Bruce's Picks (3 Live)
Cal Baptist has taken a few losses on this long road trip, but only vs. potent and ranked BYU have the Lancers really lost contact with any foe. A recent win at Oregon State and scrappy covers at Colorado and Utah suggest CBU might be worthy of its favorite status in the WAC. Rick Croy's squad returned all of its starters from last year (a rarity these days in college hoops) and G Dominique Daniels (19.9 ppg) continues to excel, pumping in 31 vs. the Utes in his last outing. Dan Monson's EWU might be better than its 2-7 record suggests as it has been in fairly tough, but defensive lapses in several of the losses have proven costly. Play CBU
We've used Queens and over several times together in the past few years and Grant Leonard's go-go team is still performing in the same uptempo style. The Royals are popping once again at a near 84 ppg clip, shooting better than 48% from the floor and nearly 38% beyond the arc. Help from 6-9 Georgia Southern transfer Avantae Parker (10.4 ppg) has provided an interior scoring presence that has helped Queens spread out the floor better ion halfcourt sets, and taking advantage is bombs-away G Chris Ashby, hitting better than 41% of his triples. Meanwhile, SCSU is winless at 0-10 and absorbing some heavy beatings while allowing 88.2 ppg, ranking 355th nationally. Play SCSU-Queens Over
Last Friday's 79-74 win over Cincy in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout was the latest indictor that Richard Pitino has Xavier on the ascent. FAU transfer F Tre Carroll's 30 points was another reminder of the match-winners on Pitino's Musketeers, who have improved 3-point shooting to near 37% after the X was hovering around 25% earlier in the season. Well-traveled G Richie Anderson III also scored 28 in a recent cruise past St Francis-Pa. Meanwhile, not sure how much progress Cuonzo Martin is making at Mizzou State, as the Bears have taken some lumps away from Springfield, such as the 98-74 loss at Tulsa last Saturday. Cuonzo's team also isn't helping itself with subpar 29.7% shooting beyond the arc. Play Xavier.
Perhaps NDSU is one of the Summit League favorites, and the Bison have been winning lately, but recent successes haven't been always comfy, such as last Saturday's 1-point escape vs. Northern Arizona. Western Michigan transfer G Markhi Strickland is leading NDSU with 14.6 ppg but doesn't shoot 3s, where the Bison (barely 32% from deep) could use some more help. Meanwhile, Rod Barnes' Bakersfield has taken a few lumps but also hasn't lost yet on the blue floor of its Icardo Center, where it is 3-0 this season. Barnes might have found a nice sleeper from the portal in ex-Alabama A&M G Dailin Smith, leading the Roadrunners at 17.1 ppg. Play CS Bakersfield
ACC sources suggest the 'Cuse's trio of losses at the Players Era were more the result of top-tier opposition. Perhaps; in last week's ACC/SEC Challenge, the Orange returned home to take down 13th-ranked Tennessee, with frosh Nate Kingz leading the way with 19 points. With 6-9 Donnie Freeman (17 ppg) reportedly still sidelined, Adrian Autry is finding offense from Kingz and soph G JJ Starling, who has five straight DD scoring efforts coming into tonight. Meanwhile, St Joe's still adjusting after HC Billy Lange left for the NBA Knicks on the eve of the season (ex-Penn HC Steve Donahue now in charge). Three games away from Hawk Hill have resulted in losses by nearly 20 ppg. Play Syracuse.
It's fair to speculate if the Hawkeyes can really keep pace in "Hoops Cy-Hawk" after Iowa lost contact vs. Michigan State last week. The task of slowing ISU's offense (better than 94 ppg and hitting north of 54% from the floor) will likely come down to how well Ben McCollum's offense controls pace and tempo, and preventing the Cyclones from deploying their devastating transition game that helped bury top-ranked Purdue last Saturday. Easier said than done, but even if winning the game might a real stretch for Iowa, McCollum's team can slow the pace as good as any, and with four starters (including star G Bennett Stirtz) hitting better than 50% from the floor, the Hawkeyes can afford to be patient. Play Iowa-ISU Under
MW sources have some doubts about Vance Walberg's Fresno team, which has blown a bit hot and cold the first month of the season. Walberg's pet "Dribble-Drive-Motion" offense works best when the three-pointers are falling, but they haven't been too consistently for the Bulldogs, shooting just 29.7% beyond the arc. Expected sharpshooter G Jake Heidbreder, a near 40% three-point shooter in his career at Air Force and Clemson, is only hitting 31.9% from deep, though his overall scoring has been better than expected at 18.8 ppg. With Fresno is not operating as smooth as Walberg would like, the scrappy Matadors can take advantage at home in the San Fernando Valley behind Saint louis transfer G Larry Hughes II (17.7 ppg). Play CS Northridge.
