Old Dominion at James Madison (+2.5) - 4:00pm Pacific - Game #557-558
Injuries, blown leads, and close losses have plagued JMU for the past month. They played without starting forward and top shooter Swanston for seven games and without starting point guard Curtis for the better part of four. Swanston returned to the lineup four games ago and Curtis returned in last game giving them a full starting lineup for the first time in over a month. The Dukes at one point were 10-5 and had wins over both first place VCU by 1 and second place UNCW by 19 before the bad luck set in. Curtis played 27 minutes and showed some signs of rust in last game but has practiced well and is expected to be closer to 100% today. In a rebuilding year Old Dominion has gone to a young lineup which includes three freshman. The Monarchs enter tonight coming off three emotionally draining games. They got a big win over George Mason at home, needed 2 OT's and a last second shot to beat a poor Drexel team, and made up a 7 point deficit in the final five minutes to win at VCU by 1 point. In addition to being in first place, VCU is ODU's top rival, it was a revenge game, and was played on ESPN2 in front of a sell out crowd. It was by far ODU's biggest win of the season and it leaves them ripe for a big letdown tonight. JMU led Hofstra by five with just over a minute left on Saturday but failed to execute down the stretch and lost on a last second basket. They have enough good talent to win this game outright and will be helped by playing the second of back to back home games while ODU plays the second of back to back road games. Expect a big effort from the Dukes. Take the points.

Play: James Madison +2.5  1.0 UNIT  |  LOSS 52-72
Portland State (-2.5) at Northern Colorado - 6:00pm Pacific - Game #627-628
PSU has separated themselves as the class of the Big Sky conference with an 8 game win streak and three game lead in the standings. During the run they have won three straight conference road games including a high quality win at Northern Arizona that completed a season sweep of their closest rated competitor in the league. Their success has come without being fully healthy. Junior guard Dupree Lucas, a starter earlier in the season, missed 9 of 11 games with a foot issue but returned to play off the bench in last game and should get increased minutes moving forward. Rotation forward Julius Thomas has missed the last six games with a shoulder injury but has returned to practice and will be available tonight. A win tonight will clinch a share of the Big Sky regular season title for PSU. That doesn't just mean a #1 seed in the Big Sky tournament but they would get to host it as well. They have a bracket buster road game on Saturday and then travel to Montana for their third and fourth straight road games following this so it is a huge game for them. Northern Colorado has lost six of eight vs D-1 opponents and continues to be without their senior starting PG Panagiotakopoulos (knee) who scored a team high 22 points in close loss at Portland State earlier this season. PSU dominated the paint in that game outscoring NCO 40-20 inside and held a +12 rebound margin. PSU is already 4-0 in conference rematch games. Expect the Vikings to take care of business tonight. Give the points.

Play: Portland State -2.5  0.5 UNIT  |  WIN 88-79
Cal Poly at UC Davis (+2) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #615-616
The Aggies have struggled through conference play with a 2-10 record but have shown signs of life in recent games.  Last time out they took preseason Big West favorite UCSB down to the wire before losing by just four and they already own a double digit win here over UC Irvine.  UC Davis does not have the athleticism and quickness to match up with a lot of Big West teams but can compete well with the slower ones.  Bring in Cal Poly who was already without starting guard Dawin Whiten (foot) and is now without two other starting guards Wheeler (foot) and Thomas (ankle).  This leaves them without three of their top four scorers and with just two guards on the active roster, one who is a walk-on.  In earlier meeting at Cal Poly, when the Mustangs were at full strength, UC Davis led the majority of the game, including by 9 near the mid point of the second half but wilted late and gave up a huge run in the closing minutes for a very misleading 12 point final margin.  Aggie players are quoted in today's student newspaper that they felt they should have won that game and are very confident they can win tonight.  UC Davis is a hungry team and will be playing their final conference home game of the season tonight.  Take the points.

Play:  UC Davis +2  1.0 UNIT  |  LOSS 58-66


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