WINNING POINTS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Connecticut* over Detroit by 22
The travelin? Titans have not been at their best when playing on the road and up in
class ? when they actually had a roster full of scorers. Now, they have a lot to prove.
CONNECTICUT, 81-59.
***BEST BET
Boston College* over Toledo by 21
The Rockets? lead-in to this was pretty weak in terms of opponents, while BC has
already hooked Providence and UMass. Toledo steps up in class on the road with a
very young bench. Providence brought a lot of size with them to control the boards
against BC, something little Toledo lacks.
BOSTON COLLEGE, 80-59.
Temple over Towson* by 3
The big Benimon kid is a producer for Towson, but one should never fall in love with
forward-laden talent playing up in class against a perpetual NCAA Tournament program.
TEMPLE, 74-71.
Rutgers* over Yale by 15
Rutgers? 6?9? Kadeem Jack shouldn?t meet much opposition in the paint from the
Yalies. He has some scorers to support him if Yale decides to double-team to make it
harder.
RUTGERS, 78-63.
Wichita State* over William & Mary by 22
William & Mary?s ball-movement in search of open three-pointers works best against
lazy defensive opponents. If you play lazy defense for Wichita State head coach Greg
Marshall won?t have you around for long.
WICHITA STATE, 66-44.
*UAB over Troy by 9
Houston* over Texas San Antonio by 11
***BEST BET
Alabama* over Texas Tech by 25
Seven of Texas Tech?s last eight road losses in 2012-13 were by margins from 16 to 37
points. They were horrible shooting 3-pointerrs (28.8%) and turned it over a lot.
Alabama does a good job of forcing opposing offenses out of their comfort zone, and
Texas Tech is a team with a very narrow comfort zone. Alabama?s senior guard Trevor
Relaford got into foul trouble vs. Oklahoma and played only 22 minutes in that loss.
Angry bounce-back time.
ALABAMA, 74-49.
**PREFERRED
Loyola Marymount over Long Beach State* by 6
Two Loyola seniors and past contributors were recently banged-up in a car accident.
But one of them ? 6?9?, Ayodeji Egbeyemi -- hasn?t missed any time and they?ve started 2-0 vs. weaker. Long Beach has mucho scoring to replace and the visitor
has?revenge! When Long Beach beat them 73-70 last year, Marymount was hung
over from being at the Great Alaska Shootout. Egbeyemi had 16 points and 11 boards
in that loss, and Long Beach is lacking depth in the frontcourt.
LOYOLA-MARYMOUNT,71-65.
San Diego State* over Arizona by 4
Arizona point guard T.J. McConnell, a transfer from Duquesne, left that school
because he wanted to play in the NCAA Tournament. Be careful what you wish for,
kid.
SAN DIEGO STATE, 68-64.
Stanford* over Northwestern by 14
If Northwestern plays defense for their first-season head as poorly as they did in their
opening win against Eastern Illinois, then Stanford will benefit because EIU bricked
out at the free-throw line.
STANFORD, 74-60.
Washington* over Cal-Irvine by 12
Cal-Irvine is probably an overrated team because they have a 7?6?, 290 player that
draws headlines and raves as a ?game-changer? on the defensive end. But if Mamadou
Ndiaye was a real force, then he?d be playing somewhere other than a school that hasn?t made a post-season tournament since Bob Hope was entertaining the troops, right?
WASHINGTON, 70-58.
