EWU is stomping thru the Big Sky like Godzilla in an eight-game win streak (nine straaight vs. the line) to pull within a game of fading Portland State at the top of the loop as the conference tourney beckons in Boise. Win margins are also expanding into March, the last three all by double digits including Saturday’s 88-57 rout of NAU in Cheney. While UCR transfer G Isaiah Moses (17.6 ppg) has been the catalyst most of the season, it’s been frontline transfers 6-9 Kiree Huie (ex-Miami-Fla; scored 23 in last Thursday’s win over Northern Colorado) and 6-8 bruiser Alton Hamilton IV (NAIA transfer via Lewis & Clark; 23 points on Saturday vs. the Lumberjacks) who have helped key this recent surge. Play EWU

A sneak preview, perhaps, of the upcoming Coastal Tourney finale in D.C. next week Charelston has won four straight and nine of eleven, with top scorer G Jlynn Counter (15.6 ppg, plus 5.6 apg), formerly at IU-Indy and Middle Tennessee, usually a spear-tip, but there are nine Cougars who average more than 17 minutes pg. Yet Seahawks form has been even better, as the only thing UNCW fears in this loop is William & Mary, the lone team to beat UNCW (twice!) in Coastal action this season. It wasn’t the Cougars, who even at home in Charleston couldn’t cope with the Seahawks on February 9 in a 76-64 Wilmington cruise. Play UNCW

Aside from a pair of wins over Rhode Island, there hasn't been much to celebrate for 8-20 La Salle this season. There is no second gear for this offense, especially with leading scorer G Jaeden Marshall (only 12 ppg) missing recent action. The best hope for the Explorers on Sunday might be for host Davidson to wear Rhode Island jerseys, but as we doubt Matt McKillop obliges, this could get out of hand as the Wildcats have been able to extend the margin on some lesser and not-so lesser A-10 foes, with a couple of bombardiers in Gs Roberts Blums (41.5% triples) & Parker Friedrichsen (44.6%). It's fair to wonder how La Salle finds a way back if Davidson extends the lead. Play Davidson

Whether Wayne Tinkle coaches this game for OSU might depend on what he had for breakfast, as of early today he was still apperently mulling if he would be on the bench at Leavey Center after Beavers AD Scott Barnes lowered the boom on Thursday. No matter, we suspect fundamentals are all wrong for OSU against an angry SCU side looking to make amends with the Selection Committee after losing at midweek to Saint Mary's, and needing a trademark big win to enhance Big Dance at-large chances. The first meeting was a 102-64 Broncos romp at Corvallis when Herb Sendek's side hit 64% from the floor, and fun time for wing Elijah Mahi (23 points). Note SCU's WCC win margin at 18.4 ppg! Play SCU

Without the type of consistent ball pressure and ability to disrupt enemy passing lanes as a year ago, UTEP has been an afterthought this season also because the offense, to put it mildly, suffers, just 69.5 ppg (ranks 318th). Meanwhile, Hank Plona has his Hilltoppers on a faster track, winning five straight, scoring better than 87 ppg in the process, as shrewd portal adds such as 6-9 ex-North Texas F Grant Newell (20+ scoring three times in past five games) & G Ryan Myers (liberated from Western Illinois; 22 points in a recent win at Delaware) have proven upgrades while holdover wing Teagan Moore (18.5 ppg) now one of C-USA’s most-feared weapons, scoring at a brisk 25 pg clip the past four games. Play WKU

We have an "All-Protégé" matchup in the Belt tonight between coaching disciples of Nate Oats (ASU’s Ryan Pannone) and Kelvin Sampson (Louisiana’s Quannas White). Edge to the Red Wolves and Pannone's “Bama Lite” and a Tide-like go-go style scoring better than 83 ppg, while using his entire bench and sending out rotations in line shifts as Paul Maurice might with the Florida Panthers, spreading the floor with five-out, and most combinations featuring everyone who can (and will) shoot 3-balls. Slower-paced ULL lost contact with ASU as last Wednesday at the Cajundome in an eventual 79-62 loss. The Cajun offense (only 62.9 ppg/ranks 357th) hasn’t quite recovered from the season-ending foot injury to ex-Oklahoma State G Jamyron Keller in November. Play ASU

Unless giving Bill Bradley a call to see if he has any eligibility remaining, Princeton, loser of four straight, might not make the Ivy Tourney in two weeks. Mitch Henderson hasn't been able to replace Ivy Player of the Year G Xaivian Lee, who transferred to Florida. Minus Lee, offensive numbers are down across the board this campaign, as the 69 ppg and 42% FGs are the worst numbers in seven years for the Tigers. Tommy Amaker should have no trouble keeping Harvard focused after needing OT to survive the first meeting, but 6-5 soph wing Robert Hinton (17.1 ppg) is an emerging Ivy star. Complementary scoring comes from another soph wing, Tey Barbour (13.6 ppg), who put 30 on Cornell last Saturday. Play Harvard

