MARCH MADNESS COUNTDOWN. Executive Tournament Packages Available Now!

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1 VOL 49/27 WED. MARCH 6, 2019 NOT FOR SALE IN STORES! COPYRIGHT PROTECTED COLLEGE & NBA ACTION MARCH MADNESS COUNTDOWN Executive Tournament Packages Available Now! This Week... BASKETBALL! Picks/Best Bets NBA & NCAA Power Ratings NBA Spread Records College Log! Copyright 2019 Starpoint Publishing Corp Lexington Avenue New York, NY (877)

2 Thursday, February 28 *Indiana over Minnesota by 3 The Timberwolves have had the Pacers' number lately, beating them by 17 point on the road last season and as two-point home favorites on October 22. INDI- ANA *Orlando over Golden State by 2 The Warriors came from 18 points down to get past the Magic, , as sevenpoint home favorites on Nov. 26 with Kevin Durant scoring 49 points. The Magic have revenge and draw Golden State playing its third road game in four days and second in two nights. ORLANDO *New York over Cleveland by 4 You have to go all the way back to Feb. 9 to find the last time the Cavaliers were on the road. The Cavaliers are 1-6 SU, ATS during their last seven away matchups. NEW YORK *Houston over Miami by 7 The Heat just hosted the Warriors last night. But they are 16-7 ATS in their last 23 away contests. HOUSTON *Denver over Utah by 15 The Jazz are ATS versus foes with a winning percentage above.600 and are playing without rest. Denver has won and covered the past five times hosting Utah, including as 4.5-point favorites on Nov. 3. DENVER *Oklahoma City over Philadelphia by 8 The Thunder have dominated the 76ers winning the past 19 meetings while going 14-5 ATS. Oklahoma City kept the streak going in the first game between the teams this season, nipping the 76ers, , as 3 1/2-point road 'dogs on Jan. 19. OKLA- HOMA CITY Friday, March 1 *Toronto over Portland by 17 Portland is 0-3 SU, 1-2 ATS in its last three visits to Toronto losing those games by an average of 11 points a game. This also marks the Trail Blazers' fourth road game in seven days. Toronto has revenge, too, for a loss suffered to Portland on Dec. 14 when it was missing Kyle Lowry. TORONTO TORONTO *Atlanta over Chicago by 5 This is the first of a home-and-away series with the teams meeting again Sunday. Behind 35 points from John Collins the Hawks waltzed past the Bulls in the previous meeting, , as 1.5-point road 'dogs on Jan. 23. ATLANTA *Brooklyn over Charlotte by 15 The Nets entered the final Monday of February going ATS in their last 36 games. Charlotte is 1-4 SU and ATS in its past five road games with the lone win coming against the Hawks. The Hornets' average loss in their past four away defeats is 21.2 points. BROOKLYN *Boston over Washington by 9 Boston is in action for the third time in four days. Washington, however, is tough to back on the road having failed to cover in 32 of its past 42 away matchups through this past Tuesday. BOSTON New Orleans over *Phoenix by 1 The Pelicans have owned the Suns winning the past seven times, including on Nov. 11 at home. Phoenix should be pumped, though, having last played at home on Feb. 8 and being idle since Monday. NEW ORLEANS *Sacramento over Los Angeles Clippers by 1 The Kings have won 19 of their first 30 home games. However, they are 0-3 versus the Clippers this season losing at home and suffering a pair of road losses and in the last meeting on Jan. 27. SACRAMENTO Milwaukee over *Los Angeles Lakers by 8 Since Jan. 29, the Lakers have lost by 16 to the 76ers at home, fell to the Pacers by 42 points on the road and lost again to the 76ers this time by 23 points. The Bucks are better than those two good Eastern Conference teams. MILWAUKEE Saturday, March 2 Detroit over *Cleveland by 4 This is only the fifth time the Pistons will be a road favorite. They have covered three of the past four times, including defeating the Knicks, , as 3 1/2-point road chalk on Feb. 5. DETROIT NBA *Indiana over Orlando by 8 The Pacers have covered the past six times at home when taking on opponents with less than a.400 road win percentage entering the final weekend of February. INDI- ANA *Miami over Brooklyn by 16 This is not an ideal spot for the Nets being their lone road contest during a six-game span. Brooklyn just hosted Charlotte last night. This marks their third game in four days. Miami came out of the All-Star break holding foes to seven fewer points per game than Brooklyn and may have point guard Goran Dragic back. MIAMI *Dallas over Memphis by 2 The Grizzlies were 5-2 ATS in their last seven Western Conference matchups through this past Sunday, but have been without injured Jaren Jackson Jr., their fourth-leading scorer. DALLAS Golden State over *Philadelphia by 8 Difficult to get behind the 76ers against this foe if Joel Embiid remains sidelined with a knee injury. Golden State has short revenge for a home loss to Philadelphia on Jan. 31. GOLDEN STATE *San Antonio over Oklahoma City by 3 The Spurs have been idle since Wednesday. They beat the Thunder in a wild, , overtime game as 1.5-point favorites on Jan. 12 before losing to Oklahoma City two days later, , as six-point road 'dogs. SAN ANTONIO Los Angeles Lakers over *Phoenix by 6 If the Lakers are going to make a serious run at the playoffs, they can't take any games off. It's a plus if Lonzo Ball is back from his ankle injury. The Suns have staked their claim as the worst team in the league going 0-17 SU, 5-12 ATS through this past Sunday. LA LAKERS *Utah over Milwaukee by 14 The scheduling dynamics work against the Bucks as Milwaukee is playing its fourth road game in six days and just were at the Lakers last night. The Bucks also don't win in Salt Lake City having last beaten the Jazz on the road in 2001 when Utah