The Badgers stopped playing Bo Ryan-style not long after Greg Gard took over on the bench at Madison, and Wiscy scorelines have been increasing ever since. Already this season the Badgers are scoring almost 88 ppg with one of the rare lineups featuring a pair of 20 ppg scorers (jr. G John Blackwell and ex-FAU/San Diego State G Nick Boyd) . Not to be outdone, Fred Hoiberg's Cornhuskers are 9-0 and efficiently scoring nearly 84 ppg in the process, and among the nation's leaders with 18.6 apg. The perimeter also has a sharper edge with Iowa transfer G Pryce Sandifort (16 ppg) proving a perfect complement to 6-10 Reink Mast (18 ppg). Play Wisconsin-Nebraska Over.
Idaho State looks like it might be a factor in Big Sky dealings this season. The Bengals have already won a couple of times on the road this season and made a pretty good fist of it as a visitor at a few other difficult locales (San Diego State, Seattle, and Santa Clara among them), and brings a 3-game win streak into Orem tonight. A legit post presence in rugged 6-8 transfer Caleb Van De Griend (14 ppg) balances the floor, while another portal add, 6-5 Czech wing Martin Kriehl, hit for 19 in Saturday's 93-79 cruise past Denver. The Wolverines look to contend in the WAC but will have to defend the post and Van De Griend tonight. Play Idaho State.
Jon Coffman's Mastodons like to push the pace and not sure EMU is interested in slowing things down appreciably tonight. Coffman's teams have often featured explosive work from the perimeter and this edition looks no exception as Corey Hadnot II (20 ppg) and Denver transfer DeAndre Craig Jr (15.5 ppg) are picking up where Jalen Jackson and Rasheed Bello left off last season. Fort Wayne is scoring at nearly 87 ppg while hitting nearly 50% of its shots, with Hadnot and Craig both above 40% beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Eagles aren't likely to jam the gearbox, involved in some other higher-scoring affairs already, with 6-9 frosh Mohammad Habhab (15.6 ppg) looking like a potential force in the MAC. Play EMU-IPFW Over.
Maybe Phil Martelli Jr.s VCU can contend in the A-10, but not sure the Rams can extend a margin on a resourceful New Mexico tonight. VCU, which already lost vs. another MW rep Utah State, will have to deal with an emerging Lobos squad off of an impressive blowout at the Pit over Santa Clara. First-year HC Eric Olen (via USD) has found some pop with frosh like G Jake Hall, frosh F Tomislav Buljan and G Uriah Tennette, plus portal adds G Deyton Albury (Utah State) & F Antonio Chol (Rutgers), all scoring in double digits. The Rams might need soph bombardier Terrence Hill (51% triples) staying hot from deep to have a chance at pulling clear. Play New Mexico.
Having seen the Beach in person last Saturday, we have a new perspective of Chris Acker's bunch. The new faces are beginning to mesh, though there's a good chance Acker will be coaching some of these newcomers for only the rest of this season before they move elsewhere. That would include impressive frosh G Gavin Sykes, who's scored 20+ points in four of the past five games, while 6-8 Syracuse transfer Petar Majstorovic is scoring almost 17 ppg across the past four. Recent Beach efforts vs. UCSD and UCSB would be good enough keep this one close. Meanwhile, some positives for Tim Miles' SJSU, but the Spartans are looking for reliable options aside from Longwood transfer G Tracy Garland (17.9 ppg). Play Beach.