Predictions for Feb 12th

Record: 241 - 86 ( 18 - 13 GOTD )


Games of the day

#1. Oklahoma State at Texas
Most everybody has now heard about the 3 OT classic between these two teams a little under a month ago. Oklahoma State has been poor on the road in the Big 12 going 0-4. Texas is strong at home, having lost there only once this season. Mario Boggan continues playing extremely well, but guards JamesOn Curry, Terrel Harris, and Byron Eaton have seen their shooting stroke go cold over the past few games. In their recent road loss to Oklahoma, those three shot a combined 14-35 from the field with an 8:10 A/TO ratio. They really have to step up to have a chance tonight against Texas. Combine that with their largly poor defensive effort on the road as well and I'm not seeing how they can stop the three-headed offensive machine that is Durant, A.J. Abrams, and D.J. Augustin. Everybody talks about Durant, for good reason, but how about the play of freshman PG Augustin? He's averaging 14 ppg and 7.5 apg in Big 12 play. Texas' offense is humming right now and I don't see the Cowboys leaving Austin with a win.

Texas 81 Oklahoma State 75

#2. West Virginia at Georgetown
West Virginia, fresh off their home win over Darren Collison-less UCLA, have now probably secured themselves a tournament bid. However, a win at Georgetown would elevate that bid even more. It won't be easy, as the Hoyas are on a roll having won seven straight games to put themselves firmly in second place behind Pitt. When matched up against teams with good big men, WVU usually struggles on the glass and gets pushed around on the inside. Unfortunately for them, they probably play the biggest team in the Big East tonight with 6'9 Jeff Green and 7'2 Roy Hibbert suiting up for Georgetown. That's not even mentioning their freshman "wing" DaJuan Summers who stands at 6'8 and also can drain threes. WVU has a couple of 7 footers themselves, but they aren't nearly as athletic or as good as GU's big men. I figure it'll be a close, defensive game before Georgetown pulls away in the second half.

Georgetown 64 West Virginia 55

#3. Santa Clara at Gonzaga
This will be Gonzaga's second game without Josh Heytvelt, who was suspended on Saturday afternoon before their game against St. Mary's. It wasn't a factor against the struggling Gaels as they pulled away for a 60-49 win. They'll be missing him tonight against Santa Clara who possess 6'11 230 lb C Sean Denison and 6'11 320 lb John Bryant. They also have 7' C Josh Higgins who can provide solid minutes off the bench. Replacing him as the lead forward will be foul machine Sean Mallon. Abdullahi Kuso will likely remain in the starting lineup after joining it for the first time against St. Mary's. Unfortunately, Kuso probably picks up even more fouls than Mallon does as he's been averaging a foul every 4.5 minutes. If Gonzaga gets into foul trouble tonight, it might be disaster. The good news for the Zags is they are far superior to SC in guard play and have the best homecourt advantage in the WCC. Atleast two of their many guards ( Micah Downs, Derek Raivio, Jeremy Pargo and Matt Bouldin ) need to step up and get hot for Gonzaga to win tonight. I think they will.

Gonzaga 65 Santa Clara 61

Big East
Pittsburgh 70 Louisville 60

Big South
Libery 74 Coastal Carolina 69

MEAC
Florida A&M 73 North Carolina A&T 70
South Carolina State 61 Bethune-Cookman 53
Delaware State 65 UM-ES 44
Morgan State 75 Norfolk State 71
Hampton 68 Coppin State 64

NEC
Sacred Heart 84 Central Connecticut State 83
Monmouth 67 Fairleigh Dickinson 64

OVC
Austin Peay 79 Tennessee State 64

Southern
Furman 69 Georgia Southern 63
Davidson 78 Charleston 76
Wofford 62 Citadel 57
Chattanooga 66 Western Carolina 63
UNC-Greensboro 70 Elon 57

Southland
Stephen F. Austin 69 Northwestern State 65

SWAC
Mississippi Valley State 74 Southern 59
Jackson State 78 Prairie View A&M 63
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 70 Alcorn State 68
Winston-Salem State 67 Alabama A&M 66
Grambling State 69 Texas Southern 67

WAC
Hawaii 72 New Mexico State 68

WCC
San Diego 78 Pepperdine 72
St. Mary's 67 Portland 63
Loyola Marymount 77 San Francisco 76