2-13-09

[Mr. IWS]

Brandon Lang


5-Dime Villanova- Hands down, the Wildcats are the hottest team in arguably the bestconference in college basketball. That's no joke, as the Wildcats rollin after a pair of blowout win over tenth-ranked Marquette and23rd-ranked Syracuse, scoring an NBA-like 102 points in both games andwinning those contests by 18 and 17 points, respectively. And duringthis current six-game win streak, Jay Wright's boys have also defeatedfourth-ranked Pittsburgh by 10 points.

While everyone is impressed by Connecticut, which to its defense beatNova by six points back on Jan. 21, I am more impressed with Villanova's strength - balance and versatility. These Wildcats go eightto 10 players deep, so while they may be without 6-foot-6 startingforward Dwayne Anderson, there are plenty of players for Wright tochoose from when rotating his lineup.

These two actually match up quite the same with Wright's usual lineup,but the 'Cats can bring some size off the bench to dwarf Bobby Huggins'boys, something that has been the Mountaineers' downfall this season,because they cannot employ the defensive tempo he like to own from theopening tip.

I don't the Mounties will be able to shoot the ball well, so I'll play the road team here.

[Mr. IWS]

Burns Hockey



Hockey (NHL)

RANGERS

Game: New York Rangers vs. Florida Panthers Game Time: 2/13/2009 7:35:00 PM Prediction: New York Rangers Reason: I'm playing on the NEW YORK RANGERS. The Panthers come in as the small favorite. However, it's the Rangers who have the schedule in their favor. That's because New York had last night off while Florida is coming off a big 5-0 divisional win over Carolina and will now be playing its third game in the past four days. Note that the Panthers are an ugly 7-13 the last 20 times that they played the second of back to back games, including a 1-3 mark when playing at home in that situation. Give the Panthers credit for having won four of their last five. However, a closer look at those four wins shows that three of them came against the Leafs and Islanders, two teams in the bottom three of the entire league. Yesterday's victory was more impressive but even that was a favorable spot, as they were catching the 'Canes dealing with some injuries and playing their first game back home off a West Coast road trip. Tonight, they'll face a talented New York team which will be hungry to build some momentum, after getting back on track with a 5-goal "outburst" (5-4 win vs. Washington) last time out. The Rangers were -140 or -145 favorites when they played here earlier in the season and they won by a score of 4-3. Looking back further and we find that they've been favored for all six of their visits here since 2006. Tonight, we're getting them as slight underdogs, which I feel provides us with excellent value. The Rangers gained some much needed confidence last time out and I look for them to score the minor "upset" this evening. *Best Bet

[Mr. IWS]

Burns NCAA

Basketball (NCAA)

WEST VIRGINIA

Game: Villanova vs. West Virginia Game Time: 2/13/2009 9:00:00 PM Prediction: West Virginia Reason: I'm laying the points with WEST VIRGINIA. (9* Personal Favorite) The Wildcats come in red hot and I successfully played on them in their last game, a rout of Marquette. However, as Louisville found out last night, winning on the road in the Big East isn't always easy. That said, I expect Villanova's run to come to an end here. While the Wildcats last two victories were certainly convincing, they both came at home. They've been far less impressive on the road. They didn't play any tough non-conference road games and they lost both their difficult Big East road games, losing by seven at Marquette and six at UConn. They did win their other three conference road games but those games came at Seton Hall, South Florida and Providence. None of those three teams are exactly "elite" and they have a combined 14-19 record in conference play. The Wildcats won those games by an average of only four points, all of the victories coming by single-digits. Note that its possible that Villanova will be without Dwayne Anderson here. He hurt his knee in the second half against Marquette and is currently considered questionable. The Wildcats are just 10-13-1 ATS (8-16 SU) as underdogs the past few seasons. During the same stretch, the Mountaineers are a profitable 33-24-1 ATS (48-10 SU) when listed as favorites. That includes a 4-1 ATS mark when listed as home favorites in the -3.5 to -6 range. While the Wildcats have scored at will the last couple of games, note that the Mountaineers have been excellent defensively all season. They've particularly excelled on that end of the floor here at home. In fact, they're allowing a mere 54.2 points per game (23.9 in first half!) here at home, holding opponents to just 38.3% shooting. Despite losing at Villanova last season, the Mountaineers are still 3-1 SU/ATS the last four meetings in this series. They're also 3-1 SU/ATS as a host in this series this millennium, all three victories coming by a minimum of seven points. Coach Huggins and the Mountaineers know that they could really use a "signature victory" to assure themselves of a berth in the NCAA tournament. Look for them to get that big win they've been looking for tonight, as they cool off their guests and cover the small number along the way. *Personal Favorite

