Bryan Power

10* Under Bruins/Blues (4:05 ET): These are two of the hottest teams in the league right now, so this sets up as a competitive game. St. Louis did just lose for the first time in 12 games as their franchise record win streak was snapped on Thursday. So, Boston is technically the hotter team here as they come in having won seven straight. Each of the last four wins came out West as they swept the three California teams then won a shootout in Vegas. Given the competitive nature this game is likely to have, I see it staying Under the total w/ very few goals being scored. 

The Blues' season began its dramatic turn when rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington was thrust between the pipes. Granted, Binnington was not at his best Thursday in Dallas as he allowed four goals on just 24 shots. But prior to that, he'd posted a .937 save percentage and 1.61 goals against average in 15 starts all while going 13-1-1. What's really helped Binnington is the St. Louis defense not allowing their opponents to get many shots off. Since interim HC Craig Berube took over behind the bench, the team is allowing an average of just 28 shots per game, which is one of the better marks in the league. Even in defeat Thursday night, they allowed just 24 to the Stars. 

Boston is #2 in the league in goals allowed, so they're a stingy group too. In the seven-game win streak, they've allowed just 17 goals. That's not an awe-inspiring number by any means as it's been the offense doing a lot of the heavy lifting. But here they'll be facing a Blues team that allowed a total of just 16 goals in its historic 11-game win streak, including four shutouts. The Bruins are still w/o winger David Pastranak, keep in mind. When these teams met in Boston last month, the final score was 5-2 (in favor of the home team), but that was a much different Blues club than the one we're getting now. The Under is 14-8-1 in St. Louis' last 23 games. 10* Under Bruins/Blues 

10* Wichita State (8:00 ET): I have to say that for awhile this was not looking like a typical season from Wichita State. The Shockers were 8-11 SU following an embarrassing 20-point loss at UConn on January 26th and going "nowhere fast." But they've turned things around over the last month or so, winning five of the last six games. The lone loss was to Cincinnati. Tonight, they get a national TV game at home and it's a revenge spot vs. Memphis, who they lost to 85-74 back on January 3rd. I'll call for Wichita State's winning ways to continue here and lay the small number. 

Memphis is off what'll be its easiest conference win of the year, a 26-point beatdown of Tulane at home. The Tigers do have a couple of games where the MOV was higher, but that was against the likes of Tennessee State and Florida A&M. It's not as if the Tigers shot the lights out against Tulane, a team that is now 0-13 in conference play. The game was simply played at a fast pace (Memphis is #5 in adjusted tempo nationally). But I don't figure that to be the case here against a Wichita State team that likes to slow things down. Expect Memphis to be "uncomfortable" in this game. 

Wichita State has covered six straight, even the loss to Cincinnati as they were double digit underdogs. They were favored in four of the wins and then pulled a minor upset (were +2) at Tulsa earlier this week, winning 81-60. That was an impressive showing defensively as they held the Golden Hurricane to 30% shooting, including 4 of 22 from three-point range. In the first meeting w/ Memphis, they kept the Tigers in check from behind the arc (28.6%), but still allowed 50% shooting overall. The real key however was Memphis attempting 31 free throws to Wichita State's six. That advantage won't be present tonight for the Tigers, who are 0-10 SU this season as an underdog (2-8 ATS). 10* Wichita State

10* Akron (2:00 ET): This is a very important game for the Zips, who have lost three straight close ones. It's also a revenge spot as earlier in the year, they lost at Miami 68-61 as 2.5-pt favorites. That was a game where little went right from Akron's perspective as they shot just 39.3% overall and were 6 of 26 from three-point range. They also attempted only eight free throws. Certainly, at home, we should see a dramatic spike in those numbers Saturday afternoon. This is a team that has lost only twice at home all season, one of those coming to MAC heavyweight Buffalo. The other time was a one-point loss to Marshall early in the season. I'm laying the points here. 

