Tip off: 11 PM EST
Spread: LBS -10.5
Total: 141
M/L: LBS -600, AUB +475
LONG BEACH STATE
Long Beach State played very well in conference last year, and not so well out of it. Posting a 14-2 record in the Big West was great, but they lost to UC Santa Barbara in the title game, costing them a trip to the NCAA Tournament of course. They went on instead to the NIT, where they lost to Washington State in the first round by 11.
They were 22-12 overall last season but are just 6-5 this year, despite having one of the more decent offenses, scoring 74.4 a game (79th in the nation). They beat then #9 Pitt on Nov 16, and also beat #15 Xavier by 10 last night, though Xavier is obviously not the team they were prior to the fight…
The 49ers have four players in double digit scoring, with guard Casper Ware leading the way. Ware was the 2011 Big West Player of the year, and he may repeat that honor. So far, through the 10 games, he is putting up 17.5 points per game while playing nearly 36 minutes per contest. Save a 5 point stinker against Boise State, Ware has been impressive in nearly every game. Removing that 5 point game, and he would average 1.3 points more per game this season.
Ware has scored 20 or more in 4 of the 10 games, though he has scored just 22 over the last two games, including a 3 of 13 shooting performance last night against Xavier. Still, last season, Ware was one of the 20 finalists for the Bob Cousy award, which recognizes the nation’s best point guard. Now a senior, he has one last shot at leading Long Beach State back to the NCAA tournament by winning the Big West.
AUBURN
For as bad as Auburn was last season, in finishing 11-20 with a 4-12 SEC record, they have been much better this year, jumping out to an 8-1 start. It is deceiving though: They have yet to face a single ranked opponent, and have lost their only game against a major conference opponent (Seton Hall, December 2nd, by 22 points).
Still, they have won their last foru since that loss to Seton Hall, and they beat Hawaii last night by 3. Rob Chubb scored the go-ahead dunk with 3 seconds remaining in teh game, and Frankie Sullivan scored 17 points, as well.
“We got out with the win,” Auburn coach Tony Barbee said. “Hawaii is a good team and we played on their home court. The crowd was great and was into it and made things hard. But at the end of the day, it was a heavyweight fight. They were throwing punches. We were throwing punches and we landed the last one.”
In addition to Sullivan’s 17, they got 14 from Chubb, and 13 from Kenny Gabriel. The trio, along with Denson and Ward, give the Tigers all five starters in double figures, and they shoot 46.9% (55th in the nation) from the floor as a team. Sullivan has been a little inconsistent, but if you take out his games against McNeese State and Seton Hall, he has scored 12 points or more in all contests for the Tigers.
If you like the odds set forth in the beginning of this article, they came from Bookmaker where they offer a 5% return on lost bets. Also, check out our paid pick plans for the 2011-2012 year, as we murder the books once again.
