Michael Alexander

Rating: 3 Units

The Idaho defense gives up 34.5% on shots from 3-point land (178 of 516) and their opponents are converting on 72.3% of their free throw shots. They surrender 12.0 assists and 33.4 boards on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 72nd and 119th in college hoops. The Vandals on the defensive end are ranked 173rd in college in points allowed per game with 73.5. They are forcing 11.5 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 43.8% from the field (171st in college).

Rating: 3 Units

Rating: 3  Units

Rating: 3 Units

Rating: 3 Units

North Texas’ defense has hit a rough patch lately, but they showed some real resilience on Saturday by bouncing back with an important road win at UTSA. Now the Mean Green will try to keep that momentum going, but it won’t come easy, as they’ll have to get through Memphis to do it. The Tigers have been playing well and have stacked up a few statement wins of their own as the season has gone on. They’re chasing their eighth conference win and sitting just one game behind South Florida and Tulsa at the top of the conference standings, so this one carries a lot of weight. At the same time, Memphis can’t afford to get ahead of itself, as North Texas is capable of making things difficult if the Tigers take them lightly. Final Score Prediction 72-68.

Rating: 3 Units

Rating: 3 Units

The over makes sense if Omaha is successfully speeding the game up, creating extra possessions, and turning the fourth quarter into a free-throw-heavy finish. The under makes sense if St. Thomas (MN) controls pace, reduces transition chances, and forces Omaha into longer possessions with fewer clean rim looks. The juice profile suggests the market is shading toward the over, which is worth respecting, but totals in this range are often decided by turnovers and foul frequency more than pure shooting.

Rating: 3 Units

Winthrop averages 103.4 points per 100 possessions on offense (64th in college basketball), and allows 90.9 points per 100 possessions (90th in college basketball). The Eagles are posting 92.4 points per game this year when playing at home, which is 15.2 more points than they’re averaging on the road (77.2).

Rating: 4 Units

The Mavericks are on the road, where they’ve won just 5 games this season, and they’ve lost 8 straight games overall. Now the Mavs will be without Flagg, which makes the situation worse. The Lakers are 4-0 SU and 3-1 ATS in the last four games against the Mavericks. The Lakers have won those games by an average of 7.8 points. Even without Luka, the Lakers can’t afford to play around in a game like this, as they’re barely holding onto that sixth seed to avoid the play-in tournament. I’ll lay the points with the Lakers. The Mavs aren’t attractive in their form, and being without Flagg makes it uglier.

Rating: 3 Units

It’s the final night of NBA action before the All-Star break. The Trail Blazers are playing for much more than the Jazz and that will be key with both teams ready for a week long break. Portland is trying to keep pace with the rest of the playoff field, while Utah is obviously tanking for the draft. Offense will be huge in this game with both teams struggling to play defense. Portland’s offense is more polished and has more weapons, which will be key on the back-to-back. The Trail Blazers are 7-4 against the spread when playing with no rest.

Rating: 4 Units

The Bucks are still missing Ryan Rollins and Giannis Antetokounmpo, while the Thunder are still missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell for this one. The Bucks have made the most of a light stretch in their schedule to string a few wins together, and they would’ve taken plenty of confidence from their revenge win over the Magic last night. The Thunder haven’t been at their absolute best lately, as they are still missing their best player, but they looked great in their last two games, especially last night’s win over the Suns. Both teams are playing their second game of a back-to-back set, but the Thunder still open as favorites given how dominant they’ve looked in the past two wins. This is a tough one to pick given the hefty line, but the Thunder should still have more than enough firepower to get the easy win as long as they don’t look past the Bucks.