still had Karl Malone and John Stockton. The Bucks have dropped 17 straight in Utah losing those games by an average of 11.4 points. UTAH *Denver over New Orleans by 9 Denver should be focused because they need this game, as its next three matchups are on the road against the Spurs, Lakers and Warriors. The Pelicans aren't helping their chances of winning by reducing the court time of Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday. DENVER Sunday, March 3 Portland over *Charlotte by 3 The Trail Blazers can trump Kemba Walker in the backcourt with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum and own a frontcourt advantage with Jusuf Nurkic and recently acquired Enes Kanter. PORTLAND *Boston over Houston by 1 The Celtics are gunning for revenge for a road loss to Houston in which James Harden burned them for 45 points. Boston also wants to prove it can defeat a top-notch Western Conference foe. The Rockets are just 3-8 ATS in their last 11 road contests through this past Tuesday. BOSTON *Chicago over Atlanta by 3 It's a rough handicap when two tanking teams meet. Backing the team with short revenge might be the way to go since they played each other two days ago. CHICA- GO *Los Angeles Clippers over New York by 10 Keep an eye on the Western Conference playoff race in regards to the Clippers. LA came out of break holding the final playoff spot in the West. But if a losing skid happens, the Clippers could go the other way and start playing for the future. LA CLIP- PERS Orlando over *Cleveland by 3 Unlike the last couple of seasons, the Magic come out of break playing well and excited about trying to make the playoffs. Orlando's price, though, is likely to be inflated against this foe. Cleveland has covered 10 of the last 15 times when playing without rest. ORLANDO *Detroit over Toronto by 3 The Raptors have been horrible as road chalk going 1-7 ATS in the past eight instances. This is a bad spot, too, for the Raptors being their lone road matchup during a six-game stretch. It could be easy for the Raptors to overlook the Pistons since

3 they are off home games against the Celtics and Trailblazers and face the Rockets in their next matchup. The Pistons don't take a backseat to any frontcourt with Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond. It's a major plus for the Pistons that Reggie Jackson has stepped up his play. DETROIT *Washington over Minnesota by 12 Only Phoenix and Dallas had fewer road victories than Minnesota coming out of break. The Timberwolves were 9-21 SU, ATS on the road for the season through this past Tuesday. Washington was 9-4 ATS in its last 13 home games. WASHINGTON *Oklahoma City over Memphis by 11 Mike Conley is enjoying another strong season, but the Grizzlies are in the post-marc Gasol era and clearly in rebuild mode. The Thunder have covered in four of their last six home games through this past Wednesday with Russell Westbrook and Paul George enjoying monster seasons. OKLAHOMA CITY Monday, March 4 *Brooklyn over Dallas by 6 Since shaking up their roster by dealing away four of their five best players, the Mavericks have averaged just points per game through February 24. BROOK- LYN *Miami over Atlanta by 5 The Hawks are playing their second road game in two days, but have owned the Heat this season winning and covering all three games. MIAMI *San Antonio over Denver by 12 The Nuggets are just 4-13 ATS in their last 17 away matchups. This is their first road game since Feb. 22. The Spurs' point guard position is in better shape, though, with Derrick White back from injury. SAN ANTONIO Milwaukee over *Phoenix by 14 Since Jan. 22, the Suns have played 12 times and lost eight of those matchups by 13 or more points through Feb. 24. So a Bucks' road blowout should not be a surprise. MILWAUKEE *Utah over New Orleans by 18 Rudy Gobert is the best player not to make the All-Star game and Utah was 13-5 SU, ATS in its last 18 games through this past Tuesday. The teams meet again in New Orleans on Wednesday so the Jazz know they need to make a statement here. UTAH *Sacramento over New York by 6 Careful about laying too many points with the upstart Kings, who have a more challenging home matchup against the Celtics on Wednesday. The Knicks have played three times without rest since Jan. 27 and have covered all three times. SACRAMEN- TO *Los Angeles Lakers over Los Angeles Clippers by 3 The Clippers are now 7-2 SU, 5-3 ATS during the past eight meetings in the series, but the Lakers already are at the critical stage if they want to make the playoffs. LA LAKERS Tuesday, March 5 Orlando over *Philadelphia by 2 The Magic are below-the-radar going 7-2 SU and ATS in their last nine games heading into the last Sunday of February, averaging points during their past seven games in this span. All-Star Nikola Vucevic is having the best season of his eight-year career. He could be in line for another big game if Joel Embiid remains out. ORLAN- DO *Indiana over Chicago by 5 The Pacers are 3-0 versus the Bulls this season, but have struggled in their matchups going 0-3 ATS winning by an average 3.6 points, including once in overtime. INDI- ANA *Toronto over Houston by 2 The Raptors shouldn't lack focus. This is their lone home matchup in a five-game span and they don't play again until Friday. The Rockets nipped the Raptors, , as 3.5-point home favorites on Jan. 25. TORONTO NBA Portland over *Memphis by 3 Portland upgraded its bench strength picking up Enes Kanter and Rodney Hood. Still, the Trail Blazers are facing a heavy fatigue factor as this marks their sixth away game in 11 days and conclusion of their road swing. PORTLAND Oklahoma City over *Minnesota by 4 The Thunder have double revenge for a pair of close home losses