I’m feeling lucky to only be down half a unit after basically going to war with the books yesterday. With all the traps set out, we were able to navigate them without getting burned too bad. A much better card today. Let’s check it out.
Too Long, Didn’t Read
Games of the Night:
South Dakota State@Oral Roberts
Belmont@19 Murray State
Picks
Wagner-12
Youngstown State +7
Purdue FW +6
UNC Wilmington +5
Sam Houston +6
Kansas City -2.5
Games of the Night
South Dakota State-3.5@Oral Roberts (166.5)
This is a HUUUGE game in the Summit league. A loss for Oral Roberts could mean they fall to 4th place in the league, which means they would have to play this same SDSU team in the Semis of the conference tourney. SDSU is an absolute wagon with an extremely impressive resume. If Oral Roberts wants to repeat as tournament darlings, they’ll have to set themselves up as good as possible for the Summit League Tournament to win the sumbitch. The Jackrabbits have Sophomore Baylor Sheierman leading them with 15.5 points per game and an impressive 8 rebounds per game for a guard. The Golden Eagles still have 2021 NCAA Tournament darling Max Abmas leading the way for them at 23 points per game.
Belmont@19 Murray State-3 (145)
This is going to be an absolutely great game. I have Belmont in my tournament as a bubble team, and they have an opportunity to show why they deserve it. The top 3 teams in the Ohio Valley are playing excellent basketball, and 2 of the best get to put it on display. Belmont’s 6’11” Senior Nick Muszynski is a matchup nightmare who averages 16.5 points per game while shooting at a 56.7% clip. Murray State is a more well rounded team, but KJ Williams is must see TV as well, averaging 17.5 at 54% with 8.5 rebounds per game.
Picks
Wagner-12@Fairleigh Dickinson (143)
Speaking of wagons, this Wagner team is a covering machine and somehow gets a CBSSN spot when I’ve been begging for Wyoming to get this treatment. Sidebar: they got this treatment last night and Providence decided to have a roof leak and go into triple OT… Anyway, Wagner=wagon Fairleigh=shitty and hard to say. Hammer the Seahawks.
Youngstown State +7@Wright State (145.5)
I’ve apologized for not watching as much Wright State before betting on them…but this Youngstown State team is electric. They had one hiccup vs Robert Morris, but have won 8 of their last 9 and have been shit pumping teams. This line is disrespectful. Toboggan with the Penguins.
Purdue FW+6@Oakland (144)
Purdue Fort Wayne got on my radar after they pissed on my mortal lock against Cleveland State, and have gone on to cover in 2 straight games against shitty teams. Oakland has also been irritatingly inconsistent since I put them in my bracket 3 weeks ago, so I might be picking them out of spite. Play this however you want, but you might as well call me Horizon Hagen for how locked in I am on the Horizon league.
UNC Wilmington+5@Drexel (139.5)
A lot of good teams with head scratching lines today. I’ve been burned by these Seahawks before, but this is way too many points for a decently frisky, at best, Drexel Team.
Sam Houston+6@Stephen F. Austin (134)
I might be hammering all of these dawgs and playing right into Vegas’ trap, but these are two really frisky teams in the WAC. I would not be surprised if either of these teams won the WAC tournament and upset a team in the first round. I’ll take the points.
South Dakota@Kansas City-2.5 (137.5)
South Dakota is in the middle of a 4 game winning streak against the lower half of the Summit, but I’m standing by my take that Kansas City is the darkhorse to win the Summit League tournament. Realistically, it’s South Dakota State and everyone else, but the Roos are a solid basketball team. You mean to tell me if this game was at a neutral site they’d only be favored by half a point? The fuck out of here. Roos by a billion.
There are some other great matchups such as Ohio State@Illinois and UCLA@Oregon, but it’s important to give these mid-major games the love they deserve. If you want a glimpse at a team that will be busting your bracket come March, tune into any of these games. Love you, bye.
The Morning Flush 