Sunday 11-25-18 Free Plays / Trends / Betting Info / Etc

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Preview and Predictions

Oklahoma State had a first-row seat to watch a championship team play Friday in its semifinal matchup of the AdvoCare Invitational. The Cowboys conclude their trip to Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on Sunday when they face No. 21 LSU in the third-place game.

The Cowboys took on reigning NCAA Tournament champion Villanova on Friday and watched them make 40 percent of their 3-pointers while outrebounding Oklahoma State 39-26. "They play with a champion mindset," Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton said. "You can sense there's urgency to the way they prepare, the way they warm up, the way they huddle during game, the way they communicate defensively." LSU also witnessed a bit of greatness Friday as Florida State's Mfiondu Kabengele drained a 3-pointer with less than a second left in overtime to send the Tigers into the consolation game. "I was proud of us," LSU coach Will Wade said. "We came back when we were down five in overtime. We could have just packed it in. We got a couple gut punches there and we hung in there."

TV: 4 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT OKLAHOMA STATE (3-2): The Cowboys have four double-digit scorers on the season, topped by Cameron McGriff (15.0 points), who also paces the team with eight rebounds per game. Thomas Dziagwa is 20-of-34 from 3-point range - tops in the nation among players with at least 30 attempts - and has attempted nearly 80 percent of his shots from 3-point range. Mike Cunningham has drained 7-of-14 shots outside the arc in his first two games for Oklahoma State, which shoots 41.4 percent from long range as a team.

ABOUT LSU (5-1): The TIgers shot a crisp 51.9 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from the 3-point line, not to mention 11-of-13 from the free-throw line against Florida State. Four of the five starters scored in double figures, led by Skylar Mays (19 points) and Ja'vonte Smart (16 points). The top three scorers on the team all shoot above 50 percent from the field and at least 87 percent from the foul line, while Mays is a 44-percent 3-point shooter on the young season.

TIP-INS

1. LSU F Emmitt Williams is shooting 67.6 percent on the season and leads the team at 7.7 rebounds per game.

2. Smart had eight assists on Friday after totaling eight assists in his first five games.

3. Oklahoma State G Michael Weathers was 4-of-11 against Villanova after shooting 10-of-13 in his previous two games.

PREDICTION: LSU 80, Oklahoma State 73

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Preview and Predictions

Illinois will attempt to end a four-game losing streak Sunday afternoon when it returns home from Hawaii to play Mississippi Valley State. The Fighting Illini lost all three games in the Maui Invitational before Thanksgiving, including the seventh-place game against Xavier on the final day of the tournament.

The Illini have played a difficult schedule, losing to No. 3 Gonzaga and Iowa State in Hawaii and to Georgetown in the Gavitt Tipoff Games. Their only win came in the opener against Evansville. Defense is a concern for Illinois after giving up between 83 and 88 points in each of the four losses. "We've got to focus in and be better defensively," Illinois sophomore guard Trent Frazier told reporters. "Offense will come easily. ... I'm not really worried about offense. Sitting down and guarding -- helping our bigs out more -- will give us some wins."

TV: 2 p.m. ET, Big Ten Plus

ABOUT ILLINOIS (1-4): The Fighting Illini's defensive deficiencies are reflected in opponents scoring the same number of points (399 for an average of 79.8 per game) as Illinois in five games and shooting 50.7 percent from the field. Illinois has proved capable of scoring, with Frazier (18.0), freshman guard Ayo Dosunmu (16.2) and senior guard Aaron Jordan (11.0) averaging in double figures. Rebounding is another problem as Illinois has been outrebounded by 7.4 per game.

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE (1-5): The Delta Devils broke through with their first victory of the season Tuesday night, defeating Southeastern Louisiana 69-59, after losing to Nebraska (106-37), Texas Tech (84-52), Utah State (94-59), Utah (98-63) and Robert Morris (69-59). Senior forward Dante Scott (14 points, 11 rebounds) and 6-foot-8 senior center Emmanuel Ejeh (10 points, 16 rebounds) finished with double-doubles, and three others scored in double figures in the win, including senior guard Jordan Evans with a team-high 17 points. Evans and Scott are averaging in double figures at 14.7 and 14.2 points, respectively, and Ejeh and Scott are the top rebounders at 7.0 and 6.3 per game.