suffered to the Timberwolves on December 23 and on January 8. OKLAHOMA CITY Boston over *Golden State by 3 The Warriors' point spread almost always are inflated at home as evidenced by a ATS mark in their last 23 games at Oracle Arena. The Celtics can match the Warriors' depth and want revenge for a home loss to Golden State on Jan. 26. BOSTON Wednesday, March 6 *Charlotte over Miami by 7 Charlotte is home, where it has covered eight of the past 12 times through Feb. 24. The Hornets are rested, too, having been idle since Sunday. CHARLOTTE *Washington over Dallas by 7 The Wizards have now covered 69 percent of their last 13 home contests. They haven't played since Sunday so a maximum effort should be forthcoming here. WASHING- TON *Detroit over Minnesota by 5 Detroit has owned Minnesota defeating and covering against the Timberwolves seven times in a row, including a road victory on Dec. 19 behind 34 points from Blake Griffin and 33 from Reggie Bullock. DETROIT San Antonio over *Atlanta by 5 Even though the Hawks are playing for the future this is a rather tricky spot for San Antonio. The Spurs just hosted the Nuggets and return home after this game to face the Bucks in a Sunday marquee matchup. So focus could be an issue for them. SAN ANTONIO Cleveland over *Brooklyn by 2 Power ratings-wise show the Cavaliers to be a bottom feeder, but Cleveland lately has been playing its best ball of the season. Kevin Love is providing offense, Collin Sexton has looked good at point guard and Matthew Dellavedova and Marquese Chriss are giving a lift to the bench. The results have been a 4-5 SU, 5-4 ATS mark in their last nine games heading into the final week of February. One of the Cavaliers' losses and non-covers during this span came against the Nets in a wild three-overtime loss. CLEVELAND Utah over *New Orleans by 4 The teams just met two days ago in Salt Lake City. The Jazz were ATS in their past 11 away contests through this past Wednesday. UTAH Philadelphia over *Chicago by 6 The Bulls may be tanking, but their recent play doesn't show that as Chicago entered the final week of February winning and covering three in a row, including posting upset road victories against the Magic and Celtics. PHILADELPHIA *Phoenix over New York by 5 The Suns have the two best players on the court, Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton. Both had huge games in the first meeting leading the Suns to a road win on Dec. 17. Booker scored 38 points while Ayton had 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. PHOENIX *Sacramento over Boston by 7 Very bad spot for Boston having just played the Warriors last night. The Kings are proving to be serious playoff contenders heading into March going 6-3 SU, 8-1 ATS in their last nine games through the last Sunday of February. The Kings have posted upset victories versus the 76ers, Spurs and Thunder during this span. SACRAMEN- TO Denver over *Los Angeles Lakers by 2 The Lakers defeated the Nuggets, , at home on Oct. 25, but were buried by the Nuggets during the last meeting, , as three-point road 'dogs. LeBron James played in both games for LA. DENVER

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5 NBA ROADTRIP FATIGUE LOG This is the ultimate log for NBA handicappers who emphasize fatigue on extended road trips, as well as the high of returning home. Road Road Road Road 1st Home Home Home Home Home Home Home Road Road Road Road Road Road Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4+ After Fav. Fav. Fav. Dog Dog Dog Fav. Fav. Fav. Dog Dog Dog Road Trip 4 or less or more 4 or less or more 4 or less or more 4 or less or more ATLANTA BOSTON BROOKLYN CHARLOTTE CHICAGO CLEVELAND DALLAS DENVER DETROIT GOLDEN ST HOUSTON INDIANA LA CLIPPERS LA LAKERS MEMPHIS MIAMI MILWAUKEE MINNESOTA NEW ORLEANS NEW YORK OKLAHOMA ORLANDO PHILADELPHIA PHOENIX PORTLAND SACRAMENTO SAN ANTONIO TORONTO UTAH WASHINGTON

6 COLLEGE BASKETBALL Thursday, February 28 Xavier over St. John s* by 1 ESPN s Bubble Boy projects St. John s as a 9-seed. For reference, he makes Ohio State a 9-seed, Florida a 10-seed, Minnesota and Alabama 12-seeds. After Xavier s bigs give them the typical trouble, maybe he ll make them a 10-seed. XAVIER, Delaware* over Northeastern by 9 The Blue Hens want a #4 seed for the CAA Tourney. Northeastern trailed CAA leader Hofstra by 1 game when the week began. Delaware sixth man Ithiel Horton outscored Northeastern s bench in his team s overtime win in Boston on Dec. 30. The Huskies had only eight players available for a recent home game against James Madison, when they watched an 18-point lead get whittled down to 1. Their best defender, Shawn Occeus, has been out for a while. DELAWARE, Michigan* over Nebraska by 18 Huskers, to selves: Gee, how come beating Western Illinois by 25 and Fullerton State by 24 here in non-conference season didn t prepare us better for the Big Ten slate? MICHIGAN, Wichita State* over Connecticut by 9 James Madison* over Elon by 6 Towson* over William & Mary by 6 Hofstra over Drexel* by 4 The schools used to have a good rivalry going and Drexel could help re-kindle it by denying Hofstra the opportunity to clinch at least a tie for the CAA regular season title. HOFSTRA, Oakland* over Illinois-Chicago by 6 Although the visitor was battling Oakland, Green Bay and Youngstown for the #4 in the Horizon League when the week began, they score barely 1.0 point per possession and lost by 13 to Oakland at home. OAKLAND, Texas State over Troy* by 7 Four teams within 2 games of the lead in the Sun Belt. Visitor is the 11-4 leader; Troy is not one of the four. They seem kinda dead, with seven losses in eight games when week began, 51 and 52 points in the last two, and nobody steppin it up in the