Louisville Cardinals at West Virginia Mountaineers, WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, WV
Saturday, March 5, 2011, 12:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN
Opening Line: West Virginia -3.5
Current Line: West Virginia -3.5
Opening Total: 128.5
Current Total: 130.5
Money Line: West Virginia -160 / Louisville +140
The West Virginia Mountaineers (19-10, 10-7 Big East) have their eyes on a bye in the Big East tournament and can clinch one with a victory against the 11th-ranked Louisville Cardinals (23-7, 12-5) on Saturday in their regular-season finale. The Mountaineers (-3.5) are tied with Cincinnati and #17 Georgetown in the conference standings but want to avoid falling into the next group below them, including #16 Connecticut, #19 Villanova and Marquette.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals have already wrapped up a double bye in the tournament by virtue of an 87-60 rout of Providence on Wednesday. They have won their last four games along with five of six both straight-up and against the spread, locking up the #3 seed in the Big East when #15 St. John’s lost at Seton Hall on Thursday.
Louisville edged West Virginia 55-54 in the first meeting at home back on January 26, as point guard Peyton Siva made the game-winning shot with four seconds remaining. The Mountaineers have dropped five of the last six meetings in the series and would likely earn the #6 seed with a victory, which means they could face the Cardinals yet again in the conference tournament quarterfinals with a victory in their first game at Madison Square Garden.
West Virginia is coming off consecutive wins by nearly identical scores, beating Rutgers and UConn by a combined 20 points. The Mountaineers stayed ahead of the Huskies in the standings by topping them 65-56 on Wednesday as Joe Mazzulla tied his career high with 18 points. Mazzulla has been involved in 103 wins with the team, the second-most in school history behind Da’Sean Butler. He will be one of the players honored on Senior Day in Morgantown.
The total has gone UNDER in West Virginia’s last five games along with 10 of 12. The UNDER is also 16-5 in the last 21 conference games for the Mountaineers, who have given up an average of just over 60 points in their past five. Louisville has also seen the UNDER cash in its last five games overall thanks to outstanding defense. The Cardinals have allowed 60 points or less in their last four games, surrendering 70 or more just once in their past nine.
Another factor favoring the UNDER is that Louisville leading scorer Preston Knowles has had major issues against West Virginia, averaging only 3.6 points on 22 percent shooting in five career meetings. Knowles made 3 of 16 shots in the first meeting, totaling 10 points.
Our Big East college basketball handicappers are red hot as conference play enters the final day. Don’t miss out on any more basketball betting winners this season.
