Thursday's Pac-12 Tips
January 14, 2016
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**Oregon at Utah**
-- Utah (12-4 straight up, 5-8-1 against the spread) will play host to Oregon tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on the Pac-12 Network. As of early this morning, most betting shops had the Utes installed as 4.5-point favorites.
-- Oregon (13-3 SU, 7-6 ATS) is mired in a 1-3 ATS slump, but it has won back-to-back games and six of its last seven. Dana Altman’s team is off of Sunday’s 71-58 win over Stanford as a nine-point home favorite. Dillon Brooks was the catalyst with 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Tyler Dorsey and Dwayne Benjamin added 12 points apiece, while Chris Boucher contributed nine points, five boards and five blocked shots.
-- Brooks is averaging a team-best 15.2 points per game for the Ducks, who have four players scoring in double figures. Boucher (12.1 PPG) is second in the nation in blocked shots, rejected 3.3 attempts per game. He averages team-highs in rebounding (8.1 RPG) and field-goal percentage (51.6%).
-- Utah is unbeaten in eight home games with a 2-3 spread record.
-- After losing at Stanford (70-68 in overtime) and at California (71-58), Utah captured a 56-54 win at Colorado last Friday in a pick ‘em affair. Lorenzo Bonam paced the Utes with 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
-- Utah is No. 22 in the RPI Rankings. The Utes are 3-3 against the Top 50 and 6-4 versus the Top 100. They own neutral-court scalps over Temple, Texas Tech and Duke, in addition to a win at Colorado.
-- Oregon is No. 11 in the RPI, going 3-1 against the Top 50 and 7-2 versus the Top 100. The Ducks have home wins over Baylor, Valpo, Cal, Stanford, UC-Irvine and Long Beach State. They also have a neutral-court victory over Alabama. Altman’s squad took its defeats at Oregon St., at Boise St. and against UNLV on a neutral floor.
-- Utah is led by sophomore center Jakob Poelti, who is averaging 17.0 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per games. The 7-foot Poeltl is first in the Pac-12 and eighth in the country in field-goal percentage, making 66.5 percent of his attempts.
-- Utah has been a single-digit favorite four times, posting a 1-2-1 spread record. Meanwhile, Oregon owns a 2-0 spread record with one outright victory (vs. Baylor) in a pair of underdog spots this year. The other cover came in backdoor fashion in a 74-72 loss at Boise State.
-- Oregon has won four in a row in this rivalry, including a 67-64 triumph at last year’s Pac-12 Tournament. The Ducks are 3-0-1 ATS during their four-game winning streak over the Utes, who have just one win in the last eight head-to-head meetings.
-- The ‘over’ is 9-5-1 overall for Utah, 6-0 in its home games. However, the Utes have seen the ‘under’ cash in their first three Pac-12 games that have all been on the road.
-- After cashing in three consecutive games, the ‘under’ is 8-5 overall for the Ducks, 2-0 in their road outings.
**California at Stanford**
-- California (12-5 SU, 9-8 ATS) and Stanford will renew their bitter basketball rivalry tonight in Palo Alto at 11:00 p.m. Eastern on Fox Sports 1. As of early this morning, most books had the Golden Bears favored by 3.5 points.
-- Cuonzo Martin’s club has lost back-to-back games, yet it maintains a stellar 6-1 spread record in its last seven games. Cal is playing its third straight road game after losses at Oregon St. (77-71) and at Oregon (68-65). The Golden Bears won’t play again until returning home next Thursday to host Arizona State.
-- Cal is No. 42 in the RPI Rankings, compiling a 3-3 record against the Top 50 and a 5-4 mark versus the Top 100. Martin’s squad has five quality home wins over Davidson, Colorado, Utah, UC-Santa Barbara and Saint Mary’s. The Golden Bears have taken tasted their losses at Virginia, at Oregon, at Oregon State and vs. Richmond and San Diego State on neutral floors.
-- Cal is led by senior guard Tyrone Wallace, who is averaging team-highs in scoring (15.4 PPG), assists (4.5 APG) and steals (1.1 SPG). Ivan Rabb, a 6-10 freshman out of Oakland, is averaging 12.5 PPG. Rabb is averaging team-bests in rebounding (8.7 RPG), field-goal percentage (64.1%) and blocked shots (23). Jaylen Brown, a five-star recruit just like Rabb, is also enjoyed an excellent freshman campaign. Brown is averaging 14.9 points 6.2 rebounds per contest.
-- Cal has failed to cover in a pair of games as a road favorite this year. The Bears lost outright in Corvallis and won 78-72 in overtime at Wyoming as seven-point road ‘chalk.’
-- Stanford (9-6 SU, 6-7 ATS) is off a 71-58 loss Sunday at Oregon as a nine-point underdog. Michael Humphrey scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds for the losers in Eugene. Rosco Allen finished with 13 points and seven boards, while Marcus Allen was also in double figures with 12 points.
-- Humphrey (10.9 PPG) is averaging team-bests in rebounding (7.2 RPG), field-goal percentage (50.8%) and blocked shots (1.7 BPG). Allen is scoring at a team-high 14.1 PPG clip.
-- Stanford has won seven of 10 home games while limping to a 3-5 spread record.
-- Stanford is 4-4 ATS with three outright wins in eight games as an underdog. This is the third home ‘dog situation for the Cardinal, which is 1-1 both SU and ATS in the two previous such spots. They beat Utah as 4.5-point home ‘dogs and lost 75-73 to Texas as one-point home puppies.
-- The ‘under’ is 8-5 overall for the Cardinal, 4-4 in its home games. Regardless of the venue, Stanford has seen the ‘under’ go 4-1 in its last five outings and 8-3 in its last 11.
-- The ‘under’ is 10-7 overall for Cal, 2-2 in its four true road assignments.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
-- Then there was only one. In this instance, Southern Methodist is the lone remaining undefeated team following Wednesday night’s action. SMU cruised to a 79-55 win last night at East Carolina as a 14-point road favorite. Larry Brown’s team improved to 16-0 overall and 5-0 in AAC play. Ben Moore scored 17 points, grabbed six rebounds and made four steals, while senior point guard Nic Moore dished out 12 assists without committing a turnover.
-- South Carolina fell from the unbeaten ranks last night at Coleman Coliseum, where the good times continued to roll in Tuscaloosa during Alabama’s 73-50 blowout win as a four-point home underdog. Avery Johnson is doing a helluva job in his first season with the Crimson Tide.
-- Jaron Blossomgame scored a team-best 17 points to lead Clemson to a 68-63 come-from-behind win over Duke as a 7.5-point home underdog. The Tigers, who have won four in a row, killed the Blue Devils on the glass with a 33-21 rebounding advantage. They beat a nationally-ranked opponent in back-to-back games for the first time since 1989 when Elden Campbell and Dale Davis were still on the Clemson roster.
-- Boise State won its 10th consecutive game late last night in Reno. Mikey Thompson led BSU’s balanced offensive attack with a game-high 18 points in a 74-67 win at Nevada as a four-point road favorite. Thompson, a senior point guard from out of Las Vegas, is beginning to flourish with the ball in his hands more due to the loss of Derrick Marks. He also had four assists, three rebounds and three steals against the Wolf Pack. James Webb III added 14 points and 14 rebounds, while Anthony Drmic and Nick Duncan finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
-- LSU bounced back from Saturday’s loss at Florida to rally past Ole Miss for a 90-81 win as a 10-point home favorite. The Tigers were able to win despite 33 points from Stefan Moody, who looked like an All-American at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. LSU freshman sensation Ben Simmons is undoubtedly going to be an All-American, producing 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds against the Rebels.