Wednesday Recap: 1-1-1
Easy winner with Buffalo, couldn't have been more wrong with St Louis, and pushed with the Illini.
Louisiana Tech +10.5
USC +8.5
Washington -6.5
La Tech- Good spot for the Bulldogs grabbing a bunch of points. Rice just came back from the San Jose/Hawaii road trip. Doubtful their legs will be 100% tonight, especially after having to make that trip this late in the season. Besides a 21pt loss to Fresno, Tech has been very respectable on the road in conference games. Won at SMU, Hawaii, and Boise State. Losses at Nevada, San Jose, and UTEP were all by 4pts or less. I think this one stays real close and wouldn't be shocked with an outright win for Tech.
USC- Trojans have been a money-burner at home and as a fave, but they've been solid on the road and as a dog. Complete Jekyll & Hyde team, if they come to play, they have the talent to hang with anyone in the conference. Won 3 of their last 4 and very nearly could have been 4 in a row as they had a very good shot at beating Stanford. Ducks season has quickly gone down the tubes. Any thoughts of the Big Dance have vanished, as they have lost 4 straight (which included a terrible home loss to Arizona St) and 7 of their last 10. USC will be without Errick Craven, as he is suspended, but I don't consider him too big of a loss as he's been extremely inconsistent. Ducks whacked them in their prior meeting at USC, 92-74, so playing with revenge and grabbing points with the team playing much better basketball right now.
Washington- Cal easily won their first meeting back in the beginning of January. Things have changed since then. Huskies have gone on to becoming arguably the second best team in the Pac-10 (regardless of record) and Cal is pretty much the same mediocre squad. This is the biggest game of the year for Washington, just as every game from this point on will be until they lose, as they need every win they can get to try and make a miraculous run at an at-large bid or Pac-10 conference tournament champ. At home and with a big crowd behind them, I really think they will impose their uptempo style on Cal, who doesn't have the perimeter players to stay with them. On the road, Cal has really struggled against teams like Washington who get up and down the court, losing by double digits at Zona, at USC, and at Oregon. I see more of the same here.
Easy winner with Buffalo, couldn't have been more wrong with St Louis, and pushed with the Illini.
Louisiana Tech +10.5
USC +8.5
Washington -6.5
La Tech- Good spot for the Bulldogs grabbing a bunch of points. Rice just came back from the San Jose/Hawaii road trip. Doubtful their legs will be 100% tonight, especially after having to make that trip this late in the season. Besides a 21pt loss to Fresno, Tech has been very respectable on the road in conference games. Won at SMU, Hawaii, and Boise State. Losses at Nevada, San Jose, and UTEP were all by 4pts or less. I think this one stays real close and wouldn't be shocked with an outright win for Tech.
USC- Trojans have been a money-burner at home and as a fave, but they've been solid on the road and as a dog. Complete Jekyll & Hyde team, if they come to play, they have the talent to hang with anyone in the conference. Won 3 of their last 4 and very nearly could have been 4 in a row as they had a very good shot at beating Stanford. Ducks season has quickly gone down the tubes. Any thoughts of the Big Dance have vanished, as they have lost 4 straight (which included a terrible home loss to Arizona St) and 7 of their last 10. USC will be without Errick Craven, as he is suspended, but I don't consider him too big of a loss as he's been extremely inconsistent. Ducks whacked them in their prior meeting at USC, 92-74, so playing with revenge and grabbing points with the team playing much better basketball right now.
Washington- Cal easily won their first meeting back in the beginning of January. Things have changed since then. Huskies have gone on to becoming arguably the second best team in the Pac-10 (regardless of record) and Cal is pretty much the same mediocre squad. This is the biggest game of the year for Washington, just as every game from this point on will be until they lose, as they need every win they can get to try and make a miraculous run at an at-large bid or Pac-10 conference tournament champ. At home and with a big crowd behind them, I really think they will impose their uptempo style on Cal, who doesn't have the perimeter players to stay with them. On the road, Cal has really struggled against teams like Washington who get up and down the court, losing by double digits at Zona, at USC, and at Oregon. I see more of the same here.
