(photo: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)
I will do my best to provide *at least* a daily group of 3-5 picks for all of you snipers out there. The goal is a 2-1 (3-2) night. I recommend you play them individually .. however, never be scared of a little sniper parlay! 20/21 Season: 58%
Season Record: 240-212-16
Best Bet Record: 20-9
2/16 Card:
St. John’s +8
Illinois -3
Texas Tech -2
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St. John’s +8 : The Johnnies have been battling tough lately. If they aren’t winning, they are only losing by a possession or two. It is also important to note that St. John’s has been very solid on the road this season. They’ve won 3 out of their last 4 on the road in the Big East. There are some injury concerns in this one for both teams. Posh Alexander is questionable for the Johnnies, but Nate Johnson is also a GTD for Xavier. I think that Nate Johnson is more crucial to the success of his team. Simply because he quite often is the only player stretching the defense or facilitating for his teammates in the Xavier offense. Would not blame you if you wait on the word of these two before taking a play, but I feel like this is the best number you will get the Red Storm at if you are leaning that way.
Score Prediction: Xavier 74 – St. John’s 69
Illinois -3 : This line was screaming Rutgers. However, I had to take the bait on this one. Illinois just simply outclasses Rutgers in every level. This was very evident in the 86-51 beat down in Champaign back in December. The emergence of Geo Baker and Paul Mulcahy is carrying Rutgers towards the bubble, but I do not see this big time run carrying them to another victory against a superior opponent. The Scarlet Knight frontcourt is still extremely thin. Cliff Omoruyi has to play soft defense due to this. If he gets in foul trouble, it is open season through the paint for their opponents. King Kofi will be all over the boards in this one. 20 & 20 watch.
Score Prediction: Illinois 70 – Rutgers 64
Texas Tech -2 : Best Bet of the night. The Red Raider faithful absolutely brings it every time there has been a big time matchup in United Supermarkets Arena over the last few seasons. I love having them on my side in this one. However, the angle I really love here is the lack of depth of Baylor vs the physicality of Texas Tech. As we know, the Bears are only 2-3 ATS without their sharp shooter LJ Cryer. Now, the Bears are going to have to figure out life without their leading rebounder, Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua. He suffered a major knee injury last time out against Texas. Not only does he crash the glass, but he is an athletic defender that Baylor will greatly miss. If the Texas game was a good sample of the rotation we will see moving forward, Baylor will be down to only running 7 deep until Cryer is back. With 6 of those 7 playing MASSIVE minutes assuming they don’t get in foul trouble. However, that is one of the strengths of Texas Tech. They love to get into a physical type of game, and they are elite and forcing defenders to foul. They rank 22nd in the country in “opponent fouls per possession”. This is happening at a 27.4% clip. The Bears simply do not have the bodies to combat this. Lastly, TTU might have just gotten their best player back to full strength. Terrance Shannon Jr. played 28 minutes off of the bench against TCU, and scored 20 points. This team is LETHAL if they have him going at 100%. Guns up!
Score Prediction: Texas Tech 71 – Baylor 65
Best of luck! Let’s snipe this one y’all!!
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