Thursday 2-7-19 Free Plays / Trends / Betting Info / Etc

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Ray Chadwick

I am not going to go "all in" on Penn State just because they were able to stop an 8-game skid in Big Ten play with Monday's 59-52 road outright win at Northwestern, but I do think they are getting a few points too many in tonight's game at Ohio State.

For one thing, Ohio State isn't exactly "old reliable" when it comes to covering an impost, as Chris Holtmann's team comes into this home game at 2-6 both straight up and against the spread their last 8 games. On their home floor, the Buckeyes are just 4-9 against the spread for the season.

The Nittany Lions come into this road game with 3 straight conference road underdog covers to their credit, and in this series they have been a definite thorn in the Buckeyes side, as they have won and covered each of the last 3 series meetings between the schools. Penn State is also 4-1 the last 5 meetings against the spread, and have covered in 6 of the last 10 overall.

As you can see by those numbers, this pointspread may indeed be a few points to many to give the Lions.

Ohio State has won 2 of their last 3, and Kaleb Wesson and C.J. Jackson both performed well in the Buckeyes much-needed double-digit home win over Rutgers their last time out on Saturday, but both have had their struggles recently, so again, asking this Buckeyes team to put the Nittany Lions away by a big number is not something I am too high on.

I think Ohio State will squeeze by, but with 3 straight conference road covers, and 3 straight up series wins in a row, I will take the visiting Lions to stay inside of this number.

Play is on Penn State.

3* PENN STATE

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Scott Delaney

COMPLIMENTARY WINNER

The 25th-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats earn their eighth consecutive victory tonight in Memphis, as the Tigers won't stand a chance. I know there is a lot being said about Cincy looking past this one, and on to Sunday against the 12th-ranked Houston Cougars, but I trust coach Mick Cronin will have his troops ready to battle.

The Bearcats and Cougars are tied atop the American Athletic Conference at 8-1, so there is no time to look past foes coming down the stretch.

Memphis stumbles into this contest having lost two straight and three of its past four. And what's weird about this Tigers team, which leads the AAC in scoring at 82.8 points per game, is it suddenly can't score. Memphis hasn't hit the 80-point threshold in four straight games, and now faces Cincinnati's defense, which ranks 10th in the country in scoring defense, at 61.5 points per game.

Take Cincy here, as it rolls to the road win and cover.

3* CINCINNATI

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Gus Augustine

Biggest game of the season for Johnny Dawkins and his UCF Knights, as they take on the 21-1 Houston Cougars who are ranked just outside of the Top-10 in the nation.

Kelvin Sampson's team has won 6 straight since absorbing their first loss of the year at Temple back on January 9th. They are also 4-2 against the spread during their current winning streak, but are off a spread loss in their revenge win over Temple on January 31st.

This will be the first meeting of the season between the conference rivals, and it will be a triple-revenger for the Knights who have dropped 5 of the last 6 to the Cougars, including each of the last 3. The last meeting came in the conference tournament last March in Orlando, as Houston roughed up Central Florida pretty good, 84-56 as the -9 point neutral site favorite.

Tonight I see a different result, as UCF has gone 16-4 for the year, including 11 wins in their 12 home games this year. The Knights come into this one with 10 wins in their last 12 games, only losing on the road at Memphis and at Wichita State, and in their last 4 games played, UCF has allowed an average of just 64 points per game.

B.J Taylor continues to pace the Knights with a 16.9 points per game average. He will need some help tonight against this ranked opponent, and I am confident that Aubrey Dawkins - Coach's kid - will snap out of his slump (just 11 combined points his last 2 games) and get back to his 15.1 points per game average.

This is the first game of the season for Central Florida against a ranked foe, and it's hard to nit-pick on a team with a 21-1 mark. My feeling is that a loss is a little overdue for this Houston team. In a near pick spot, side with the triple-revenging home team that has won 11 of 12 so far on their floor.

Take UCF.

4* UCF

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Tommy Brunson

Free play for Thursday on Rice as they are a live home dog against a Western Kentucky team that just has not put it all together this season at 13-10.

The Hilltoppers have been playing some better basketball with wins in 5 of their last 6 games, but they are just 3-7 in their true road games, and 5-8 overall away from home this year.

Rice may only be 9-14 for the season, but 7 of those wins have come on their home court where they have not played yet this month. In the Owls last game, they went toe-to-toe with Old Dominion on the Monarchs home court, as they fell by just 4 points as the double-digit road underdog.

The Owls have very solid scoring balance, as they have 5 players that average anywhere from 8 to 12-plus points per game. They may only be 2-4 their last 6 games, but the 4 losses in that stretch have come by a combined 9 points. Not surprisingly, the Owls are on a 7-1-1 against the spread run their last 9 games this year.

The Toppers have won and covered the last pair of series meetings, including an easy 85-66 win in Houston last February. I think that comfortable win will have Western just a little overconfident as they head into this conference clash on Thursday.

Nothing has been very easy this season for Rick Stansbury's team, and I don't expect it to be easy tonight against the feisty Owls.

Take Rice plus the points.

2* RICE

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Jack Brayman

My free play for tonight is on the Gonzaga Bulldogs against the San Francisco Dons, as the two West Coast Conference rivals reunite after last month's epic showdown on Jan. 12. Remember, when Frisco held a two-point lead with less than four minutes to play in San Francisco, but the Bulldogs closed with a 17-2 surge to post a 96-83 victory?

I mean, good for San Francisco. But now that the cat's out of the bag, that the Dons have talent, Gonzaga coach Mark Few will have the kinks worked out and will know exactly how to defend the Dons.

I'm laying the points, as there will be no surprises what we're going to see from the Bulldogs in Spokane, where they're outscoring guests by an average margin of 32.9 points per game. Gonzaga, 13-0 at home, hits 53.3 percent from the floor, including 35.6 from 3-point range. Most recently, the Bulldogs are hitting 38.3 percent from long-range.

The Bulldogs have won by an average of 34 points during a 12-game win streak, including eight victories by 30 or more. That doesn't bode well for the Dons, who have lost 15 in a row to the Zags, and have dropped their last 29 visits to Spokane.

I'm laying the points tonight with Gonzaga, which will dominate Frisco.

2* GONZAGA

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Chris Jordan

Don't expect a lot from me with this analysis, as it's pretty cut and dry with why I like the Tampa Bay Lightning to annihilate the visiting St. Louis Blues.

Tampa Bay has to take its second shot at becoming the first NHL team to reach the 40-win plateau after it lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in a shootout on Tuesday. The Lightning wanted so badly to hit 40, at home, and against the Knights. But it was Vegas' Alex Tuch scoring the only goal in the bottom of the third round of the shootout, past Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 35 saves versus Vegas, one fewer than he needed.

Also, Tampa Bay lost for the fourth time in eight games overall (4-3-1), so it will be hungry to avenge that loss. The Lightning led 2-0 at home with three or four minutes left in the second period and gave up a breakaway from behind the net, to Cody Eakin, then saw Valentin Zykov pop one in a damn-near empty net to tie the game in the third.

I fully expect to see the tandem of Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov to get a few points tonight, as the Lightning will run it up on the Blues, who have never beaten Vasilevskiy, who is 3-0-0 while recording a .936 save percentage.

All Tampa Bay here.

3* LIGHTNING PUCK LINE

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Cappers Access

Iowa +1.5
Gonzaga -18
Washington -2

[Can'tPickAWinner]

The Oracle

NHL ANAHEIM DUCKS/OTTAWA SENATORS u6

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Jigsaw Sports

Clippers +6.5