DEPAUL –3 over Marquette
The Blue Demons have stepped it up big time over the past month and while they were blown out by Cincinnati, fact remains this is a good team that just had a bad game against the Bearcats. Most notably is the Blue Demons dominating rebounding and we trust that’ll be the difference in this one. When it comes to college rivalries, these two have a strong history and both will be extremely fired up here. Give the advantage to the home team as they’re 8-1 at Allstate Arena and they’ve won their past three by 11 or more. Quemont Greer, who missed DePaul's first two games and managed only nine points in the NIU loss, has scored 20 or more in 10 of his last 11 games to become a go-to force who shoots 53 percent from the field, including 41.7 percent on three-pointers. The Blue Demons are now 10-4 and that includes a blowout win over Tulane in their last game and a win at Notre Dame earlier. The Golden Eagles come in ranked No. 25 in the nation. However, they’ve looked rather mediocre in their past six games with wins over Nebraska, Coppin St., IPFW, Tulane and South Florida. The win over South Florida was at home and it was by just two points. Marquette also lost by double digits at Memphis this past week. Now their asked to play in a rather hostile environment and there’s a reason why the oddsmakers made the unranked Blue Demons a favorite over the ranked Golden Eagles. Their looking for all the Golden Eagle money they can find. Marquette has one notable win all year, at Wisconsin, and that was over a month ago. Marquette has simply not looked good recently and they’ll have to be at their absolute best here to get the cover. Even if that should come to pass, they’ll have a difficult time winning at this venue. Play: DePaul –3 (Risking 1.65 units to win 1.5). <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
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Santa Clara –1.10 over LOYOLA MARYMOUNT<o></o>
Like the spot here for the visitor as the Lions have had a very tough stretch of games, as far as the schedule is concerned and we just don’t believe they’ll be that crisp tonight. LMU will have to be sharp to win this game and aside from being the inferior squad, they’re not playing well at all. The Lions have dropped five of their past six with the only win over that stretch coming on their home floor, over San Francisco, by just three points. Throw in losses to Utah St., Minnesota by 26, San Diego, Gonzaga and Portland by 17 and you can understand why we’re not down with the Lions. Furthermore, the team has played seven of its past nine on the road, including its past two and aside from having to battle the feisty Broncos, they also have to contend with a schedule that’s been grueling. As for the Broncos, well, this is somewhat of a Jeckyll and Hyde squad. Thus far, they’ve defeated No.3 North Carolina and Stanford, while falling at home to Central Connecticut State and at Cal Poly. After beating obscure Chico St. on Dec. 18, Santa Clara lost its next five games with the last two coming at BYU and then a four point home loss to Gonzaga. That loss seems to have ignited the Broncos as they’ve won their past two in impressive fashion, especially the last one, a 23 point road victory against a decent St. Marys team. Santa Clara can score with the best of them, this team can put up points in a hurry, however, the defense is always a concern. However, LMU is not a good shooting team. They can go cold for long stretches and that always seems to put them in a big hole. With the tough schedule that they’ve had to endure for the past month we expect the Lions to be cold for stretches tonight and you just can’t go cold against this offense. That should be the difference here. Play: Santa Clara –1.10 (Risking 1.65 units to win 1.5).<o></o>
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Arizona –3 over OREGON <o></o>
Usually we’re not in favor of spotting small road points with a ranked team versus an unranked team as the number is almost always designed to attract action on the wrong side. However, this one’s a little different, as the Ducks are falsely perceived as a very good team. We’re not buying it. The Ducks are led by Ian Crosswhite, a player that experts claim is a definite NBA prospect. In Oregon’s last game at Washington St., Crosswhite did not play well and hasn’t played well in a number of games this year. This was only a day after coach Kent said he was giving serious thought to moving his most experienced player to the bench in favor of freshman Maarty Leunen. The two sat down after the Washington St. game and in practice on Tuesday, Crosswhite led the team in and out of huddles. He was authoritative while directing teammates through plays. He was demonstrative calling for the ball. That’s all very nice but we’ve all heard the term, “trying to do too much”, well, that’s precisely the predicament Crosswhite and the Ducks will find themselves in tonight against this talented Wildcat team. The Ducks come in 11-3, however, they’re just 3-2 in league play and have yet to beat a quality opponent all year. They’ve played two ranked teams all year and the closest they came was 17 points. They were tooth and nails to beat a brutal Washington St team by three in their last game. The Ducks feature six new players on the squad and frankly, we just don’t think they can even come close to competing with this invader. Arizona is an impressive 14-3 with two wins coming over ranked teams, Marquette and Mississippi St. and one loss coming by just three, on the road, to a powerful Wake Forest team. The Wildcats have won 12 of their past 13 games and their schedule has been as tough as any. Aside from the three aforementioned ranked teams, Arizona has played and beaten Michigan, in Michigan, USC, UCLA and Arizona St. to name a few. They’re now 4-1 in league play and at their worst, they should be able to dispose of this way over-rated host by double digits. Play: Arizona –3 (Risking 1.65 units to win 1.5).
