Wildcats vs. Cardinals Line at Louisville -8.5
Carrie Stroup here with a terrific College Basketball doubleheader for Wednesday night January 25, 2012 where the Wildcats vs. Cardinals line was at -8.5 in favor of Louisville and the Duke-Maryland game had the Blue Devils favored big at -10.5. For updated lines be sure to visit Sportsbook.com here and should you decide to open an online betting account, mention me, CARRIE STROUP, and receive up to $250 in FREE CASH (based on your initial deposit).
Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Louisville -9.5 & 142
Opening Line & Total: Cardinals -8.5 & 138
Villanova looks to build off its first two-game conference winning streak when it travels to the KFC Yum! Center to take on Louisville on Wednesday night.
The Wildcats took down Seton Hall in an impressive 84-76 win last Wednesday to grab just their second Big East victory in seven games, and followed it up with a 79-76 overtime win at St. John’s for their first road win of the season. ‘Nova is just 5-11 ATS on the season, but appears to be turning a corner with a 4-2-1 ATS mark over its past seven games, including 2-0-1 ATS in three road games during this stretch. Junior point guard Maalik Wayns (18.7 PPG—2nd in Big East) has been absolutely sensational, scoring 92 points over his past three games (30.7 PPG), including a career-high 39 points in an 82-78 loss to Cincinnati on January 14. Louisville has been extremely inconsistent—unable to string together two wins in a row since beginning conference play. The Cardinals (8-8 ATS) played their most impressive game of the year on Saturday night, disposing of Pittsburgh 73-62 in a hostile environment on national television. Louisville’s offense looked much more fluid with the return of leading scorer Kyle Kuric (13.4 PPG), but the Cardinals are just 1-5-1 ATS over their past seven home games.
The staple of Villanova basketball over the last decade has been superior guard play, and Maalik Wayns is doing an exceptional job of filling that role this season. Wayns has scored 20+ points in five of eight Big East games, and also averages a team-high 4.8 assists per game. Junior guard Dominic Cheek (12.4 PPG) starts alongside Wayns to form one of the more underrated backcourts in the conference. The Wildcats will look for a big game from junior center Mouphtaou Yarou (11.6 PPG, 8.3 RPG), who will have his hands full with a talented Louisville front line. Yarou, who fouled out in the win at St. John’s, must stay out of foul trouble, otherwise the Cats lack the depth to stop the Cards from scoring easy points in the paint.
The Cardinals look to build off the momentum gained from the win at Pittsburgh with a lineup that looks to finally be (close to) fully healthy. With Kuric’s ankle injury—along with Peyton Siva’s sprained ankle earlier in the season—the Cardinals struggled to find consistency and rhythm on offense. Look for Louisville to work the ball inside to sophomore center Gorgui Dieng (10.2 PPG, 9.4 RPG) and freshman forward Chane Behanan (9.0 PPG, 7.4 RPG), both of whom look better and better each game. The two big men combined for 32 points and 19 rebounds in the win over the Panthers. Kuric also had a huge game for the Cardinals on Saturday, putting up a game-high 21 points (5-of-9 from 3-point range) after missing the previous two games with his injury.
DUKE BLUE DEVILS (16-3) at MARYLAND TERRAPINS (12-6)
Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Duke -10.5 & 149.5
Opening Line & Total: Blue Devils -11 & 151
Mark Turgeon will have his first shot as the Maryland head coach to take on Mike Krzyzewski as No. 8 Duke heads to the Comcast Center for an ACC matchup. There will also be a ceremony during this game, naming the court after Gary Williams, the Terrapins’ head coach since 1989, who stepped down prior to this season.
Maryland has struggled under its new coach and is coming off its first pair of back-to-back losses. In both of those defeats (to Temple and Florida State), the Terps were getting double-digit points as underdogs, but failed to cover. One of the keys to beating Duke this season, and taming the nation’s 10th-best offense (80.5 PPG), is beating the Blue Devils in the paint. They average just 35.6 RPG, while the Terrapins average 36.5 RPG. Their biggest threat in the interior is 7-foot-1 center Alex Len (6.0 RPG, 2.0 BPG), but he suffered an ankle injury in the loss to Temple. He is currently listed as probable, but any diminished play or reduced minutes for him would be critical as he tries to contain Mason Plumlee (11.2 PPG, 9.3 RPG) and Miles Plumlee (6.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG) in the paint. On the outside, Maryland’s leading scorer, sophomore Terrell Stoglin (21.2 PPG), has performed miserably against the Blue Devils in his career. He shot 4-of-24 from the field in three contests against Duke in his freshman year, with 10 turnovers. Additionally, the Blue Devils have shown they can beat the lines against Maryland, with a 6-3-1 ATS record against the Terrapins in their past 10 meetings.
Duke is coming off a tough loss to Florida State, which came on a last-second buzzer beater and snapped the team’s 45-game home winning streak. There were positives in that game however, as Austin Rivers (14.4 PPG) scored a team-high 19 points. After scoring 20 in the previous game against Wake Forest, Rivers showed he is out his funk. Andre Dawkins (10.4 PPG) has also been especially hot lately, with 19.7 PPG in his past three contests and 15 three-pointers in that span. Seth Curry (12.6 PPG) rounds out the backcourt, while the Plumlee brothers comprise a formidable duo in the paint. If they can bully around the injured Len for rebounds, they should easily cover this double-digit margin.
Maryland seemingly only has one source of offense this season, Stoglin. He is a strong driver and shooter, with 2.7 three-pointers per game on a very respectable 43% clip. Beyond him, though, the offense is thin with Sean Mosley (10.2 PPG), James Padgett (9.2 PPG) and Nick Faust (7.2 PPG) also adding important minutes. What makes Maryland a tough pick, though, is their inability to force turnovers on the defensive end. They swipe just 3.8 steals per game, the 3rd-lowest amount in the nation. Play against them at home here.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
