Connecticut Huskies in key Sunday game at Michigan Wolverines
Football, smootball! The college hardwood is where the real action is this weekend with the North Carolina Tar Heels and Connecticut Huskies hoping to end their losing ways.
Friday, Jan. 15
If the Brown, Yale contest on Friday night doesn't blow your skirt up, think about the contest in Portland at the Stott Center between the host Vikings and Northern Colorado Bears.
Portland State (7-9, SU, 5-8-1 ATS) needs this Big Sky battle in a bad way sitting 2-2 in conference play and coming off two losses on the road to the Bobcats and Grizzlies of the Big Sky State.
The Bears (15-3 SU, 10-5 ATS) are paced by the guard duo of senior Will Figures and junior Devon Beitzel. Through 18 games, the pair averages over 10 three-point attempts per game, sinking over 42 percent of the efforts. They've also combined for 62 steals and the bulk of the assists on the stats sheet.
As a team Northern Colorado isn't too shabby in the bombs away department, hitting eight per game at a near-40 percent clip.
However those numbers somewhat pale in comparison to Portland State. The Vikings have attempted 347 long-rangers this season (21.6 per game), with the 8.8 they make good on each contest 14th-best in the nation. The trio of Dominic Waters, Melvin Jones and Phil Nelson averages almost 16 three-point tries each game and combine to sink over 46 percent.
Portland State has history in its side with six consecutive regular season wins over NoCo in Big Sky play. The Vikings also have a 13-game winning stretch going at Stott Center, their last loss on their home floor over a year ago to Weber State.
Saturday, Jan 16
It's a crowded slate, with 21 of the latest Top 25 teams in the coaches poll taking the floor. Three head-to-head meetings between ranked schools highlight the day, topped by the Big East battle in West Virginia between the No. 5 Orange and No. 9 Mountaineers.
No. 23 Ole Miss will be at No. 10 Tennessee and No. 18 Georgia Tech travels to face No. 13 North Carolina in the other tips between ranked schools.
The ACC clash in Chapel Hill is incredibly huge for the Yellow Jackets and Tar Heels who each come into the match off a conference loss.
Georgia Tech was in the proverbial letdown spot coming off its win over Duke, and the Virginia Cavaliers were more than happy on Wednesday to let the Wreck down with an 82-75 triumph on their home floor. The Cavs were two-point home faves and the game was decided at the free throw line with Virginia hitting 23 of 26 while Ga Tech made just three of its 11 free tosses count.
That was the second consecutive road loss for the Jackets who are 1-2 in the ACC right now, 12-4 overall and 7-4 at the window this season.
While the Yellow Jackets were dropping their contest at Virginia, North Carolina was getting whipped at Clemson, 83-64. The Tar Heels were five-point road dogs at Littlejohn Coliseum and were blown out in the first half with the Tigers taking an 18-point lead into the break.
UNC turned the ball over 25 times, well above their 16.9 per game season average. Tyler Zeller missed the game with a bum foot, and his status for Saturday's contest is up in the air.
The last time these two met was at the end of February 2008 at the Dean Center, and it was all North Carolina in a 104-74 romp as big 23-point chalk. Roy Williams emptied his bench and the Heels still easily covered, thanks to Tyler Hansbrough's game-high 28 to go with 10 boards.
Sunday, Jan 17
All eyes will be on the No. 11 Georgetown Hoyas at the No. 4 Villanova Wildcats, along with the Wake Forest, No. 7 Duke contest in Durham.
With all due respect to the G'town, 'Nova contest, the biggest game Sunday is No. 15 UConn at Michigan.
No doubt, CBS chose this game as its 1:30 p.m. (ET) broadcast for the advertisement budget. It's a solid game in terms of public action opposite the NFL playoffs, but it also turns out to be a very crucial game for the college hoops season.
Connecticut dropped its second straight Big East contest on Wednesday at home against Pitt by a 10-point margin as 6 ½-point favorites. It gave the Panthers an incredible three-game road run through the conference, and at the window as road dogs throughout the stretch.
At 11-5 overall and dumped into the second-division rankings of Big East play so far at 2-3, anything less than a win on the road could be deadly to this team. The Huskies will still play on in March. But they cannot think ahead to hosting No. 1 Texas the following Saturday and we haven't even opened discussions about road games at No. 5 Syracuse, No. 9 West Virginia, Notre Dame and Villanova.
The two teams met last year in early February in Storrs, with then-No. 1 UConn taking a 69-61 win and never evening coming close to covering the 16 ½-point chalk the Wolverines laid in that one.
