Big Monday: ND at G’twn, KU at OSU
Published on Feb. 27 at 12:45 p.m. Eastern.
By Brian Edwards
**Notre Dame at Georgetown**
–BetOnline.com opened Georgetown (21-6 straight up, 13-9 against the spread) as a six-point favorite with a total of 116.
–Georgetown has won 14 of its 15 home games, compiling a 5-5 spread record. The Hoyas cruised to an easy win Saturday over Villanova, taking the cash as 10-point home favorite in a 67-46 triumph. The 113 combined points easily stayed ‘under’ the 135-point total. Jason Clark and Otto Porter both finished with 15 points and six rebounds.
–Notre Dame (20-9 SU, 11-10-2 ATS) saw its nine-game winning streak ended Saturday when it lost a 61-58 decision at St. John’s as a six-point road ‘chalk.’ Jack Cooley and Scott Martin scored 18 points apiece in the losing effort.
–Mike Brey’s squad has been an underdog 12 times this year, going 7-4-1 ATS with six outright wins. However, we should note that the Irish have won outright in its last five games as an underdog.
–The Hoyas own a 3-3 spread record in six games as single-digit home favorites.
–Notre Dame has won three in a row over Georgetown both SU and ATS, and the ‘under’ has also cashed in each of those head-to-head encounters.
–Even though the ‘over’ is 3-2 in its last five games, the ‘under’ is 16-7 overall for Notre Dame.
–Totals have been an overall wash for the Hoyas (11-11) and the ‘under’ is 6-4 in its 10 home games with a total.
–ESPN will have the telecast at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
**Kansas at Oklahoma State**
–Kansas (24-5 SU, 14-13-1 ATS) faces a quick turnaround after playing a 45-minute thriller Saturday afternoon in Lawrence. The Jayhawks rallied from 19 points down to win an 87-86 decision over Missouri in overtime. They got another extraordinary effort out of Thomas Robinson, who finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds and got a three-point play the hard way late in regulation to force the extra session. Tyshawn Taylor scored 24 points and dished out five assists compared to only one turnover.
–Oklahoma State (14-15 SU, 14-12-1 ATS) has had a tough year but has been tough at home, where it has won three straight and is 11-3 SU and 6-5-1 ATS. The Cowboys beat up on Texas A&M by a 60-42 count Saturday as 3 ½-point home favorites. They won convincingly despite playing without their second-leading scorer, Le’Bryan Nash, who averages 13.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Nash is ‘questionable’ vs. KU with an arm injury.
–Brian Williams was the catalyst against the Aggies, scoring a game-high 17 points. Keiton Page, who leads OSU in scoring with a 16.3 points-per-game average, added 15 points.
–Robinson is the leading candidate to win Big 12 Player of the Year honors, averaging 17.8 points and 11.9 rebounds per contests. Taylor averages 16.7 points and 5.0 assists per game.
–Due to Nash’s injury situation, BetOnline.com didn’t have an opening number for this game late Sunday afternoon.
–Totals have been an overall wash for OSU (13-13-1), but the ‘under’ has cashed at an 8-4 clip in its home games.
–The ‘under’ is 16-10-2 overall for KU, but the ‘over’ is 3-1-1 in its last five games.
–Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
–If you watched any of Georgia’s win over Florida on Saturday, you had to notice the great work by the camera man in constantly focusing on Al Horford and his wife during breaks in the action. Horford was already one of my favorite Gators of all time and I didn’t even know he had married the 2003 Miss Universe! That would be the lovely Amelia Vega of the Dominican Republic. Big Al!
—Coach of the Year candidates:
1-Mike Brey (Notre Dame)
2-Frank Haith (Missouri)
3-Buzz Williams (Marquette)
4-John Calipari (Kentucky)
5-Bill Self (Kansas)
6-Jim Boeheim (Syracuse)
7-Steve Prohm (Murray St.)
8-Gregg Marshall (Wichita St.)
9-Steve Alford (New Mexico)
10-Tony Bennett (Virginia)
–South Florida bolstered its at-large hopes with Sunday’s 46-45 home win over Cincinnati. The Bearcats, who were also in dire need of a win, took the cash as three-point road underdogs.
–Northwestern caught a huge break in its quest for the school’s first NCAA Tournament bid. John Shurna got a fortunate whistle on what appeared to be a good defensive play with 2.6 seconds remaining and the Wildcats trailing by one. The senior forward calmly sank both free-throw attempts to propel Northwestern into the win column. Bill Carmody’s squad still has work to do, but that was a game it absolutely had to have.
—Biggest Bubble Losers from the weekend:
1-Mississippi St. – blown out at Alabama
2-North Carolina St. – costly loss to Clemson in overtime
3-UConn – gusty second-half effort wasn’t quite enough vs. Syracuse
4-Harvard – probably blew at-large chances with home loss to Penn
5-LSU – blowout loss at Ole Miss puts a fork in the Tigers
—Biggest Bubble Winners
1-Iowa St. – Cyclones are ‘in’ after win at Kansas St.
2-Alabama – Anthony Grant’s stock on the rise
3-Purdue – Boilers handed Michigan its first home loss
4-VCU – Rams dominated George Mason
5-Memphis – Tigers stayed atop C-USA standings