absence of Jordon Varnado and, occasionally, a few others. TEXAS STATE, Georgia Southern* over Arkansas-LR by 14 Defense can travel, UALR head coach Darrell Walker told his team after a Jan. 12 home win vs. South Alabama. It didn t for the next two road games, but they ve won the two most recent (vs. weaker). It better travel here, or they ll be dead early. GEOR- GIA SOUTHERN, Georgia State* over Arkansas State by 24 In their road trip last weekend, Georgia State (10-5, second place Sun Belt) outraced Appalachian State on Thursday night, then allowed 58 first-half points off one day of rest at Coastal Carolina. These things happen. They came out and won the second half, Back home, and facing a pair of foes with losing conference and overall records while Texas State (11-4) plays three straight on the road, they are poised to leverage this edge to claim the Sun Belt regular season championship. The bad start at Coastal Carolina gives Ron Hunter good coaching leverage, Let s come out strong this time!, and we already know they can finish. GEORGIA STATE, South Alabama* over Texas-Arlington by 4 UT-Arlington has lost three out of their last four road games. Their overall field goal percentage away from home is 39.0%. SOUTH ALABAMA, UL-Monroe* over Appalachian State by was the score when App State won at home last month, but they had to sink 14 treys to do it (both sides average about 9.5 per game). UL-MONROE, Wisconsin-GB* over Wright State by 1 Detroit* over IUPUI by 2 UL-Lafayette* over Coastal Carolina by 9 Northern Kentucky over Wisconsin-Milwaukee* by 14 Milwaukee enters on an 0-9 run, faces Horizon League s 1-2 teams to close the season. Good luck! NORTHERN KENTUCKY, Minnesota over Northwestern* by 13 Big Ten bubble team visits dead piece. Wouldn t expect the home side to get a home whistle. The sub-par shooting Wildcats made the mistake of beating Minnesota twice last season. Angry, doubly vengeful, bubble-dwelling Gophers! Northwestern enters on an eight-game losing streak, 10 of last 12, most recently coming close here vs. Wisconsin, which is probably just a tease. They ve played most of the ranked Big Ten teams tough here, but lost outright to Rutgers, Penn State. MINNESOTA, Tulsa* over Tulane by 21 March 29, Tulane head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr. s opening press conference: There s no reason you can t win in a big way here. I m totally a believer. He s 4-22 SU, ATS this season. Bwa-ha-ha. Tulsa beat him by 23 on his home floor. TULSA, Stanford* over Washington State by 6 Cardinal freshman guard Cormac Ryan is challenging for the Max Heidegger award: 1-for-9 from the field in 16-point loss at Arizona, 1-for-7 on threes. And 2-for-10 at Arizona State, another 1-for-7 on threes. STANFORD, USC over UCLA* by 2 USC played zone for most of their win against their intra-city rival in January, which not-for-long UCLA interim head coach Murray Bartow, and the scoreboard, said that the Bruins didn t attack very well. USC, Oregon State* over Arizona by 3 Home side has revenge for a sorry offensive performance in Tucson. Visits from Cal and Stanford awakened Arizona. Can they keep it going? OREGON ST., San Francisco* over San Diego by 11 The scuffling visitors played their home finale vs. Saint Mary s on Saturday, got beat by 20 for a fourth loss in six games. Nice job! SAN FRANCISCO, Cal-Santa Barbara* over Long Beach State by 7 The weekly Max Hole Digger, er, Heidegger Report: his three-point percentage (from 88 attempts) is 21.7%. Last four games: 1-for-7, 1-for-7, 1-for-6, 1-for-5. Stop the heck shooting that shot! CAL-SANTA BARBARA, CS Fullerton* over Cal Poly-SLO by 11 The first eight teams make the Big West Tournament. Cal Poly currently is ninth and last, by 1 game behind UC Riverside. Scrap, scrap, scrap! CS FULLERTON, Cal-Irvine over Cal-Davis* by 5 The Davis Boys were missing leading scorer, last season s Big West Player of the Year, guard T.J. Shorts, when they lost at Fullerton and Northridge last weekend. CAL- IRVINE, Loyola Marymount* over Santa Clara by 12 LMU won by 8 at Santa Clara, hosts senior night for leading scorer James Batemon, sixth man Jeffrey McClendon, and 6 10, 235 sub Petr Herman, who could have the game of his career if allowed to get touches inside as the biggest guy on the floor in his home finale. LOYOLA MARYMOUNT, Gonzaga over Pacific* by 24 ESPN needs to beg Mark Few to allow his very highly ranked visitor to make it interesting and not embarrass the honorees on senior good riddance night for Pacific, a team whose regular rotation looks like an everybody bats/designated runner softball league. GONZAGA, Saint Mary s* over Portland by 23 Oregon* over Arizona State by 4 The Ducks come home following L-L-L on the road at Oregon State, USC, UCLA, most recently giving up 62 second-half points to the Bruins after leading by 16 at halftime. This will test our character, says forward Paul White. Hurley s girlies lost to them by 6 at home and trailed Cal at home at halftime Sunday. OREGON, Washington over California* by 15 Cal head coach Wyking Jones, following 19-point road loss to the Huskies: "We started the game getting stops and getting out in transition and I was happy to see that, but we really struggled against their half-court zone." WASHINGTON, ADDED-BOARD ACTION: Ohio Valley, Southern Conference or Big Sky selection on tap for Ultra-Sharp members. CONFERENCE USA BONUS PLAY: Addressed on game-day morning for Winning Points Online members, with a possible pick if warranted. Friday, March 1 Brown* over Columbia by 4 With four games to play in the chase for one of four spots in an Ivy League conference tournament that starts in a semifinal, Brown is 5-5 tied with Cornell for fourth. They re 17-9 overall, Columbia is 7-17, including 2-8 in Ivy play. Which, in Ivy terms, means, Don t count them out. BROWN, Yale* over Cornell by 13 Tough task for Cornell, sitting tied for fourth but looking at two road games in two nights at Ivy leader Yale, then tomorrow vs. the team they re batting with for fourth, Brown. YALE,

