Jim Feist – Sports Handicapper

Very rare to see an Ivy league team make the sweet 16, but here is Princeton. They won the Ivy league tournament and now have beaten Arizona, 59-55 and Missouri, 78-63 to advance here tonight. They have also covered six straight games and nine of their last 11 games. The Tigers have also covered their last four NCAA tournament games. Creighton lost in their tournament to Xavier, 60-82, but have rebounded in the NCAA with wins over North Carolina State, 72-63 and then last game over Baylor, 85-76. The BlueJays have covered five of their last six games. Issue here is the points. Creighton laying 10-points to anyone in the Sweet 16 has to be a tall order. I'm not so sure Princeton can't win this game. Therefore, I'll take the points with Tigers.

The Houston Rockets are the worst team in the West at 18-55 and have been eliminated from the Playoffs. They have lost three straight and six of their last 10. They are coming off a loss at Memphis, 125-130, but covered the 12.5-point line. They do a bit better vs the spread, going 7-10 ATS their last 17 games. The Rockets are 5-13 ATS in their last 18 road games and 8-21 ATS in their last 29 road games vs a team with a winning record. The Grizzlies are 2nd in the West and have already secured a playoff spot. They are 45-27 and have won four straight and seven of their last 10 games. The Grizzlies are 42-19-2 ATS in their last 63 home games. Should be an easy win tonight for the Grizzlies. They didn't cover on Wednesday vs this same team, however I don't see Houston putting up the same effort tonight. Play Memphis.

 The Thunder play the second of a back-to-back set here tonight and will remain at the Staple's Center as they faced the Clippers last night and the Lakers tonight. The Thunder are tied with the Mavericks, Lakers and Pelicans all holding onto three of the final playoff spots. The Jazz are just a half game back. The West is all bunched at for those final spots with just two-games separating seven teams. The Thunder lost last night to the Clippers, 105-127, as a 4-point dog. They allowed 56% from the field and 48.6% from 3-point arc to the Clippers. That makes them 5-2 S/U and ATS their last seven games. They have also gone over in three of their last four games. The Thunder have now gone 10-4-1 Ov/Un in their last 15 games. The Lakers have won two straight games and Six of their last nine. They are coming off a Wednesday win over the Suns, 122-111, as a 1-point favorite. The teams have gone over in nine of their last 13 meetings. I look for another over here tonight.

NCAA Tourney Midwest Regional Semifinals has Xavier taking on Texas from Kansas City, Mo. Xavier lost in their own tourney finals to Marquette, 51-65. However, they have won their first two NCAA tourney games with wins over Kennesaw State, 72-67, as a 12-point favorite and over Pittsburgh, 84-73, as a 5-point favorite. The Musketeers have won seven of their last eight games and gone 6-5 ATS their last 11 games. They are now 25-8-2 ATS in their last 35 NCAA Tournament games and 15-5-1 ATS their last 21 games vs a team with a win percentage over 60%. Texas won the Big 12 Tournament finishing with a win over Kansas, 75-56, as a 2-point dog. They have won their two NCAA tourney games over Colgate, 81-61 and last game over Penn State, 71-66, as a 5-point favorite. That is six straight wins and a 6-0-1 ATS mark their last seven. One knock against Texas is that they are just 2-11-1 ATS in their last 14 NCAA tournament games. This looks to be a close game here on Saturday and I'll take the points with the dog. Take Xavier.