College Hoops Thursday
Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson is set for a heavyweight battle with Purdue’s Zach Edey tonight.
We break dead even after last nights games thanks to a late add on the Texas A&M Fightin’ Aggies. On the season we are sitting at 49% with a breakout on the horizon. We have another healthy slate of games, especially on the West Coast so let’s get after it.
Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Michigan State Spartans (-2.5); total 147.5; 6:00pm ct
The Hawkeyes travel to the Breslin Center to try and leap frog the Spartans to secure 3rd place in the Big 10. Michigan State is coming off a blowout loss to Indiana on the road and needs this bounce back win at home. I’m hearing Tyson Walker MSU guard is probable with an illness. He has been great for the Spartans leading the offense especially from the 3PT line. The Michigan State defense should come up big tonight with the home crowd behind them.
Purdue Boilermakers vs. Michigan Wolverines (+5); total 135.5; 8:00pm ct
We have a Big 10 heavyweight matchup in Ann Arbor between Purdue’s Zach Edey and Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson. Edey will have someone his own size to battle with in the paint tonight. Jett Howard is questionable for the Wolverines, which would be huge to the Michigan offense if he was out. Wolverines are 10-0 against the spread its last ten games against Purdue. I like the Wolverines regardless tonight because they can play defense in the post to neutralize Edey.
Colorado Buffalos (+6.5) vs. Oregon Ducks; total 138.5; 8:00pm ct
In their first matchup Colorado destroyed Oregon in Boulder. The Buffs outrebounded the Ducks 46 to 28. Colorado was a 3 point favorite and won by 27. Oregon is now favored by 6.5 at home. Oregon isn’t and hasn’t done anything special to warrant a correction like this. Even if Colorado doesn’t make six more 3PTs I rather take my shot with the Buffs with their defense and rebounding.
Arizona Wildcats (-5.5) vs. Washington State Cougars; total 145.5; 10:00pm ct
Revenge game! Washington State pinned U of A its first loss of the season and now Arizona travels to Pullman, WA to give Wazzu a little taste of their own medicine. Wazzu didn’t just get lucky - they beat Arizona by 13 on the road. Arizona will need to run Washington State off the 3PT line after getting killed by the deep ball in the first matchup. Wazzu plays a long diamond trapping zone. Arizona has the talent to get inside the zone, make plays or dish out for 3s. Arizona needs to improve their 3PT defense, FT shooting and I think they will be successful tonight. Mouhamed Gueye for Wazzu is questionable with a hamstring injury. He dominated Arizona dropping 24 points and 14 rebounds. We’ll find out if Arizona has made the turn we’ve been waiting for.
Arizona State Sun Devils (-2.5) vs. Washington Huskies; total 142.5; 10:00pm ct
We have a winner for the most interesting line of the night. ASU defeated UW 73-65 earlier in the year where ASU was favored by 9.5. Now the Sun Devils are coming off a two game losing streak. When they faced off it was a pretty even game with the only difference being ASU made two more 3PTs. Washington is coming off of a blow out loss to Utah. Both teams play tough defense and I’m afraid this number is too much of an over correction. I feel the line should be 4/5. Has Washington improved that much? After the ASU game they beat up on the PAC 12 bottom feeders except for Colorado and when they stepped up in competition they got worked by Utah. I’ll take the Sun Devils off of two losses with a number that feels like an over correction.
Other games to watch tonight:
UCLA Bruins (-4.5) vs. USC Trojans; total 131.5; 8:00pm ct
The Bruins and Trojans just met four games ago where UCLA won a tough game 60-58. UCLA dominated the 1H and then USC buckled down on defense making it a tight game. UCLA fell in love with the 3 ball in the 2H while USC kept their offense precise. Reese Dixon-Waters came off the bench for the Trojans going 7/7 from the field finishing with 16 points. UCLA played great on the road at ASU and delivered a solid effort vs. U of A Saturday so I’m not afraid of them playing flat on the road. This will be a tight game so I’ll let the number marinate awhile. Boogie Ellis’ recent struggles have hurt USC offensively so I lean towards UCLA. Possible late add - will post on Twitter.
Utah Utes (-7.5) vs. Oregon State Beavers; total 129.5; 10:00pm ct
Utah is coming off a blow out home win against Washington and now travel to Corvallis, OR to face the Beavers. Oregon State is having a down year but they somehow always get up for games at home. They covered both of their only PAC 12 home games against Arizona and Arizona State. The Beavers sent the Utes to the line 20 times the first game so if they can control their fouling they should be able to keep this one close. I lean Oregon State here but the number in the first game was Utah laying -13.5. A six point correction may be too many for the Beavers. That’s why it’s a pass for me.
After tonight we’ll have a better understanding of these huge spread corrections to see if they are correct or not. Good luck to us.