7 COLLEGE BASKETBALL Penn over Harvard* by 1 Let Penn s analytics and freedom ring throughout the land. It all spells: 4-6 in Ivy play, but only one game behind the 5-5 fourth-place teams, one playing two road games this weekend, and each playing each other so one of them has to lose. Prior meeting at Penn went to OT, where turnover-prone Harvard won it. Harvard leading rebounder Justin Bassey missed Saturday s OT win at Yale. PENN, Princeton over Dartmouth* by 3 The visiting Tigers haven t played a road game since Feb. 8-9, when they lost at Yale- Brown. Dartmouth was without junior guard Ian Sistare (10.3 ppg) for its most recent lost weekend. PRINCETON, Dayton* over Rhode Island by 23 The visitor can t hit water from a boat. Guard Fats Russell has attempted a team-high 131 three-pointers and made a mere 18.3% of them. He and Max Heidegger are vying for the Please, Stop Shooting That Shot! Award. Russell is actually in the running for an award for ceasing to shoot any shot, given his 30.8% overall rate on a team-high number of shots. Coach, why are you okaying this? We know you re a first-year guy and all that, but Meanwhile, Dayton shoots 50% as a team. DAYTON, Saturday, March 2 Drake over Missouri State* by 11 The Bulldogs of Drake have been a tough out on the road all season and nearly stole one at Illinois State on Sunday, where they couldn t stop Illinois State s prolific inside scorers Phil Fayne or Milik Yarbrough. Missouri State opponents are hitting 40.4% of their three-point attempts. Doesn t say much for the majority of Missouri Valley squads that Missouri State was challenging for first place when the week began. Drake s Brady Ellingson exploited the soft perimeter D with seven three-pointers in Drake s home win. DRAKE, Michigan State over Indiana* by 4 Wouldn t assume that Sparty will come in for the kill to avenge their home loss to the Hoosiers, given their injury situation and Indiana s defensive tenacity. MICHIGAN STATE, Syracuse over Wake Forest* by 9 Wake is vying with Notre Dame for worst overall field goal percentage among major conference teams, hovering right around 40%. SYRACUSE, Kansas over Oklahoma State* by 9 Depleted Okie State was able to hang around for about 30 minutes on the road before it became a Kansas break-fest. They need to slow things to a crawl if they can. KANSAS, Alabama* over LSU by 5 Bama s bubble boys host highly ranked LSU. The home side needs it more, has home floor. Can they make the score? Why not? They trailed the Tigers at the half on the road, but came back to win the second half LSU shot an over-the-top 66.7% from three-point range in that home win, including making eight of their first 10 attempts, two banked off the glass. ALABAMA, Indiana State* over Northern Iowa by 1 Only 28% of ISU s shots are from three-point range, lowest rate among main-board betting teams. Northern Iowa heaves it from there 43.6% of the time, so even when they shot a mere 26.1% from beyond the arc at home vs. Indiana State last month, they still made more treys than ISU and won the game by 5. INDIANA ST., Loyola-Chicago* over Bradley by 9 Loyola and Drake were tied for the Missouri Valley lead when the week began, but Loyola is 2-0 vs. Drake and controls its own destiny. They re 0-1 vs. Bradley, Senior Day for their top two guards, Marques Townes and Clayton Custer. LOYOLA- CHI, Southern Illinois* over Illinois State by 7 Illinois State welcomed back junior Matt Hein from a long injury absence last weekend, another brick in the wall and five more fouls. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS, Florida State* over North Carolina State by 8 Davidson* over Fordham by 20 Georgia State* over Arkansas-LR by 12 Wisconsin-GB* over Northern Kentucky by 1 Off a Senior Day (distraction!) home loss to last-place Cleveland State, second-place Northern Kentucky closes at Milwaukee and third-place Green Bay, the latter with revenge for 22-point road loss. WISCONSIN-GB, Arkansas* over Mississippi by 1 NIT to Arkansas: Please try to stay above.500. You ll make a lovely entry in our 32- team bracket. ARKANSAS, Wisconsin* over Penn State by 14 Oklahoma* over West Virginia by 12 Valparaiso* over Evansville by 9 Towson* over Elon by 9 Kentucky over Tennessee* by 5 As we noted when selecting LSU over the Vols a week ago, it s not like being ranked #1, or having been ranked #1, means you ll win forever and ever. People vote for that thing. It s an opinion, not a fact! KENTUCKY, Duquesne* over Massachusetts by 11 Leading scorer Luane Pipkins returned for UMass recently in a road loss, but they should have waited for a home game because he always disappears on the road. DUQUESNE, Texas* over Iowa State by 2 Longhorns leading scorer Kerwin Roach was hit with an indefinite suspension last week, his third since joining the program as a freshman. Soph Matt Coleman got 7 more minutes than usual, shot 4-for-12 with 5 assists, 2 turnovers in a 2-point loss at Oklahoma in their first game after Roach was clipped. TEXAS, Virginia* over Pittsburgh by 24 Purdue* over Ohio State by 9 Akron* over Ohio by 15 Villanova* over Butler by 11 Buffalo over Miami-OH* by 10 Bowling Green is still an arm s length away from Buffalo in the MAC East standings. Play on, often-dominant Bulls! BUFFALO, Troy* over Texas-Arlington by 1 How is/was Texas-Arlington so near the top of the Sun Belt Conference for so long when they can t hit a cow s ass with