TIP-INS

1. Illinois' schedule doesn't get easier in the next two weeks with games at Notre Dame in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at Nebraska and No. 23 Ohio State on Dec. 5 at the United Center in Chicago.

2. Three of Illinois' five opponents have shot better than 53 percent from the field.

3. Mississippi Valley State had lost 51 straight non-conference games dating to Nov. 29, 2014, before ending the drought Tuesday.

PREDICTION: Illinois 90, Mississippi Valley State 60

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Preview and Predictions

After playing poorly in the opening round of the Wooden Legacy, both Northwestern and Utah were able to bounce back with performances more in line with what was expected from them entering the event. The Wildcats and Utes attempt to put their best foot forward despite playing their third game in four days on Sunday, when they square off in the fifth-place game of the eight-team tournament in Fullerton, Calif.

Northwestern held each of its first three opponents to 54 points or fewer before allowing Fresno State to shoot 50 percent in Thursday's 78-59 defeat, but it steadied the ship somewhat by beating a second straight pressing team less than 24 hours later as it posted a 91-74 win over La Salle. "These games aren't easy to play, when teams are scattered and trapping everything for the whole game," Wildcats coach Chris Collins told reporters. "Yesterday, we got knocked down by a really good team. You find out the character and the fight in your group by how you respond to those". Utah rebounded from its first-round 90-79 setback against Hawaii with an efficient offensive effort in a 75-66 triumph over Grand Canyon on Friday. "We got knocked to the mat last night," Utes coach Larry Krystkowiak told reporters. "It can go one of two ways, and one of the great things about tournaments like this is you get a chance to see what you are made of. We really played connected basketball. ... It was a lot of fun and winning was good medicine."

TV: 2 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (4-1): Transfers Ryan Taylor (Evansville) and A.J. Turner (Boston College) each produced their best offensive performances with the Wildcats in Friday's victory as the former nearly matched his point total from the previous three games with 21 versus the Explorers, while the latter went 6-for-8 from the field and 7-for-7 from the free-throw line to finish with a career-high 20 points. Leading scorer Vic Law (18.4 points) tied Taylor for team-high scoring honors and had a big hand in Northwestern's 35-for-43 showing from the stripe, going 14-for-16. Double-double threat Dererk Pardon (11.8 points, 10.6 rebounds), a 6-8 senior who is shooting 60.6 percent for the season after Friday's 4-for-4 effort, continued his solid start to the campaign with 12 points and eight boards.

ABOUT UTAH (3-2): Sedrick Barefield (13.2 points) shook of a 1-of-8 shooting effort in the loss to Hawaii and consecutive four-point performances with a season-high 26 points versus the Antelopes, finishing 9-for-16 on Friday while matching his season total with four 3-pointers. Sophomore Donnie Tillman (13.2 points, 7.4 rebounds), who fell one board short of a double-double in each of his previous two games, continued his steady play with 14 points and five rebounds. Krystkowiak gave Jayce Johnson and freshman Both Gach their first starts of the season, but only the latter responded well as he went 8-for-8 from the foul line to match his season high of 10 points.

TIP-INS

1. Law's 14 made free throws matched his total from the first four games of the season, while his 16 attempts were two shy of his previous amount for the campaign.

2. The Utes are 71-11 since the start of the 2012-13 season when making at least half of their field-goal attempts.

3. The Wildcats' 35 made free throws on Friday were their most in a game in at least eight years.

PREDICTION: Northwestern 69, Utah 68

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Preview and Predictions

Villanova has followed a pair of stunning defeats with a couple of comfortable wins at the AdvoCare Invitational. The Wildcats play their final game at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on Sunday when they take on No. 13 Florida State in the tournament title game.