As I said earlier, Akron comes into this game on a three-game losing streak and all three losses were close - as in by six points or less (11 pts total). The last two were on the road and both times the Zips blew a halftime lead and lost in the closing seconds. I played on Akron the last time they won a game, which was 2/8 vs. rival Kent State. In my analysis for that matchup, I noted the Zips are actually one of the nation's best defensive teams. That's still true as they're only allowing 62.7 PPG for the year. That's tied for the 15th best mark in the country and here at James A. Rhodes Arena, they allow only 58.2 PPG, which is a top 10 mark in the country. 

In two of the three recent losses, Akron has allowed far more points than usual. But those games were against Buffalo and Bowling Green, the top two teams in the conference. Miami is not exactly an offensive juggernaut and in fact has shot below 40% from the field over its last five games. Incredibly, Akron has held EVERY MAC foe below its season average in scoring. Miami averages 72.5 PPG overall, but just 68.7 on the road. The Zips don't just have revenge for last month, they've actually lost to the RedHawks four consecutive times. It's payback time on Saturday afternoon. 10* Akron

8* Auburn (1:30 ET): I wrote this when I played them on Wednesday, but Auburn deserves to be ranked in the top 25. Sure enough, they staked their claim Wednesday by destroying Arkansas 79-56. Granted, Arkansas isn't very good and the game was at home. But here, the Tigers can really stake their claim to being a top 25 team as they travel to Lexington to face #4 Kentucky. You may recall that it was exactly one week ago that I took UK against (then) #1 Tennessee and they took down the Vols 86-69. That was followed by a win at Missouri. The Wildcats have lost just once in the L13 games and that was at the buzzer against LSU. But I expect this one to be close. Take the points.

These teams did already play once this year and UK won 82-80 as a 4.5-point road underdog. Auburn trailed by as many as 17 in the 2nd half before staging a massive rally late. I don't see them falling into such a hole this time around. I think it's interesting to see just how far the line has shifted for this second matchup. Auburn has not been an underdog very often. This will be just the third time all season. They did lose both of the previous two games straight up, but covered one (+11 at Duke) and then only lost by five at LSU the other time.

As hot as Kentucky is right now, I think they're prone for a letdown. What they did last Saturday to Tennessee was very impressive, but the Vols were also due for their own letdown. Power forward Reid Travis is going to miss this game w/ a sprained right knee. He averages 11.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game and his absence will be felt against an opponent like Auburn. The Tigers are a really good three-point shooting team (37.9%), something Arkansas found out the hard way on Wednesday. That'll keep them in this one throughout and I do give the dog a shot at the outright upset here. 8* Auburn

10* Phoenix (7:05 ET): The fact Atlanta played last night does them no favors here. Plus, they're favored for only fifth time all year. They've failed to cover each of the four times previous to this, losing outright on three occasions. One of those took place right before the All-Star Break, at home, to a Knicks team that had lost 18 in a row. So Phoenix definitely has more than just a "chance" here even though they come in having dropped 16 in a row (franchise record). Given the situation and circumstance, I'll be taking the Suns, who are playing w/ revenge for a six-point loss earlier this month.

Phoenix has not won since January 11th when they beat Denver of all teams. Looking at this historic 16-game slide, 11 of the losses have taken place on the road. The team is just 2-23 SU its last 25 games. But despite all that, this is their best shot at winning since the time they hosted the Hawks. That also happened to be the lone instance where the Suns were favored during this 16-game skid. They were only 1-pt dogs in Cleveland Wednesday, a game where they rallied back from a double digit deficit only to still lose by 13. But given Atlanta is in the second night of a back to back, I like this spot a lot better for the Suns.

Atlanta was able to win 118-112 in Phoenix three weeks ago due to an unusually strong shooting night. They shot 51.2% overall and were 14 of 32 from three-point range. That probably won't happen again tonight. This is the seventh straight home game for the Hawks and they've lost five of the previous six. They gave up 125 pts last night to Detroit despite Blake Griffin being ejected in the third quarter. Playing without rest has not been good to this Hawks team as they are just 2-5 SU and 1-6 ATS in that situation. Take the points here. 10* Phoenix