Saturday Night Special: South Carolina and Temple to Pierce Opponents

The Temple Owls (22-5, 11-2 A10) hope to maintain their mastery over Saint Joseph’s (18-11, 8-6 A10) with an eleventh victory in a row over the Hawks. After a 52-49 home loss to Richmond in their last game, the St. Joe’s look in no position to break the streak against an Owls squad who have won 11 straight and not lost in Hagan Arena since 2001.

Pick: Temple -2.5

The South Carolina Gamecocks (10-17, 2-11 SEC) look to spur conference foes the Tennessee Volunteers (15-13, 7-6 SEC) in Columbia on Saturday night. Defense will be key for Darrin Horn’s squad. Under his four-year tenure, the Gamecocks are 56-17 when holding their opponents under 45% shooting from the field. The Volunteers shoot a paltry 39.1% on the road this season.

Pick: South Carolina +3

Added selections:

Depaul, -1.5 

Tulane, +3

Bowling Green, -1

East Carolina, -1.5

Syracuse, -4.5
San Francisco, +4

Oklahoma to Snap Six-Game Stinker in the Bedlam Series

The Oklahoma Sooners (13-3, 3-11 Big 12) hope to snap a six-game skid against Bedlam Series opponents Oklahoma State Cowboys (13-14, 6-8 Big 12) at home in the Lloyd Noble center on Wednesday.The Sooners are 12-3 against the Cowboys in their last 15 meetings in Norman, winning seven straight and nine of the last 10.

Head coach Lon Kruger will need his men to pick up their game on both sides of the ball to break the slump, and a poor traveling Cowboys squad (1-6 on the road in Big 12 play) is the ideal candidate to do so. Defense will be key for Oklahoma. In their three conference wins, the Sooners have held opponents to .379 field goal shooting while giving away an ugly .496 from the field in Big 12 losses. Against Oklahoma St. earlier in the year, Kruger’s team held the Cowboys to a .386 field-goal percentage, but shot a season-low .324 from the field to slouch to a 72-65 defeat.

Junior guard Steven Pledger is the keystone on offense for a Sooner’s victory. In Oklahoma’s wins this year, Pledger averages 20.8 points per game and shoots a scorching.578 from the field. The 6-4 guard has had his difficulties on the road of late, posting season low numbers in total points against Iowa State (7) and Texas Tech (4), but is averaging 17.6 in his last five starts in Norman. Together with his junior teammates, Romero Osby and Andrew Fitzgerald, the trio accounts for 65 percent of the Sooner’s scoring. The breakout of sophomore guard, Cameron Clark, in the last two games, who scored 13 and 16 respectively against the Longhorns and Cyclones, may take some pressure off Pledger and classmates. The Cowboys should find themselves struggling to accommodate the myriad of scoring threats on the defensive side of the ball.

Pick: Oklahoma -3.5

NC State Seek Victory Over Seminoles

The NC State Wolfpack (18-8, 7-4 ACC) face a must-win game today in Raleigh against the Florida State Seminoles (18-7, 9-2 ACC), as they currently sit on the bubble for an invitation to the NCAA tournament with a tenuous NCAA RPI strength of schedule ranking of 51st. Coming off a heartbreaking game in Durham against Duke, where Mark Gottfried’s team blew a twenty-point plus lead in the second half, the Wolfpack aim to put the tough loss behind them and avenge a 72-62 defeat versus the Seminoles last year in the RBC Center.

First-year head coach, Gottfried, is improving NC State in nearly all aspects of the game as he strives to escort his team to the NCAA tournament in what will be his eighteenth appearance. For one, he is turning the RBC center into a mini-fortress, or should we say “den.” The Wolfpack have 12 home wins this season, the most since 2008-2009, and have only lost four. The five starters from last year's team have improved in nearly every statistical category under Gottfried's guidance too. Leading scorer, junior forward Scott Wood, for example, has increased his points per game from last year by +3.5, minutes by +0.7, and field-goal percentage by a +.022 margin. Most impressively, the Wolfpack rank second in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3), a statistic they will need to maintain against a Seminole defense that is second in the conference for forcing turnovers. 

