Line on the West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh Game at Panthers -3
Carrie Stroup here and the line on the West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh game was coming in at Panthers -3 for February 16, 2012. Find all the latest College Basketball betting lines here at Sportsbook.com and receive up to $250 in FREE CASH based on your initial deposit.
Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Pittsburgh -3 & 135.5
Opening Line & Total: Panthers -3.5 & 137
In what could be the final installment of the Backyard Brawl, soon-to-be-former-Big-East-members West Virginia and Pittsburgh meet for the 184th time Thursday night in Petersen Events Center.
West Virginia leads this classic rivalry 95-88, and these teams are pretty evenly matched. But recent history shows Pittsburgh is 10-3 SU (9-4 ATS) in the past 13 meetings, with six straight wins over WVU at Petersen. The Mountaineers continue to find ways to lose, going 1-6 ATS in their past seven games, with their past four losses coming by 2, 6, 4 and 3 points. Pittsburgh has won its past three Big East home games by 11.0 PPG with Tray Woodall tallying 16.7 PPG and 8.0 APG in these contests.
West Virginia has been in a funk, losing five of six SU and six of seven ATS. The Mountaineers have been a bad road bet all season, going 2-5 (SU and ATS). But not all is bad for WVU. The team has out-rebounded each of its 12 opponents in the 2012 calendar year, and has stayed in just about every game this season. Much of that has to do with its two star players, Kevin Jones and Darryl “Truck” Bryant. Despite his team’s poor record, Jones should be the Big East Player of the Year with season averages of 20.6 PPG (53% FG) and 11.2 RPG. Jones had 21 points and 13 boards in the Jan. 30 home loss to Pittsburgh. Bryant (16.8 PPG, 3.0 APG) was just 2-of-7 against the Panthers, but finished with 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds. He has been ice cold in his past two games though, shooting an anemic 3-of-23 from the floor in losses to Notre Dame and Louisville. Deniz Kilicli has been just the opposite, scoring 18.3 PPG on 65% FG in his past three games. He had 12 points and nine boards in the loss to Pittsburgh last month.
Pittsburgh had won four straight before suffering two straight road losses at South Florida and Seton Hall last week. The offense was terrible in both defeats, scoring just 58.5 PPG on 36.9% FG. And the defense wasn’t great either, allowing USF to shoot 61% FG and Seton Hall to hit 45% of its shots. In addition to Woodall, the Panthers are led by Ashton Gibbs (16.7 PPG). Gibbs has seen his shooting percentages plummet in his senior season from 47% FG last year to 40% this season. And after making a whopping 49% of his three-point attempts as a junior, his long-range accuracy is just 35% this season. Gibbs is coming off a 26-point outburst in Sunday’s loss at Seton Hall, but he attempted 20 shots, going 9-of-20 FG and 2-of-6 from three. Nasir Robinson is the team’s No. 3 scorer at 11.5 PPG, but he has posted four straight single-digit scoring games, averaging just 5.8 PPG on 44% FG. He’s committed at least three fouls in each of these games, which has sapped some of his offensive aggressiveness.
WISCONSIN BADGERS (19-6) at MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS (20-5)
Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Michigan State -6 & 116.5
Opening Line & Total: Spartans -6 & 114
Coming off a big upset on the road over Ohio State, No. 7 Michigan State returns to East Lansing to take on No. 15 Wisconsin on Thursday night.
The Spartans have been unbeatable at home (15-0 SU, 9-3 ATS) and are 9-3 (SU and ATS) in conference play. This includes a 63-60 win in Madison on Jan. 3 when Jordan Taylor was 7-for-11 FG and the rest of Wisconsin shot 11-of-43 FG (26%). The Badgers (5-7 ATS in Big Ten) have nobody that can hang with the MSU big men that had their way with Ohio State Saturday. The Spartans are the eighth-best rebounding team in the nation with 40.0 RPG while the Badgers take in just 34.6 (179th in nation). Recently that has only improved for Michigan State, picking up 42.5 RPG over their last four contests (3-1 ATS) and out-rebounding these four opponents by 15.8 RPG. In Wisconsin’s past four games (1-3 ATS), it is averaging just 30.0 RPG, getting out-rebounded in each game. Additionally, the Spartans have won six straight home meetings in this series by an average of 8.7 PPG, as only one final margin came within seven points.
Wisconsin is best known for lulling its opponents to sleep, with its tenacious defense and slow pace of play keeping opponents to 50.3 PPG, the lowest mark in Division I. Jordan Taylor (14.5 PPG) has improved after a slow start to the year. In the team’s past five games he is averaging 17.2 PPG, and is coming off a particularly strong 27-point performance (5-of-9 threes) in last Thursday’s overtime win at Minnesota. Jared Berggren (10.4 PPG) and Ryan Evans (10.3 PPG) both average double-digit points as well, while Evans is the team’s best rebounder at 6.8 RPG. He and Mike Bruesewitz (5.3 RPG) will have to be aggressive on the glass, fighting the burly MSU frontcourt for every missed shot. They have not proven they are up to that task, however, so play against.
The Spartans are led on the scoreboard and the glass by Draymond Green (15.0 PPG, 10.5 RPG). Over his past three games (3-0 SU and ATS), Green is averaging 16.3 PPG and a whopping 12.3 RPG. His play is the key to their success as Michigan State’s only loss (SU and ATS) in their past six games came when he injured his ankle against Illinois. Keith Appling (11.9 PPG) leads the Spartans in assists (3.8 APG) although he is a poor shooter from deep, making just 27.1% of his long-range shots this season. Another key player to watch out for is freshman Branden Dawson (8.7 PPG), who with his 57.2% FG is efficient from the field and sizable for a guard at 6-foot-6.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
