Both teams are playing their last game before the All-Star break, and we do not expect much defensive intensity, especially from these two young teams. Sacramento played at Miami last night and the Kings allowed 120 points in that game. It was the third time over their last five games in which they allowed 114 points or more in a game. In their last five games, the Kings allowed 110 points per game on 47.9% shooting from the field and 39% shooting from three-point land. The last time Sacramento faced Washington, they allowed the Wizards to score a whopping 136 points and since they are in terrible defensive form, we can expect another high offensive output from Sacramento’s opponent tonight. Washington returns home off a 5-game road trip in which their defense was shredded in four of the five games. The Wizards allowed 109, 102, 114, and 104 points over their last four games and we expect their poor defensive play to continue against a Sacramento offense that has scored 108 points or more in three of their last five games. The Kings are also looking to play at a faster pace as they moved Tyreke Evans from point guard to small forward with Isaiah Thomas now running the point. “Whoever gets the rebound is supposed to push it,” said Evans. “I just need to be more aggressive.” The Wizards are also looking to push the pace more now under new head coach Randy Whitman; they were a one-on-one half-court team under Flip Saunders. “We’re most definitely better, chemistry-wise and playing hard for each other on the court,” said Rashard Lewis. We expect both offenses to get up and down the court resulting in a high-scoring game between the Kings and Wizards. 9* Play OVER the total.

West Virginia snapped their recent 1-5 slump with an impressive 66-48 win at Pittsburgh last Thursday night. The Mountaineers will be playing just their second game over the last eleven days so they are fresh as can be for tonight’s rematch at Notre Dame. West Virginia holds a huge scheduling edge as this will be the Irish’s third game over the last seven days which includes an overtime road win on Saturday in which they used a lot of energy in their comeback from a double digit deficit over the final minutes of the game. Despite West Virginia being just 2-4 over their last six games, they have been in every one of those games as the losses came by just 2, 6, 4, and 3 points. They are still a confident team despite their recent results, and according to head coach Bob Huggins, his team is a play or two away from turning things around. “I told them before the Louisville game, we're very, very close to being a good basketball team,” Huggins said. Notre Dame comes into tonight’s game on an 8-game winning streak; the Irish are also 7-1 ATS during that stretch. But when we dig a bit deeper, we can see some things that warrant a play against them tonight. Notre Dame has been an underdog in five of those eight games, and in the three games in which they were laying points, the Irish covered one and failed to cover another. Their 4-point win at Villanova came when they were laying 3 points, and we mentioned how fortunate they were in overtime in that game above. Notre Dame did beat West Virginia 55-51 as a 7-point road underdog during their recent run, but with so much time to prepare for the rematch, we see some tremendous on the Mountaineers, especially since we believe that West Virginia is the better team. 10* Play WEST VIRGINIA (+).

If you just look at these two teams at face value, then you may be inclined to think that Southern Mississippi is the superior team. The Golden Eagles come into tonight’s game at 22-5 while UTEP comes in with an overall record of just 13-13. But if we judge these teams on their recent play, we can easily see that UTEP has played the much better basketball. The Miners have won their last three games, including a win at Memphis as a 14 ½-point underdog on Saturday. Southern Miss is just 2-2 over their last four games, and their wins were both close calls. They beat Central Florida by just 4 points and they beat Tulsa in overtime by 8 points. The only reason the Golden Eagles are favored in tonight’s game is their overall season record, and that has them a bit overvalued tonight. Prior to their 3-game winning streak, UTEP had lost 4 straight games. But all of those losses were close, including a 2-point loss, a 1-point loss, and a 5-point loss in overtime. So there recent improvement isn’t out of the blue; it’s been a culmination of their development and a lineup change made by head coach Tim Floyd prior to their win over Tulsa. “We are finally understanding we can play with anybody,” said Julian Washburn. “We've lost a lot of one-point games, and our record could easily be different. We're on a roll right now with that win at Memphis, and we want to keep it going.” UTEP is a tough place to play so we see some good value in taking the points with the home underdog in this game tonight. 9* Play UTEP (+).

There has been no team in the country more impressive than Wichita State over the last two weeks. The Shockers are a perfect 4-0 and ATS during that time winning by 25, 21, 15, and 17 points. Wichita State’s offense has been phenomenal in those four games as they’ve scored 73 points or more in every game while shooting an incredible 59.2% (125-211) from the field and an amazing 57.1% (36-63) from three-point land. But they can’t possibly keep up that shooting pace, and with tonight being their third road game in their last four games overall, we have a sneaking suspicion that they cool off in this game. There’s no question that Wichita State is a very good team, but tonight’s game at Illinois State is an extremely dangerous spot for the Shockers, and when we factor in their likelihood of a regression, we’re comfortable in taking a shot against them. Illinois State is having a decent season; the Redbirds are 17-11 overall. They’ve played tremendous basketball on their home court as they are an impressive 14-2 while holding their opponents to just 58 points per game on 37.7% shooting from the field and 31.3% from three-point land. They are 7-1 at home in conference play, and they’ve held six of their eight opponents to less than 70 points. Wichita State is 4-2 SU when held to less than 70 points, but they are just 1-5 ATS in those games. In the first meeting in Wichita, the Redbirds only lost by three points (65-62). That was an impressive game, especially considering they held the Shockers to just 65 points on their home court. Wichita State has a revenge game at home on deck, and with this being the last home game for Illinois State, we’ll take the points with the home underdog on their strong home court. 9* Play ILLINOIS STATE (+).