A troubling trend for Wolfpack backers is their 0-4 record versus ranked opponents this season--Florida State enter Raleigh the AP’s #20. On a more positive note, NC State is 14-0 when they have the same or more free throw attempts than their opponent, and 14-1 when they shoot 70% or better. The Seminole’s aggressive defense have them in the upper tier of personal fouls per game, a trend which should invite plenty of Wolfpack trips to the line. In away games, the Seminoles commit 30.4% personal fouls per possession, well above the Division I average of 26.6%

This is the fifth time time this season NC State has played in two games with a one-day turnaround, boasting a record of 5-3 in those contests. CBB Mogul likes the Wolfpack to add win number six. 

Play: NC State ML (-105)

Pitt to KO West Virginia in the Basketball Backyard Brawl

The 184th meeting of the Basketball Backyard Brawl sees Pitt (15-11, 4-9 Big East) host West Virginia (16-10, 6-7 Big East) at home on Thursday night. CBB Mogul is backing the Panthers to win in what will hardly be a scuffle.

These are two teams heading in opposite directions. With the return of point guard Tray Woodall from a groin injury, Jamie Dixon’s team has won four of their last six, including a 72-66 win in West Virgina against Bob Huggins's men. The Mountaineers, on the other hand, have lost five of their last six, and only squeaked by with a 87-84 victory in overtime against the Big East’s bottom dwellers, Providence.

 

CBB Mogul does not anticipate Huggins to turn his school's fortunes around tonight. Both teams are built very similarly, tending to dominate play on the glass while struggling with inefficiency from behind the arc. The game will be won from inside-the-perimeter shooting and defense. In Pitt’s last three games at home, they are averaging a 48% field goal average from the floor on offense, while defensively holding teams to 40% during the same time span. The numbers are reversed for West Virginia in their last three on the road, averaging 40% from the field on offense and giving away 48% on defense. Look for Pitt to win handily if they maintain such high-percentage shooting.

Pitt is 7-1 in games versus the Mountaineers in Petersen Events Center and have won 10 of their last 11 in the Steel City overall against their rivals.

Play: Pitt -3


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Georgia Tech Look To Solve Winston-Salem Woes

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-15, 2-8 ACC) play the first of two consecutive road games in Winston-Salem on Wednesday versus the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (11-14, 2-9 ACC) in what is a battle between the ACC's last place teams. The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (LJVMC) has not been welcoming to the Ramblin Wreck throughout its history, as Tech only boasts a 6-16 record in the building. Two of those wins, however, have come in the Yellow Jackets' last four visits, and they have taken six of the last eight meetings between the schools. CBB Mogul trusts Georgia Tech head coach Brian Gregory can lead them to victory tonight.

Since Paul Hewitt's departure, Gregory has assumed a "back-to-basics" approach with the Yellow Jackets, emphasizing sound defense, offensive efficiency, and the winning of rebounds. Despite the Demon Deacon's height advantage--they boast two seven footers--they are woeful on the boards, ranking eleventh in offensive rebound efficiency (OR%) in the conference. Meanwhile, Tech ranks fifth in OR% in the ACC and will have the advantage in capitalizing on second-chance points as a result. Despite a losing record on the road, the Yellow Jackets have only been outscored collectively by less than one point, and is out shooting opponents 44.0-39.7 percent from the floor.

Gregory's men have had a tough time scoring the last several games, though, averaging only 54.6 points in their last eight combined. Tech's shooting woes can be partially attributed to star player Glen Rice Jr.'s nagging toe injury, which looks to be fully healed. The 6-foot-5 junior wing leads the Yellow Jackets with 13.1 points and 6.6 rebounds a game this season. Look for him to guide the offense back on track.

Both teams are struggling badly. Wake Forest has lost eight of its last nine, and Tech have dropped seven of their past eight. The more athletic Yellow Jackets are replenished, though, coming off a six-day rest since their lost to N.C State at home last Thursday. Look for the much-needed "vacation" to carry Tech on an explosive second-half run which will allow them take the win and improve their record at LJVMC.

Pick: Georgia Tech ML (-105)