a shovel (39.7% overall field goal percentage)? TROY, UL-Monroe* over Coastal Carolina by 8 Eastern Michigan over Northern Illinois* by 1 Saint Louis* over George Mason by 6 Missouri* over South Carolina by 1 Oregon* over Arizona by 3 The Wildcats had trouble with Oregon s length inside when they lost to them at home in January. OREGON, Texas Tech over TCU* by 6 After beating Florida at home, TCU went to Tech on a Saturday-Monday deal and sleepwalked their way through a 19-point loss. They have too many freshmen and banged-up kids. TEXAS TECH, North Carolina over Clemson* by 5 Who is 7-0 SU and ATS on the ACC road this season? The Tar Heels! Who needs it more? Clemson! Who do ya like? NORTH CAROLINA, Hofstra over Delaware* by 5 Senior night for the home side, who plays with revenge for their worst loss of the season, 91-46, when 6 9, 235 Eric Carter, who you d think would be able to make a difference vs. the smaller Pride with his 19-and-10 average, had a 7-and-8 game and only 9 shot attempts. HOFSTRA, Auburn* over Mississippi State by 9 First road game for Miss State since getting to 20 wins and beyond. Bracket Beau Joe has SEC s eighth-place Auburn as a #8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which should help clear up some questions. AUBURN, San Francisco* over Loyola Marymount by 11 LMU is a bottom-feeder. Bottom feeders do not get their wins against 21-win home sides that are 14-1 at home. SAN FRANCISCO, College of Charleston* over NC-Wilmington by 12 Charleston s interior defense has deteriorated this season. Good thing for them that Wilmington loves to toss it from beyond the arc. COLL OF CHARLESTON, VCU over Richmond* by 6 Host from the other side of town seeks revenge for blowout loss when they visited VCU, who has only gotten hotter since. VCU, Detroit* over Illinois-Chicago by 2 Detroit has now gone just 2-8 since starting Horizon League play 5-1. But it s Senior Day, with revenge, for most of the top scorers behind freshman wonder Davis. DETROIT, IUPUI over Oakland* by 1 One-season non-wonder grad transfer Jordan Nobles has Oakland s Senior Day festivities all to himself, if they can find him. IUPUI,

8 COLLEGE BASKETBALL James Madison* over William & Mary by 3 JMU s senior guard Stuckey Mosely would like to stick it to the Tribe in his home finale after they lost in OT on the road. JAMES MADISON, Ball State over Western Michigan* by 2 Bowling Green* over Kent State by 7 Houston* over Central Florida by 11 "If you just take a white picket fence and put it around the paint, that's how our defense is," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said after Houston won at UCF last month. Impressive, considering how UCF s Tacko Fall is as tall as three picket fences. HOUSTON, Duke* over Miami-FL by 18 St. Bonaventure over George Washington* by 5 Northeastern over Drexel* by 6 Central Michigan* over Toledo by 12 Senior guards Larry Austin, Jr. and Shawn Roundtree account for 33.5 points, 9 assists and 3.2 steals per game between them. Zeroing in on 20 wins, they are supported by juniors as they lead the 83.9 ppg home side in this revenge game for a road loss, which could also vault CMU into a first-place tie with the Rockets in the MAC West. The Chips missed too many shorties in that earlier defeat at the Rockets. CENTRAL MICH, Iowa* over Rutgers by 1 Georgia Southern* over Arkansas State by 14 St. Joseph s* over Lasalle by 2 Texas A&M* over Vanderbilt by 10 Vanderbilt is the Vanderbilt of the SEC this season. Nobody wants to be the first to lose to the Commodores in conference play. Vandy is shooting 37.5% overall on the road, lowest among main-board betting teams. TEXAS A&M, Wyoming* over Air Force by 1 Colorado* over Utah by 7 Brown* over Cornell by 5 Youngstown State* over Cleveland State by 14 Seton Hall over Georgetown* by 1 The Hall has Big East road wins at Xavier and Creighton by 10 and 6 points, plus a 15-point home win vs. the Hoyas last month. SETON HALL, Harvard* over Princeton by 9 Washington State over California* by 3 Penn over Dartmouth* by 2 Senior night for one, and only one, Big Green member, 4.1 ppg guard Guillen Smith. Desperation night for sub-.500, pre-season Ivy favorite visitor. PENN, Yale* over Columbia by 8 The visiting last-place Lions have only been outscored by an average of 5.5 ppg in league play as they tackle the Ivy leader. YALE, Wright State over Wisconsin-Milwaukee* by 6 The host is approaching 20 losses, but almost stole a win in game at Wright last month. WRIGHT STATE, Cincinnati* over Memphis by 11 Cincinnati is overrated in our game, just ATS. But they were only a game behind 18-8 ATS ATS Houston in their game, the American Athletic standings, when the week began. Memphis is a road bully (beats losing teams away from home). CINCINNATI, South Alabama* over Texas State by 5 Second of three straight road games to finish the regular season for Texas State, still narrowly atop the Sun Belt but dealt the toughest close-out (in theory). Here, in second road game in three nights, they have to get past an upperclassmen-laden host on Senior Night for a pair of starting USA guards. SOUTH ALABAMA, Kansas State* over Baylor by 8 Pepperdine* over Pacific by 11 Cal-Irvine over Cal-Riverside* by 12 Nevada over Utah State* by 14 Is Utah State ready to handle a game that not only would give them a first-place shot over Nevada, but very much enhance their NCAA Tourney resume from where they currently stand on the bubble? The crowd will be ready. Tough place to play, 12,380 loud people cheering on a home side that shoots 49.4% from the field on this floor. But Utah State played zone almost the whole game and lost at Nevada. They probably can t man up and win. NEVADA, Florida* over Georgia by 11 