The Wildcats have won their last five November tournaments - not to mention two of the last three NCAA Tournaments - and can continue their hot run in tournament play with a win over Florida State. They made a tournament-record 16 3-pointers in Friday's 19-point win over Oklahoma State with their two senior stars (Eric Paschall and Phil Booth) leading the way. Florida State edged LSU 79-76 on Friday on Mfiondu Kabengele's 3-pointer with less than a second left in overtime. "Our guys, we're strong in character," Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton said. "I thought they grew up a little bit tonight."

TV: 1 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT VILLANOVA (4-2): Paschall finally came through Friday, making 6-of-10 3-pointers for 22 points after starting the season 4-of-23 from the arc. Booth notched his third 20-point game of the campaign and set a season high with five 3-pointers in the win over Oklahoma State. Freshman Cole Swider made a couple of 3-pointers off the bench, but the Wildcats' reserves were 3-of-11 from the field in 42 minutes as a whole.

ABOUT FLORIDA STATE (5-0): The Seminoles posted double-digit victories in their first four games before slipping past LSU behind M.J. Walker's 21 points and fellow sophomore Kabengele's 15 points, highlighted by his late-game heroics. Walker bounced back nicely from a five-point effort against UAB in the quarterfinals, and this time Terance Mann will be aiming to bounce back after shooting 3-of-10 against LSU. Trent Forrest made only 4-of-13 shots in the semis but finished with a solid overall line of 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.

TIP-INS

1. The teams have only met once, back in 1988.

2. Wildcats sophomore F Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree is averaging 10 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals over the last three games.

3. Kabengele is the nephew of Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo.

PREDICTION: Villanova 69, Florida State 67

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Chip Chirimbes

Chip's FREE NFL Winner

San Francisco vs. Tampa Bay, 11/25/2018 13:00 EDT

Point Spread: +3/-130 San Francisco

Sportsbook:
Bodog


Chip's FREE NFL Winner
San Francisco at Tampa Bay 1:00 ET
49ers (+) over Buccaneers- Don't let the fact tat the Niners are 0-5 SU on the road deter you because the Buccaneers aren't much better at 1-3 ATS at home. The numbers are ugly (I've got some great 'numbers' for you in NFL action 4-0-1 ATS last week) on both sides as San Francisco has dropped 7-of-8 with their lone win over Oakland and are off a home loss to the Giants on Monday night 12 days ago and Tampa Bay is 0-4-1 in last five versus the NFC. Jameis Winston is the favor of the day and will get the start where means turnovers while Nick Mullins gets to show his stuff. And I'll show you stuff in the NFL today, get today's 'Guaranteed' winners...Take the NINERS!

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Brian Bitler

Brian's 9* NFL Afternoon Winner

Pittsburgh vs. Denver, 11/25/2018 16:25 EDT

Point Spread: +3/+100 Denver

Sportsbook:
Bodog

Man this looks like one of those classic trap lines as the Steelers have won 6 straight games all seems right with the world in Pittsburgh but this is the definition of a trap game off an emotional comeback win on the second straight road game they face the perfect look ahead team in the Broncos.

Mile High Stadium is always a tough place to play even when the Broncos are not that good. Case Keenum will be desperate to show he can get it done the Broncos have not given up yet and I have tracked 8,892 tickets the Steelers hold 74% of the tickets and 66% of the money bet. This line has held firm at 3.

Denver is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Pittsburgh
Denver is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh

Invest 9 units on rotation #270 Broncos

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Tony Brown

Tonys *5 NFL Free Pick

Green Bay vs. Minnesota, 11/25/2018 20:20 EDT

Total: -115/+48 Under

Sportsbook:
Bookmaker

Fp: vikings score a td less at home than they do on the road this season and the pack score about 6 points less when they travel ! With the under cashing 7 out of 10 games on sunday night 49 points to beat us will be a chore making the under my nfl free pick .