One win streak ends tonight! EWU hasn’t lost since Jan. 31 at UNC, winning six straight (four on the road), and the spread win streak now seven. What's impreessed regional onlookers is how Dan Monson has won in different styles, turning on the jets last Thursday to outscore Sac State 102–94, then dialing it back and playing halfcourt to stun loop-leader Portland State. Along the way, Monson has been able to rely upon UCR transfer G Isaiah Moses (17.6 ppg), a real steal out of the portal who combined for 48 points in the pair of road wins last weekend, though it's the emergence of 6-9 Miami-Fla transfer Kiree Huie (15 ppg last nine) that has really helped to balance the floor. Play Eastern Washington

WCC sources are adamant that if USD was going to circle the wagons for lame-duck HC Steve Lavin, it would have come last Saturday at home vs. LMU in the first game after Lavin was told he was on the way out. (See what's happened to Kansas City with Marvin Menzies in a similar scenario.) The Toreros didn't deliver, however, made more difficult by the recent departure of the Toreros' top scorer, Wake Forest transfer G Ty-Laur Johnson (14.6 ppg), suggesting the next two weeks might resemble a death march. The Beavers already beat USD on the road when the Toreros still had Johnson and Lavin thought he had a job, and the recent romp past USF suggests OSU has an extra gear. Play OSU

The Buckeyes have been riding the bubble for so long this season that their more-aged supporters might be thinking they’re watching the intro to the old Lawrence Welk Show instead. OSU has alternated wins and losses in 20 of its last 22 games, but recent form actually not bad, narrow losses (but covers) at ranked foes Michigan State and Virginia (at Nashville), and 4-0 vs. the line the last four. Vet G Bruce Thornton (27 ppg last three) is playing some of the best of his career, and Ben McCollum's Iowa defense isn't stifling Big Ten foes as it did in the non-conference schedule before New Year's. The Bucks also haven't lost two straight all season! Play Ohio State.

UCLA is giddy after its 23-point fightback vs. Illinois, but things are not coming easily for the Bruins. Regional sources insist the fundamentals look pretty even here, and the Trojans’ touted frosh star Alijah Arenas should be close to 100% after dealing with illness last week that reduced his effectiveness vs. the Fighting Illini and Ducks. Eric Musselman is also likely to get more than 23 minutes from top active scorer Chad Baker-Mazara (18.4 ppg), who nonetheless scored 21 in reduced court time vs. Oregon due to whistle trouble (he eventually fouled out). After three straight losses, the Battle of LA is a good place for the Trojans to stop the bleeding and get back in the good graces of the Selection Committee. Play USC

Laying points with SJSU not usually at the top of our "to do" list but we find ourselves making exceptions each week in order to go against the Force. The Falcons are plumbing new depths this season, and now officially minus HC Joe Scott, winless in the MW with a results margin of nearly -28 pg...sheesh! Meanwhile, Tim Miles has coaxed covers in five of six for the Spartans, who might own the MW's hottest scorer in G Colby Garland, with a string of six straight 20+-point efforts, registering nearly 24 ppg across that span. This is also surely the shortest price we’ll have to lay against the Falcs the rest of the season, and don’t want to waste these opportunities. Play SJSU

How many teams in the country have a better W-L record than 25-3? The answer is just five--Miami-Ohio, Duke, Arizona, Saint Louis, and Michigan–which means that SFA and its 25-3 SU mark are in some pretty good company. Note top scorer Keon Thompson (18.3 ppg) has been aided by quality portal adds, and the Lumberjacks have also offered. great spread value (now 20-6 vs. the line). They'll be on their toes tonight vs. UNO, since the Privateers are one of the few to cover a spread vs. SFA, coming pretty close at home in an 84-79 'Jacks win on January 17. UNO, however, has shown inconsistency, such as a recent loss at lowly Houston Christian, and a blowout suffered at home vs. UTRGV. Play SFA

The Tar Heels must have felt like they were suddenly on the wrong end of a 5-on-3 power play as the USA found itself in the 2nd period on Sunday vs. Canada, as within a snap of a finger, Hubert Davis was down his top two frontliners Caleb Wilson (19.8 ppg) and Henri Veesaar (16.5 ppg). That left Hubert shorthanded for a couple of games, but at least Veesaar returned on Saturday at the Dome vs. ‘Cuse and scored a UNC-high 19 in the 77-64 win over the Orange. After beating Duke a few weeks ago at Chapel Hill, the Heels won't fear Louisville, a buzzsaw at home but whose lesser efforts have all come on the road. Play UNC

Lots of back-and-forth in the Big Ten suggests that maybe we ought to take a look at Wiscy, which has bounced back smartly after its three defeats most recent to last Tuesday at Columbus, when Ohio State rolled 86-69. Greg Gard’s offense never got into a rhythm vs. the Buckeyes until it was too late, with Gs Nick Boyd and John Blackwell only so-so nights. Each can do better, especially Boyd, who prior to last Tuesday had scored 20+ in six straight while tallying at a 24 ppg rate across that span. Home edge might mean something here, as in its last Madison date the Badgers would run Michigan State off the court 92-71, when Boyd’s 29 points put Sparty to the sword. Play Wisconsin