Originally posted on 03/05/2014:

I'll get the rest of the games posted up later in the afternoon. Just wanted to make sure and get the two afternoon games up prior to tip.

Wednesday, March 5th

(Big South) Winthrop ML - 1.75 units to Win 1 Unit
(Big South) Radford -13.5 - 1.05 units to Win 1 Unit

The only thing that really scares me about the Winthrop/Liberty game is the fact that Liberty has two JR's and 2 SR's starting from a team that won the Big South Tournament last year and punching its ticket to the dance. I see that there 11-20 overall with an RPI over 300 and 1 win over a DI school who finished above .500 (VMI) But then I notice they were like 12-20 last year before making a run in Conway. Outside of this, I like the Eagles to win this game. Veteran lineup to match Liberty's experience, and they are rolling going 7-2 in their last 9. When comparing conference only stats, the only area Radford really has Winthrop beat is rebounding margin. They lead the conference with a 5.8 rebounding margin, while Winthrop sits at -0.9. Outside of this, advantages for Winthrop all over the board. Winthrop hits 3.5 more 3's per game, and shoots em at a much higher percentage. Winthrop gets to the line 3 more times per game, and shoots em at a higher percentage. And finally, Winthrop owns the best TO margin in conference games at 2.44, while Liberty owns the 2nd worst at -2.81......huge difference. Based on everything I've studied, I thought Winthrop was going to be in the -6 or -7 range....so I'll happily pay -175 on the ML here.

Not as long of a writeup for Radford/Presbyterian. Presbyterian starts 3 FR, including their point guard....they rank at or near the bottom in nearly every offensive and defensive category. Radford starts 3 JR, including their point guard...and rank near the top of most offensive categories, and middle of the pack defensively. Further, Radford handled Presbyterian on the road by 17 a few weeks ago. I also like the fact that Radford was 6-2 on the road in conference, meaning their comfortable outside their own gym. Since January 8th, they have 7 wins by 9 or more points, including double digits wins over Asheville, Winthrop and High Point. With this said, I don't think asking to beat the Blue Hose by 14 is too steep. Finally, I had a wager on Presbyterian against Bowling Green in a pre-season tournament earlier the year and watched the game. BG won that game by 20+, and I vowed to remember how bad Presbyterian was......now is the time! lol