BYU* over San Diego by 10 New Mexico* over Colorado State by 2 On Jan. 12, CSU got a home win as revenge for losses by 15 and 21 points to the Lobos last season. NEW MEXICO, Portland* over Santa Clara by 1 Portland has been so bad that they ll probably plan Senior Night activities before realizing that there isn t a senior on the roster. But they were 0-14 in WCC play when the week began and will be danged if they ll be blanked. PORTLAND, San Diego State* over San Jose State by 30 Gonzaga over Saint Mary s* by 9 The Gaels were de-pantsed, on national TV at Gonzaga. The team and the building will be all worked up, for a little while at least. They get only 10.5 Assisted buckets per game. They got 15.6 of those last season. GONZAGA, Cal-Davis* over CS Fullerton by 1 Without leading scorer T.J. Shorts, who d missed three straight when the week began, the Davis Boys lost a close one, 62-58, at Fullerton last week. CAL-DAVIS, Long Beach State* over Cal Poly-SLO by 15 UNLV* over Boise State by 2 Hawaii* over CS Northridge by 13 Ultra-Sharp Added Board action. Game-day selection to be posted on the Web in the member area! Sunday, March 3 Depaul* over St. John s by 4 The Red Clown has trouble with size. Depaul has size. Depaul has won two of the last three, covering all three. DEPAUL, Connecticut* over South Florida by 5 UL-Lafayette* over Appalachian State by 8 Louisville* over Notre Dame by 17 Wichita State over SMU* by 1 Temple* over Tulane by 29 More from Mike Dunleavy, Sr. s press conference at Tulane on March 26, 2016: I think I know talent, and that gives me an edge. Alrighty, then. At 4-22 SU or thereabouts he takes that imaginary edge from New Orleans all the way up to Philly late in the season, near where they lost in Atlantic City by 18 to Towson and by 8 to Alabama A&M in December. They re 0-for-the-road this season, most recently losing by 26 at Memphis after losing by 14 at Wichita State, 16 at UConn, 18 at South Florida, 32 at Cincinnati, 21 at South Alabama you get the idea. TEMPLE, Marquette* over Creighton by 14 Their Big East 1-2 game at Villanova Wednesday will have had some effect on Marquette s standing. Creighton has road wins at Providence, Georgetown, Depaul, who aren t as good as this home team. MARQUETTE, Michigan over Maryland* by 3 Michigan went down like the clowns we thought they would when hosting injured Michigan State. Maryland is talented and lengthy in the paint, but not as polished as Sparty. MICHIGAN, Tulsa* over East Carolina by 14 Washington over Stanford* by 6 The Washington bench out-scored Stanford s when the Huskies won by 16 points in Seattle. Key guys have been in and out hurting for Stanford. WASHING- TON, Boston College over Georgia Tech* by 1 With the lousy offense they have, Tech probably shouldn t be favored against an opponent that can score well enough. BOSTON COLLEGE, Illinois* over Northwestern by 5 During their 0-5 start in Big Ten play, Illinois lost only at Northwestern. They re 6-5 since! But still suspect as the chalk. ILLINOIS, Oregon State* over Arizona State by 5 Beavers lost at ASU in January, but came from 18 points down after switching to a zone. OREGON STATE, CONFERENCE USA BONUS PLAY: Game previews and possible selection to come on Sunday morning for Winning Points Online members.

9 COLLEGE BASKETBALL Monday, March 4 Virginia over Syracuse* by 10 Envisioning a lot of bad, late-in-the-clock shots by the home side here. The Orange has double-revenge for 7- and 15-point losses last season. Going against Virginia means going against a team that made 0 threes in a half vs. the other side s 10, then won the game. VIRGINIA, TCU* over Kansas State by 1 K-State has won three of the last four meetings. Every time a K-State player gets a black-and-blue, he makes an injury list and Kansas State wins another game, with him or without him. Same with TCU, basically. TCU, Texas Tech* over Texas by 17 If Longhorns guard Kerwin roach is still suspended, a road game against Texas Tech, who has the best defensive efficiency rating in the nation, is possibly the worst place they could be. TEXAS TECH, Tuesday, March 5 Butler* over Xavier by 5 St. Joseph s* over Rhode Island by 8 Duke* over Wake Forest by 26 Take Barrett and Reddish off Duke in addition to Williamson and then maybe we d think about Wake Forest. Then again, we probably wouldn t anyway. DUKE, Michigan State* over Nebraska by 20 The Huskers would likely roll over and play dead as soon as Michigan State starts to go on one of their typically strong second-half runs. MICHIGAN ST., Florida State* over Virginia Tech by 9 The Seminoles are much deeper and can wear down the visitor, who lacks depth and probably shouldn t be trusted on the road at this point of the ACC grind. FLORIDA ST., Miami-OH* over Kent State by 5 Senior guard Jaylen Avery returned from an injury absence for Kent last week against Buffalo, did not score in 27 minutes. Uh-oh. MIAMI-OH, Buffalo over Ohio* by 18 Toledo* over Western Michigan by 18 Eastern Michigan* over Ball State by 6 Ball State s core group has been together for a while yet had managed a mere 5-9 in the MAC when the week began. EASTERN MICHIGAN, Central Michigan* over Northern Illinois by 6 CMU doesn t play D well enough to trust when they re favored by this much and facing an opponent that can score as well as NIU can (73.6 ppg). CENTRAL MICH, Akron* over Bowling Green by 6 Akron shoots their overload of three-pointers much better at home than they do on the road. AKRON, South Carolina over Texas A&M* by 7 The Gamecocks are on the wrong side of the bubble and it s gettin late. They beat the Aggies by 7 at home, when A&M shot 50% -- super-fantastic for them. Frank Martin says that his Gamecocks are learning to play around