St. Mary's -7 @ San Diego and California -6 @ Oregon State.
California -6: Cali will continue to strengthen its resume tonight with a convincing road win @ Oregon St. See info below. With Gutierrez at 100% and Randle staying hot, I can see them handily outscoring Oregon St lackluster offense.
Cali has high focus and has eliminated mistakes. They boast very high RPI and are very serious about making headway in the Dance. As far as an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament is concerned, the Bears RPI separates them from the Pac-10 pack, thanks to robust strength-of-schedule rating that was the result of non-conference losses to Kansas, Syracuse, Ohio State and New Mexico. Road losses at Arizona and USC knocked them into a four-way tie for first place, but the Bears responded with a 72-58 win at UCLA, then a home sweep of the Washington schools, giving them sole possession of first place entering the final three weeks of the regular season.
The Golden Bears got the victory they badly wanted and avoided the upset defeat they could not afford, so they remain alone in first place in the Pac-10.
Cal (17-8, 9-4) avenged its worst loss of the conference season, shredding Washington's defense in a 93-81 victory. Then the Bears rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit, outscoring Washington State 15-0 over the final four minutes in an 86-70 win.
Senior guard Jerome Randle exorcised demons in the win over UW, scoring 33 points a month after suffering his worst game of the season in Seattle. Randle shot 2-for-9 with eight turnovers in the Bears' 84-69 loss at UW.
"I had this game on my schedule," Randle said. "I just wanted to come out and be aggressive for my teammates. I think my teammates feed off of that."
Fellow senior Jamal Boykin said he was inspired by Randle's play. "You can't knock this man down," he said.
Same could be said for sophomore guard Jorge Gutierrez, now mostly recovered from a knee injury that knocked him out of six games in January. Put in the starting lineup for the Washington game, the Bears' defensive specialist totaled 25 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals in the two wins.
"This is what he does every day -- in practice or in the game," Randle said of Gutierrez's ferocity and energy. "He changes the game every time he's on the floor."
"He's a tough sucker, boy," added coach Mike Montgomery. "Once he locks into you, it's kind of like a personal war for him. Somebody says something to him, and he don't forget it. ... He gets after it."
St. Mary's -7: Returning back to Cali although still "on the road" playing in San Diego, Mary's is coming off a dissapointing overtime loss to Portland. Yet Portland obviously is head & shoulders above San Diego. Mary's will probably have to beat Gonzaga in West Coast Conf. tournament if they want a Dance ticket guarantee, but because there is still an outside chance, expect them to toast SD tonight.
San Diego is at a big disadvantage in experience if it continues its youth movement. The four freshmen getting playing time may be good players eventually, but they are making mistakes at this stage. The continuity of the team has been affected by the recent changes, and the rotation is unsettled late in the season. Winning has not become as big a priority as getting experience for young players, and that is a recipe for a long losing streak.
Any casual observer of St. Mary's basketball can literally smell a 75/80 pt. performance by the Gaels tonight.
Ways to Play:
Both ATS is ok. Obviously both can cover, and if at least one does, you lose the juice. No big deal. However, because I am so confident both these teams will win ML tonight:
1. California ML (-260)/ St. Mary's -7 parlay pays 1.64 -1
2. St. Mary's ML (-310) / California -6 parlay pays 1.52 -1
so if one covers ATS and the other only wins ML, you still make money.
3. California -6 / St. Mary's -7 parlay your standard 2.64-1
4. California ML/St. Mary's ML parlay pays .83-1. So you add one or two other large ML favorites here to bring the payout just over 1-1. Portland(-600), Austin Peay (-600) for example.
5. IF bet setup with Cali first at 10:30 to IF St. Mary's at 11:00
you guys can figure out the arrangements.
BOL ALL. Time to configure my own.
California -6: Cali will continue to strengthen its resume tonight with a convincing road win @ Oregon St. See info below. With Gutierrez at 100% and Randle staying hot, I can see them handily outscoring Oregon St lackluster offense.
Cali has high focus and has eliminated mistakes. They boast very high RPI and are very serious about making headway in the Dance. As far as an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament is concerned, the Bears RPI separates them from the Pac-10 pack, thanks to robust strength-of-schedule rating that was the result of non-conference losses to Kansas, Syracuse, Ohio State and New Mexico. Road losses at Arizona and USC knocked them into a four-way tie for first place, but the Bears responded with a 72-58 win at UCLA, then a home sweep of the Washington schools, giving them sole possession of first place entering the final three weeks of the regular season.
The Golden Bears got the victory they badly wanted and avoided the upset defeat they could not afford, so they remain alone in first place in the Pac-10.
Cal (17-8, 9-4) avenged its worst loss of the conference season, shredding Washington's defense in a 93-81 victory. Then the Bears rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit, outscoring Washington State 15-0 over the final four minutes in an 86-70 win.
Senior guard Jerome Randle exorcised demons in the win over UW, scoring 33 points a month after suffering his worst game of the season in Seattle. Randle shot 2-for-9 with eight turnovers in the Bears' 84-69 loss at UW.
"I had this game on my schedule," Randle said. "I just wanted to come out and be aggressive for my teammates. I think my teammates feed off of that."
Fellow senior Jamal Boykin said he was inspired by Randle's play. "You can't knock this man down," he said.
Same could be said for sophomore guard Jorge Gutierrez, now mostly recovered from a knee injury that knocked him out of six games in January. Put in the starting lineup for the Washington game, the Bears' defensive specialist totaled 25 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals in the two wins.
"This is what he does every day -- in practice or in the game," Randle said of Gutierrez's ferocity and energy. "He changes the game every time he's on the floor."
"He's a tough sucker, boy," added coach Mike Montgomery. "Once he locks into you, it's kind of like a personal war for him. Somebody says something to him, and he don't forget it. ... He gets after it."
St. Mary's -7: Returning back to Cali although still "on the road" playing in San Diego, Mary's is coming off a dissapointing overtime loss to Portland. Yet Portland obviously is head & shoulders above San Diego. Mary's will probably have to beat Gonzaga in West Coast Conf. tournament if they want a Dance ticket guarantee, but because there is still an outside chance, expect them to toast SD tonight.
San Diego is at a big disadvantage in experience if it continues its youth movement. The four freshmen getting playing time may be good players eventually, but they are making mistakes at this stage. The continuity of the team has been affected by the recent changes, and the rotation is unsettled late in the season. Winning has not become as big a priority as getting experience for young players, and that is a recipe for a long losing streak.
Any casual observer of St. Mary's basketball can literally smell a 75/80 pt. performance by the Gaels tonight.
Ways to Play:
Both ATS is ok. Obviously both can cover, and if at least one does, you lose the juice. No big deal. However, because I am so confident both these teams will win ML tonight:
1. California ML (-260)/ St. Mary's -7 parlay pays 1.64 -1
2. St. Mary's ML (-310) / California -6 parlay pays 1.52 -1
so if one covers ATS and the other only wins ML, you still make money.
3. California -6 / St. Mary's -7 parlay your standard 2.64-1
4. California ML/St. Mary's ML parlay pays .83-1. So you add one or two other large ML favorites here to bring the payout just over 1-1. Portland(-600), Austin Peay (-600) for example.
5. IF bet setup with Cali first at 10:30 to IF St. Mary's at 11:00
you guys can figure out the arrangements.
BOL ALL. Time to configure my own.
We can't even enjoy a close call when favorites get crushed outright. hopefully st mary's salvages a little...
