January 9, 2021 Results
What we got right:
College Basketball
St. Johns at #7 Creighton - The Creighton Blue Jays are the real deal. All five starters scored in double figures for Creighton in the 97-79 win. Creighton did this Marcus Zegarowski, their second leading scorer, missing the game. Creighton’s next game is a road game at Hinkle Fieldhouse against the Butler Bulldogs. That should be a fun one.
Ohio State at #15 Rutgers - Rutgers is a good team, but they aren’t the 15th best team in the country. Ohio State beat the Scarlet Knights 79-68, doing so without their starting point guard. Rutgers lost it’s third game in a row, and it was a 32-6 run spanning both halves that did them in. No rest for the weary however, as the Scarlet Knights next game is a matchup with #8 Wisconsin.
Wake Forest at #21 Duke - We were wrong in that the final outcome would be by single digits, but right that the Blue Devils wouldn’t cover. Matt Hurt scored 26 points in the 79-68 win for the Blue Devils. Duke shot 51% from the field in this game, doing most of their damage in the paint. Next up for the Blue Devils is a road tilt against Virginia Tech.
#4 Texas at #14 West Virginia - Texas was down by five points with just under two minutes left in the game. The ended the contest on a 7-0 run, highlighted by an Andrew Jones three pointer with two seconds left, to get the 72-70 win. Texas improves to 10-1 while West Virginia drops to 9-4. What Shaka Smart is doing at Texas is impressive. This team has the talent to earn a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
#9 Tennessee at Texas A&M - The magic threshold for Texas A&M is still 68 points. They are now 0-4 when they fail to hit the number as they fell to the Volunteers 68-54. Tennessee shot 59% from the field and had only 11 turnovers. That is usually a recipe for a win. The next game for the Volunteers is against in state rival Vanderbilt. They don’t play a ranked foe in the underwhelming SEC until a January 23rd game against Missouri.
#2 Baylor at TCU - Baylor definitely won this game on the defensive end like we predicted. The Bears held the Horned Frogs to 33% shooting and forces 22 turnovers in the 67-49 win. Baylor’s offense wasn’t at its best in this game, but when the defense is that good you don’t need to be. Baylor and Gonzaga are head and shoulders above the rest of the college basketball world right now. We hope they can find a way to get that game rescheduled.
#17 Oregon at Utah - Oregon put the clamps on Utah after falling behind by ten points at the half. The Ducks responded with a quick 7-0 run to start the second half and the game was on. They outscored Utah 46-30 in the second half and won the game 79-73. UCLA and Oregon look like the class of the Pac 12 right now. Their matchup in a couple weeks will go a long way in figuring out who will win the conference.
NBA:
Atlanta at Charlotte - A day after LaMelo ball just missed a triple double against his brother he achieved it against the Hawks. In scoring 22 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing out 11 assists Ball became the youngest player in NBA history to get a triple double. What is even more impressive is he did it off the bench. Trae Young went 5-19 in the 113-105 loss, and he needs to be much more efficient for the Hawks to win.
Orlando at Dallas - Another Mavericks game and another Luca Doncic triple double. Doncic is 8th in the NBA in scoring, 16th in the NBA in rebounding, and 6th in the NBA in assists. Those are video game numbers and he is still only 21 years old. He got some help in this one, with Tim Hardaway Jr. scoring 36 and Trey Burke scoring 29 in the 112-98 Dallas win.
Portland at Sacramento - Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum combined for only 54 points in the 125-99 win. We thought they would go for a combined 60, but when you have big of a lead you can afford to sit your starters for the majority of the fourth quarter. The Kings had a balanced game, with six players scoring between ten and fifteen points. It wasn’t enough.
NFL:
Nothing
What we got wrong:
College Basketball:
#22 Virginia at Boston College - This was the Cavalier defense that we were expecting this season. They held Boston College to 31% shooting and 29% from beyond the arc in the 61-49 victory. Virginia only made four three pointers themselves, but when your defense is that good you can afford to not shoot the basketball well. Virginia is starting to round into Virginia form, which should make the rest of the ACC very nervous.
