BY: SOME GUY NAMED STEVE
There’s no other way to say it. Last night was a disaster, a Trainwreck to be more specific. After very promising first halves, each game went the exact opposite way we wanted in the second.
Prairie View was up 15 at the half and looked like they were going to blow Mississippi Valley State out of the water, but took their foot off the gas and allowed the game to get within eight points and ended up only winning by 20. It didn’t help that Mississippi Valley aka the worst shooting team in all of college basketball hit 11 threes in this contest.
Minnesota started their game vs Northwestern on a 17-3 and looked like they were on their way to an easy win. Northwestern came back a little bit to make it a six point game at half, but Minnesota was still in great shape to cover. Then the second half came which started with a 12-0 Northwestern run that was followed up by atrocious shooting from Minnesota the rest of the game. Minnesota was 4-27 from three point range. That’s just 14.8 percent.
Ohio State was the icing on the garbage cake as they were leading all game until three minutes to go and ended up losing outright. In the final three minutes Ohio State committed six fouls and missed all their field goal attempts including a layup with seven seconds to go that could’ve forced overtime.
It was an ugly, ugly, ugly night and left me questioning everything I thought I knew about college basketball. I will continue to make my picks each day with a reason why I’m on what I am on but until further notice it is time to fade some guy named Steve.
Overall Record: 22-30-2 (-11.7u)
Last Week: 8-7 (+.3u)
This Week: 5-8-1 (-3.7u)
Drake (-9) at Bradley
Our first game tonight is a battle between two Missouri Valley foes as Drake (23-2, 19-4 ATS) takes on Bradley (11-14, 6-14-3 ATS).
I’m going to keep my reasoning short and sweet tonight. Drake has been dominant all year long in conference play and are doing everything they can to make the NCAA tournament. Drake is currently projected as an 11 seed and cannot afford to have any bad late season losses.
Tonight they play Bradley who is still missing key players (Elijah Childs, Terry Nolan Jr., Danya Kingsby) due to suspension. They have missed these three players in their last three games and have lost those games by 22, 15, and 17 points.
Drake is significantly better than Bradley on both sides of the court ranking much higher than Bradley in offensive efficiency 23rd to 168th and defensive efficiency 84th to 132nd.
Missouri State (-5) at Evansville
Our next game is another Missouri Valley conference battle between Missouri State (15-5, 12-5-1 ATS) and Evansville (8-14, 10-11-1 ATS).
These teams are going in completely different directions as Missouri State comes into tonight on a six game winning streak while Evansville comes in on a six game losing streak.
Outside of Drake and Loyola Chicago, Missouri State has dominated the Missouri Valley. They are 11-1, 10-1-1 ATS against all other Missouri Valley opponents. Tonight they face Evansville who has been struggling big time. In their last 11 conference games, Evansville is 2-9, 4-7 ATS and have failed to cover in their last four games.
Evansville has the 318th ranked defense that will struggle to slow down Missouri State’s 95th ranked offense that shoots 47.4% from the floor. Missouri State also has a massive advantage on the boards with an average of 10.2 more rebounds per game than Evansville.
Not only is Missouri State the much hotter team but they are also much better overall and should be able to beat Evansville easily tonight.
Phoenix Suns/Chicago Bulls Over 225.5
Our final game tonight is an NBA contest between the Suns and the Bulls. The Suns and the Bulls have been two of the NBA’s better offenses this season and should score a lot of points tonight.
In their last five games the Suns have averaged 127.4ppg and in their last five games the Bulls have averaged 117ppg. On the year the Suns average 113.5ppg and the Bulls average 115.3ppg.
Part of the reason for the offensive explosion has been the guard play of both teams. For the Suns, all stars Chris Paul and Devin Booker have combined for 43.4ppgs and 14.4apg over their last five games while the Bulls guards (Zach Lavine, Colby White) have combined for 48.2ppg and 8apg. They have both been on fire!
With the Bulls current offensive form and their 3rd ranked pace of play I am expecting them to keep this game close and score a lot. Luckily for us their opponents happen to be the 6th best shooting team in the NBA.
Expect a lot of points in this game between two red hot offenses that have shown no signs of slowing down.
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