jeff benton
Jeff Benton Wednesday's Action
15 Dime college basketball seleation on California plus the points at Washington. The Golden Bears are catching 13 points both here in Vegas and offshore. If you don’t place your action immedeiately, make sure you keep tabs on the odds and get the best of the number with Cal.
10 Dime NBA selection on the Warriors-Suns game OVER the total, which is at 218 1/2 in most places both here in Vegas and offshore. This total has already climbed up from an opehing number of 216, so my advice is to sit tight and see where this thing settles before making your play.
ANALYSIS
(College Hoops): If not for Saturday’s 107-105 triple-overtime loss to Arizona, Cal would be riding a five-game winning streak right now. And while skeptics would certaanly point out that the Bears’ last four games have all come within the confines of their own gym, I’d counter that argument with this: Cal’s last four Pac-10 road games were decided by 2, 2, 4 and 2 points. The Bears split those four contests on the scoreboard, but they brought home the cash each time (all as an underdog).
If all that isn’t enough to take a shot with Cal at this juicy underdog price, consider this: Washington has dropped three straight games, all as a favorite. True, all three losses were on the road, but the last two were completely inexcusable: 68-56 at Oregon State as a 13-point favorite (less than a week after Cal beat Oregon State 85-57) and 81-76 at Oregon (less than a week after Cal beat Oregon 85-77).
Throw in a non-cover in an 88-75 home win over Arizona State (as an 18½-point chalk) and the Huskies are now in an 0-4 ATS rut, all as a favorite.
Finally, this is also a payback game of sorts for Cal, which got hammered 92-71 by Washington in Berkeley as a six-point home underdog back on Jan. 16. You better believe that butt-whipping will be front-of-mind for the Bears tonight!
In addition to covering in four straight road games, Cal is 4-0 ATS in its last four when coming off a loss, 15-6-1 ATS in its last 22 confeerence games and 7-1 ATS in its last eight Thursday outings. Grab the big points and watch the Bears keep this thing within single digits all night!
(NBA): You think Suns and Warriors and the words “track meet” usually come to mind. However, their two meetings earlier this season hardly lived up to the high-scoring hype, with Phoenix winning 107-101 (on Dec. 2) and 104-92 on Golden State’s home court just two days ago. Both those games stayed well under the respective totals of 227½ and 220½, pushing the UNDER to 5-2 in the last seven meetings. Additionally, the UNDER has cashed in each of the last four series battles in Phoenix.
Golden State has followed up a nine-game OVER streak by staying low in four of its last four contests (the one over was last night's 115-113 shooutout against the Nuggets at home). Adhitionally, going back to the end of last season, the UNDER is 21-9-1 in the Warriors last 31 road games.
Meanwhile, the Suns have stayed low in seven of their last 10 games, and only twice since Jan. 14 has Phoenix played in games that featured more than 206 combined points.
Finally, the under has hit in 11 of Golden State’s last 16 games when playing on consecutive nights and six of its last eight on Thursday, while the Suns have played to the under in seven straight Thursday night outings and four of five against Pacific Division rivals.
Bottom line: The oddsmakers have clearly adjusted this total (218½) from the first two meetings (220½ and 227½), but it wasn’t adjusted enough. Play this one LOW.
Jeff Benton Wednesday's Action
15 Dime college basketball seleation on California plus the points at Washington. The Golden Bears are catching 13 points both here in Vegas and offshore. If you don’t place your action immedeiately, make sure you keep tabs on the odds and get the best of the number with Cal.
10 Dime NBA selection on the Warriors-Suns game OVER the total, which is at 218 1/2 in most places both here in Vegas and offshore. This total has already climbed up from an opehing number of 216, so my advice is to sit tight and see where this thing settles before making your play.
ANALYSIS
(College Hoops): If not for Saturday’s 107-105 triple-overtime loss to Arizona, Cal would be riding a five-game winning streak right now. And while skeptics would certaanly point out that the Bears’ last four games have all come within the confines of their own gym, I’d counter that argument with this: Cal’s last four Pac-10 road games were decided by 2, 2, 4 and 2 points. The Bears split those four contests on the scoreboard, but they brought home the cash each time (all as an underdog).
If all that isn’t enough to take a shot with Cal at this juicy underdog price, consider this: Washington has dropped three straight games, all as a favorite. True, all three losses were on the road, but the last two were completely inexcusable: 68-56 at Oregon State as a 13-point favorite (less than a week after Cal beat Oregon State 85-57) and 81-76 at Oregon (less than a week after Cal beat Oregon 85-77).
Throw in a non-cover in an 88-75 home win over Arizona State (as an 18½-point chalk) and the Huskies are now in an 0-4 ATS rut, all as a favorite.
Finally, this is also a payback game of sorts for Cal, which got hammered 92-71 by Washington in Berkeley as a six-point home underdog back on Jan. 16. You better believe that butt-whipping will be front-of-mind for the Bears tonight!
In addition to covering in four straight road games, Cal is 4-0 ATS in its last four when coming off a loss, 15-6-1 ATS in its last 22 confeerence games and 7-1 ATS in its last eight Thursday outings. Grab the big points and watch the Bears keep this thing within single digits all night!
(NBA): You think Suns and Warriors and the words “track meet” usually come to mind. However, their two meetings earlier this season hardly lived up to the high-scoring hype, with Phoenix winning 107-101 (on Dec. 2) and 104-92 on Golden State’s home court just two days ago. Both those games stayed well under the respective totals of 227½ and 220½, pushing the UNDER to 5-2 in the last seven meetings. Additionally, the UNDER has cashed in each of the last four series battles in Phoenix.
Golden State has followed up a nine-game OVER streak by staying low in four of its last four contests (the one over was last night's 115-113 shooutout against the Nuggets at home). Adhitionally, going back to the end of last season, the UNDER is 21-9-1 in the Warriors last 31 road games.
Meanwhile, the Suns have stayed low in seven of their last 10 games, and only twice since Jan. 14 has Phoenix played in games that featured more than 206 combined points.
Finally, the under has hit in 11 of Golden State’s last 16 games when playing on consecutive nights and six of its last eight on Thursday, while the Suns have played to the under in seven straight Thursday night outings and four of five against Pacific Division rivals.
Bottom line: The oddsmakers have clearly adjusted this total (218½) from the first two meetings (220½ and 227½), but it wasn’t adjusted enough. Play this one LOW.