Tulane at #11 Houston - Houston put together a complete performance in this one. On the defensive end, they held Tulane to 29% shooting. On the offensive end they made 15 three point baskets. Put that together and you have a 71-50 win. Houston doesn’t play a ranked opponent the rest of the season, so their ranking will only go up from here.
#18 Texas Tech at Iowa State - Texas Tech looked like the real deal in this one. They shot 59% from the field and had only ten turnovers in the dominating 91-64 win. The Cyclones dropped to 2-7 with the loss and have to be wondering where their offense is going to be coming from the remainder of the season.
Oklahoma at #6 Kansas - This was a tough physical game won by the Jayhawks. Neither team had more than a seven point lead throughout the entire game. Kansas did just enough down the stretch to earn the 63-59 win, while Oklahoma now gets a well deserved breather after facing the best the Big 12 has to offer the last week.
#1 Gonzaga at Portland - We are now 0-3 in picking Gonzaga games this year. For awhile it looked like the Bulldogs were going to cover the 32 points, but some hot shooting late helped Portland cover. Joel Ayayi got the first triple double in Gonzaga history in the 116-88 win. We are guessing he will get at least one more before the year is over.
NBA:
Denver at Philadelphia - We said this was the easiest pick of the day. We said that when we believed that Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid were going to play in this one. Once that changed we knew we were cooked. The line jumped from 5.5 to 13.5 and the 76ers actually did cover the 13.5 in the 115-103 loss.
Phoenix at Indiana - Chris Paul is a wonder. The 35 year old point guard, playing on back to back nights, had 15 points and 10 assists in the 125-117 win for the Suns. He also only committed one turnover in 33 minutes of action. This was a hard fault well played game between two teams that will make the playoffs in their respective conferences.
Cleveland at Milwaukee - The Bucks won 100-90 in a game they played without two time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. They did put the clamps down defensively on the Cavaliers, holding them to 10 points below their season average. Khris Middleton led the way for Milwaukee with 27 points.
Miami at Washington - The encore for Bradley Beal is he has to sit out the next 10-14 days because of Covid protocols. Despite that the Wizards hung tough, falling 128-124 to the Heat. The Wizards were already without Russell Westbrook, but a balanced effort kept this game close. Tyler Herro was too much for Washington to overcome, scoring 31 points in the victory.
Minnesota at San Antonio - This game needed overtime, but the Spurs handed the Timberwolves their sixth straight loss in a 125-122 game in San Antonio. DeMar DeRozan scored 38 points for San Antonio, and they needed every one of them to survive. These two teams run it back tonight.
NFL:
Indianapolis at Buffalo - Early in the fourth quarter the Bills scored to make it 24-10. We thought that we would get this game right. You have to give the Colts credit for coming back, scoring two touchdowns in the last frame to make a game of it, ultimately falling 27-24. What was really impressive in this game was how clean it was. Their were only four accepted penalties and no turnovers. Buffalo was just a little too much for Indianapolis, who now must wait on what the future holds for Phillip Rivers. The Bills opponent in the second round will be discovered Sunday.
Los Angeles Rams at Seattle - Well we right in saying this game was going to be ugly. The Seahawks came out uninspired and predictable, and fell to the Rams 30-20. Russell Wilson was 11-27 with 174 yards in this game, with an ugly pick-six on a wide receiver screen. The Rams had to go back to Jared Goff after John Wolford was injured on the second series of the game. Los Angeles defense was on fire in this game, holding the Seahawks to 278 yards and sacking Wilson five times. The Seahawks head into the offseason with a talented roster but a lot of questions, while the Rams will be on the road again next round.
Tampa Bay at Washington - The line was nine. Tampa Bay won by eight, 31-23. Las Vegas knows what they are doing. After Alex Smith couldn’t go, Washington turned the ball over to Taylor Heinicke. Heinicke played a good game, throwing for 300 yards with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown. At the end of the day Washington couldn’t get the stops they needed too on defense. Tom Brady kept doing Tom Brady things, throwing for 381 yards and two touchdowns. Washington might have an answer at quarterback in Heinicke, while the Bucs wait to see who their next round’s opponent will be.