect a Lumberjacks victory.

RAS Official Play: Northern Arizona pk   1 UNIT

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