Football, smootball! The college hardwood is where the real action is this weekend with the North Carolina Tar Heels and Connecticut Huskies hoping to end their losing ways.
Friday, Jan. 15
If the Brown, Yale contest on Friday night doesn't blow your skirt up, think about the contest in Portland at the Stott Center between the host Vikings and Northern Colorado Bears.
Portland State (7-9, SU, 5-8-1 ATS) needs this Big Sky battle in a bad way sitting 2-2 in conference play and coming off two losses on the road to the Bobcats and Grizzlies of the Big Sky State.
The Bears (15-3 SU, 10-5 ATS) are paced by the guard duo of senior Will Figures and junior Devon Beitzel. Through 18 games, the pair averages over 10 three-point attempts per game, sinking over 42 percent of the efforts. They've also combined for 62 steals and the bulk of the assists on the stats sheet.
As a team Northern Colorado isn't too shabby in the bombs away department, hitting eight per game at a near-40 percent clip.
However those numbers somewhat pale in comparison to Portland State. The Vikings have attempted 347 long-rangers this season (21.6 per game), with the 8.8 they make good on each contest 14th-best in the nation. The trio of Dominic Waters, Melvin Jones and Phil Nelson averages almost 16 three-point tries each game and combine to sink over 46 percent.
Portland State has history in its side with six consecutive regular season wins over NoCo in Big Sky play. The Vikings also have a 13-game winning stretch going at Stott Center, their last loss on their home floor over a year ago to Weber State.
Saturday, Jan 16
It's a crowded slate, with 21 of the latest Top 25 teams in the coaches poll taking the floor. Three head-to-head meetings between ranked schools highlight the day, topped by the Big East battle in West Virginia between the No. 5 Orange and No. 9 Mountaineers.
No. 23 Ole Miss will be at No. 10 Tennessee and No. 18 Georgia Tech travels to face No. 13 North Carolina in the other tips between ranked schools.
The ACC clash in Chapel Hill is incredibly huge for the Yellow Jackets and Tar Heels who each come into the match off a conference loss.
Georgia Tech was in the proverbial letdown spot coming off its win over Duke, and the Virginia Cavaliers were more than happy on Wednesday to let the Wreck down with an 82-75 triumph on their home floor. The Cavs were two-point home faves and the game was decided at the free throw line with Virginia hitting 23 of 26 while Ga Tech made just three of its 11 free tosses count.
That was the second consecutive road loss for the Jackets who are 1-2 in the ACC right now, 12-4 overall and 7-4 at the window this season.
While the Yellow Jackets were dropping their contest at Virginia, North Carolina was getting whipped at Clemson, 83-64. The Tar Heels were five-point road dogs at Littlejohn Coliseum and were blown out in the first half with the Tigers taking an 18-point lead into the break.
UNC turned the ball over 25 times, well above their 16.9 per game season average. Tyler Zeller missed the game with a bum foot, and his status for Saturday's contest is up in the air.
The last time these two met was at the end of February 2008 at the Dean Center, and it was all North Carolina in a 104-74 romp as big 23-point chalk. Roy Williams emptied his bench and the Heels still easily covered, thanks to Tyler Hansbrough's game-high 28 to go with 10 boards.
Sunday, Jan 17
All eyes will be on the No. 11 Georgetown Hoyas at the No. 4 Villanova Wildcats, along with the Wake Forest, No. 7 Duke contest in Durham.
With all due respect to the G'town, 'Nova contest, the biggest game Sunday is No. 15 UConn at Michigan.
No doubt, CBS chose this game as its 1:30 p.m. (ET) broadcast for the advertisement budget. It's a solid game in terms of public action opposite the NFL playoffs, but it also turns out to be a very crucial game for the college hoops season.
Connecticut dropped its second straight Big East contest on Wednesday at home against Pitt by a 10-point margin as 6 ½-point favorites. It gave the Panthers an incredible three-game road run through the conference, and at the window as road dogs throughout the stretch.
At 11-5 overall and dumped into the second-division rankings of Big East play so far at 2-3, anything less than a win on the road could be deadly to this team. The Huskies will still play on in March. But they cannot think ahead to hosting No. 1 Texas the following Saturday and we haven't even opened discussions about road games at No. 5 Syracuse, No. 9 West Virginia, Notre Dame and Villanova.
The two teams met last year in early February in Storrs, with then-No. 1 UConn taking a 69-61 win and never evening coming close to covering the 16 ½-point chalk the Wolverines laid in that one.