[Mr. IWS]

scott spritzer
4.5* columbia

[Mr. IWS]

Larry's Las Vegas Insider (8-2 L2 days)

Good streaks and bad streaks eventually come to an end. We witnessed Notre Dame end its seven-game losing streak last night by BLASTING Louisville, 90-57 as four-point underdogs. Tonight, I'm calling for Villanova's six-game winning streak to end, as West Va "puts a lid on" the Wildcats' recent offensive 'explosion!' Villanova never scored more than 81 last season in any of its Big East games and entering its Feb 4 visit to Providence, was averaging 73.5 PPG through its first eight conference games this season. However, the Wildcats won 94-91 in Providence and then returned to Philly to score 102 points in wins over Syracuse and Marquette. What's going on here? The wins over Syracuse and Villanova marked the first time in school history that 'Nova had reached the 100-point mark in consecutive Big East games. The Wildcats have a very deep and talented backcourt, with Reynolds (15.4-2.8-3.8) and Redding (7.0-4.9-2.6) starting, while Fisher (10.7-2.1-2.8) and Stokes (9.6-3.8) come off the bench. Reynolds averages about 31.5 MPG and the other three all get just over 24 MPG. The 6-8 Cunningham (17.0-7.3) leads in scoring and rebounding, joined in the starting lineup by the 6-7 Clark (5.0-3.9) and 6-6 swingman Anderson (7.5-5.6). The 6-8 Pena (6.7-5.4) is the team's top frontcourt reserve. 'Nova is now ranked 13th with a 20-4 mark (8-3 in the Big East), while West Va comes in 16-8 (5-6 in Big East play), having lost four of its last six games. Gone from LY's 26-win, Sweet 16 team are leading scorer Joe Alexander (16.9-6.4) and heady guard Nichols (10.7-3.3-3.2). More bad news came West Va's way TY when guard Mazulla (5.6-2.3-3.7) was lost for the year (shoulder injury) after seven games this season. The key returning players are the 6-7 Butler (17.3-6.0) and 6-6 guard Ruoff (16.3-3.5-3.5). Stepping in alongside of Ruoff in the backcourt is freshman Bryant (10.0), while four players (including two more freshman) join Butler up front to give West Va a pretty good group. The freshman are the 6-9 Ebanks (8.8-6.5) and the 6-8 Jones (5.6-4.5). They are joined by the 6-7 Smith (5.7-3.8) and the 6-7 Flowers (5.0-4.0) who were both a part of LY's team. Villanova shot 54.5 percent against Syracuse and 58.7 percent vs Marquette but let's note that West Va allows just 61.0 PPG and its defense defends the wings very well and forces opponents to take the ball in the middle, where West Va's frontcourt does an excellent job. 'Nova often settles for too many jump shots and against the Mountaineers, that could spell trouble. Villanova has lost its past three visits to Morgantown and I'm predicting a fourth straight loss here. West Va is still searching for a "signature win" to add to its NCAA tournament résumé and I'm betting that win comes tonight.


Las Vegas Insider on West Va

[Mr. IWS]

big al


Columbia