The Blue Demons have stepped it up big time over the past month and while they were blown out by Cincinnati, fact remains this is a good team that just had a bad game against the Bearcats. Most notably is the Blue Demons dominating rebounding and we trust that’ll be the difference in this one. When it comes to college rivalries, these two have a strong history and both will be extremely fired up here. Give the advantage to the home team as they’re 8-1 at Allstate Arena and they’ve won their past three by 11 or more. Quemont Greer, who missed DePaul's first two games and managed only nine points in the NIU loss, has scored 20 or more in 10 of his last 11 games to become a go-to force who shoots 53 percent from the field, including 41.7 percent on three-pointers. The Blue Demons are now 10-4 and that includes a blowout win over Tulane in their last game and a win at Notre Dame earlier. The Golden Eagles come in ranked No. 25 in the nation. However, they’ve looked rather mediocre in their past six games with wins over Nebraska, Coppin St., IPFW, Tulane and South Florida. The win over South Florida was at home and it was by just two points. Marquette also lost by double digits at Memphis this past week. Now their asked to play in a rather hostile environment and there’s a reason why the oddsmakers made the unranked Blue Demons a favorite over the ranked Golden Eagles. Their looking for all the Golden Eagle money they can find. Marquette has one notable win all year, at Wisconsin, and that was over a month ago. Marquette has simply not looked good recently and they’ll have to be at their absolute best here to get the cover. Even if that should come to pass, they’ll have a difficult time winning at this venue. Play: DePaul –3 (Risking 1.65 units to win 1.5). <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
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></o>Santa Clara –1.10 over LOYOLA MARYMOUNT<o
></o>Like the spot here for the visitor as the Lions have had a very tough stretch of games, as far as the schedule is concerned and we just don’t believe they’ll be that crisp tonight. LMU will have to be sharp to win this game and aside from being the inferior squad, they’re not playing well at all. The Lions have dropped five of their past six with the only win over that stretch coming on their home floor, over San Francisco, by just three points. Throw in losses to Utah St., Minnesota by 26, San Diego, Gonzaga and Portland by 17 and you can understand why we’re not down with the Lions. Furthermore, the team has played seven of its past nine on the road, including its past two and aside from having to battle the feisty Broncos, they also have to contend with a schedule that’s been grueling. As for the Broncos, well, this is somewhat of a Jeckyll and Hyde squad. Thus far, they’ve defeated No.3 North Carolina and Stanford, while falling at home to Central Connecticut State and at Cal Poly. After beating obscure Chico St. on Dec. 18, Santa Clara lost its next five games with the last two coming at BYU and then a four point home loss to Gonzaga. That loss seems to have ignited the Broncos as they’ve won their past two in impressive fashion, especially the last one, a 23 point road victory against a decent St. Marys team. Santa Clara can score with the best of them, this team can put up points in a hurry, however, the defense is always a concern. However, LMU is not a good shooting team. They can go cold for long stretches and that always seems to put them in a big hole. With the tough schedule that they’ve had to endure for the past month we expect the Lions to be cold for stretches tonight and you just can’t go cold against this offense. That should be the difference here. Play: Santa Clara –1.10 (Risking 1.65 units to win 1.5).<o
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></o>Arizona –3 over OREGON <o
></o>Usually we’re not in favor of spotting small road points with a ranked team versus an unranked team as the number is almost always designed to attract action on the wrong side. However, this one’s a little different, as the Ducks are falsely perceived as a very good team. We’re not buying it. The Ducks are led by Ian Crosswhite, a player that experts claim is a definite NBA prospect. In Oregon’s last game at Washington St., Crosswhite did not play well and hasn’t played well in a number of games this year. This was only a day after coach Kent said he was giving serious thought to moving his most experienced player to the bench in favor of freshman Maarty Leunen. The two sat down after the Washington St. game and in practice on Tuesday, Crosswhite led the team in and out of huddles. He was authoritative while directing teammates through plays. He was demonstrative calling for the ball. That’s all very nice but we’ve all heard the term, “trying to do too much”, well, that’s precisely the predicament Crosswhite and the Ducks will find themselves in tonight against this talented Wildcat team. The Ducks come in 11-3, however, they’re just 3-2 in league play and have yet to beat a quality opponent all year. They’ve played two ranked teams all year and the closest they came was 17 points. They were tooth and nails to beat a brutal Washington St team by three in their last game. The Ducks feature six new players on the squad and frankly, we just don’t think they can even come close to competing with this invader. Arizona is an impressive 14-3 with two wins coming over ranked teams, Marquette and Mississippi St. and one loss coming by just three, on the road, to a powerful Wake Forest team. The Wildcats have won 12 of their past 13 games and their schedule has been as tough as any. Aside from the three aforementioned ranked teams, Arizona has played and beaten Michigan, in Michigan, USC, UCLA and Arizona St. to name a few. They’re now 4-1 in league play and at their worst, they should be able to dispose of this way over-rated host by double digits. Play: Arizona –3 (Risking 1.65 units to win 1.5).