their leading scorer, forward Chris Silva. SOUTH CAROLINA, VCU over George Mason* by 11 Virginia Com has been out-shooting their season averages lately, and just killing some A-10 foes. It probably means that they are clicking, and not playing over their heads. VCU, Miami-FL* over Pittsburgh by 17 Pitt was three possessions worse than Georgia Tech on the road and Georgia Tech can t score much. The Panthers are on a 0-22 road losing streak. If you don t think the road team can win the game, then you shouldn t take the points. Hurricanes appreciate home floor and drop in class from usual ACC assignment. MIAMI-FL, Minnesota* over Purdue by 1 Need it more, have home floor, make the score? MINNESOTA, North Carolina over Boston College* by 11 BC bounced NC State from the ACC Tournament last season, and took the Wolfpack to overtime in Raleigh a couple o weeks ago. BC plays NC State next, in their home finale. The Tar Heels prep for the Duke rematch by keeping BC in the game. NORTH NORTH CAROLINA, Kansas over Oklahoma* by 1 Utah State over Colorado State* by 2 Kentucky over Mississippi* by 7 Tennessee* over Mississippi State by 9 Alabama* over Auburn by 1 Nevada over Air Force* by 16 HORIZON LEAGUE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT: Two Quarterfinals games will be covered on the Winning Points Web site on game-day morning. Wednesday, March 6 Georgia* over Missouri by 3 Marquette over Seton Hall* by 1 Rutgers* over Penn State by?? The Scarlet Knights have already won at Penn State. RUTGERS,?? Florida* over LSU by 10 Will Wade has been hinting that his LSU kids have often snuck past opponents who didn t realize how good they are, and might be better than them. Florida may not be better, but they can obviously compete, given the overtime loss the Gators suffered in Baton Rouge a few weeks ago. Need it more, have home floor, make the score in the relatively quick re-hook? FLORIDA, Fordham* over George Washington by 4 Davidson* over St. Bonaventure by 10 Dayton* over Lasalle by 14 Massachusetts* over Richmond by 2 Luane Pipkins is more than capable of going off on his home floor against the Spiders. UMASS, Iowa State over West Virginia* by 9 Creighton* over Providence by 9 Saint Louis* over Duquesne by 5 South Florida over Tulane* by 10 Vanderbilt* over Arkansas by 1 Depaul* over Georgetown by 3 Baylor* over Oklahoma State by 20 As expected with the passage of a few weeks of depletion, OSU s ability to compete for 40 minutes on the road against anyone good has been shown to be lacking. It won t be getting much better. BAYLOR, Clemson over Notre Dame* by 8 North Carolina State* over Georgia Tech by 13 Senior Night in Raleigh! The Wolfpack already gave a senior send-off to guard Eric Lockett a few weeks early, following his arrest. Tonight they honor the other two, leading scorer Torin Dorn, a 58% free-throw shooter, and Wyatt Walker, a 6 9 non-scorer. NC STATE, Ohio State over Northwestern* by 5 Long Beach State* over Cal-Riverside by 13 Fresno State over San Diego State* by 8 The Fresno State coaching staff is manned by some recent ex-aztecs string-pullers. Although they didn t cover the spread when they beat San Diego State at home by 6 points in the earlier meeting, for a smaller team they certainly impressed on the boards (41-28), including 14 offensive rebounds to the Aztecs 4. Shooting 38.9% from the field and turning it over 17 times doomed chalk-players who were on them that night. FRESNO STATE, Washington* over Oregon State by 4 Who wants to lay wood against the eager Beavers and risk being sawed? WASHING- TON, Wyoming over San Jose State* by 2 Oregon over Washington State* by 2 New Mexico* over Boise State by 2 CONFERENCE USA BONUS PLAY and HORIZON LEAGUE QUARTER- FINAL GAMES covered online!

10 2019 COLLEGE LOG The Mechanics: Take a look at AIR FORCE, the first team listed...the average score of all their games is 67-72, meaning they average 68 points per game, while yielding 72. Overall they are vs. the spread. The numbers to the right of this spread record give you a further breakdown...they are 2-2 in Conference Home Games and 2-2 in Conference Road Games.They are 5-3 in Non-Conf home games, 2-3 in Non-Conf road games and 1-2 in Neutral Site games. Conf Aver Overall Conf Non- Conf Non- Neutral Code Score Spread Home Conf Road Conf Site -Opnt Record Games Home Games Road Games AIR FORCE M-W AKRON MAC-E ALABAMA SEC APP ST SUN ARIZONA P ARIZONA ST P ARKANSAS SEC ARKANSAS LR SUN ARKANSAS ST SUN AUBURN SEC BALL ST MAC-W BAYLOR B BOISE ST M-W BOSTON COL ACC BOWLING GR MAC-E BRADLEY M-V BROWN IVY BUFFALO MAC-E BUTLER B-E BYU W-C CAL-DAVIS B-W CAL-IRVINE B-W CAL-POLY B-W CAL-RIVER B-W CAL-SB B-W CALIFORNIA P CENT MICH MAC-W CENTRAL FLA AAC CHARLESTON COL CHARLOTTE USA CINCINNATI AAC CLEMSON ACC CLEVE ST HOR COASTAL CAR SUN COLORADO P COLORADO ST M-W COLUMBIA IVY CONNECTICUT AAC CORNELL IVY CREIGHTON B-E CS-FULLERTN B-W CS-NORTHRDG B-W DARTMOUTH IVY DAVIDSON A DAYTON A DE PAUL B-E DELAWARE COL DETROIT HOR DRAKE M-V Conf Aver Overall Conf Non- Conf Non- Neutral Code Score Spread Home Conf Road Conf Site -Opnt Record Games Home Games Road Games DREXEL COL DUKE ACC DUQUESNE A E CAROLINA AAC EAST MICH MAC-W ELON COL EVANSVILLE M-V FLORIDA SEC FLORIDA ATL USA FLORIDA INT USA FLORIDA ST ACC FORDHAM A FRESNO ST M-W GEO MASON A GEO WASH A GEORGETOWN B-E GEORGIA SEC GEORGIA SOU SUN GEORGIA ST SUN GA TECH ACC GONZAGA W-C HARVARD IVY HAWAII B-W HOFSTRA COL HOUSTON AAC ILLINOIS B ILL CHI HOR ILL ST M-V INDIANA B INDIANA ST M-V IOWA B IOWA ST B IUPUI HOR J MADISON COL KANSAS B KANSAS ST B KENT ST MAC-E KENTUCKY SEC LA SALLE A LA TECH USA LA-LAF SUN LA-MON SUN LG BEACH ST B-W LOUISVILLE ACC LOYOLA CHI M-V LOYOLA MYMT W-C LSU SEC MARQUETTE B-E MARSHALL USA