Locks
NCAA Basketball (0.75 Unit) Norfolk St. -4.5 @ Morgan St. (-110): 6:30 PM CT No TV
There’s only one good team in the MEAC this year and it’s Norfolk State by a wide margin. After a few less-than-ideal performances early this month, the Spartans are back to their dominant selves and should roll over Morgan State again. This team just has a gear that nobody else in the conference does, and it showed in their 20-point win over Morgan last month, as well as a 30-point dismantling of Coppin State over the weekend.
The Spartan defense is legit and will make life difficult on the team that’s 348th in taking care of the basketball. Their veteran guards aren’t bothered by Morgan’s extremely fast pace and should control this game from start to finish. The Bears are also in a flat spot here after a high-profile loss on national TV Saturday, so they should be easy pickings for a Norfolk team who knows how to run them out of the gym.
NCAA Basketball (0.25 Unit) Arizona St. @ UCLA -13.5 (-110): 8:00 PM CT on FS1
I’ll give credit to Arizona State for putting together a few wins that make people want to forget some of their truly embarrassing performances throughout the season. But this is a revenge game for a UCLA team that’s on a roll, and tonight might get ugly.
Consecutive victories for UCLA by 20-plus points show what this team is capable of, and I’m sure the triple-OT loss at Arizona State two weeks ago is front of mind tonight. The Bruins are still one of the most balanced teams in the country and enjoy a massive home-court advantage in Pauley Pavilion. Their last 6 home games have seen the Bruins roll by an average 20.8 point margin, and the place will be rocking tonight for a national TV game.
UCLA is also likely to get forwards Johnny Juzang and Cody Riley back tonight, key pieces that will help to pull away from an ASU team that’s still relatively awful offensively. The market seems to think the Sun Devils have turned a corner, but I see them getting a big dose of reality and payback from a UCLA team looking to make a statement.
NCAA Basketball (0.5 Unit) New Mexico St. @ Seattle +2.5 (-110): 9:00 PM CT on ESPN+
This is a huge game in the WAC with first place on the line. It’s also a revenge spot for Seattle who I think will be up for it in a big way, and should be a live dog on their home floor.
New Mexico State is not quite the dominant force of years past in the WAC, even though they handled Seattle pretty easily in the first matchup. But they’ve shown vulnerabilities when visiting the top teams in the conference, and are just 2-4 ATS as a road favorite. Their excellent perimeter defense has taken big steps back in road games, and that will cause problems against a guard-dominant team like Seattle that takes a ton of threes.
The Redhawks have also been excellent at home, undefeated in WAC home games and 10-5-1 ATS at the Redhawk Center this season. They were definitely looking ahead to this game while squeaking by Cal Baptist over the weekend, so they should really be up for this one. Seattle just hasn’t gotten the respect they deserve this season and should keep tonight’s game close if not win outright.
Degenerates
No degenerates today.
Tiny Nick is 606-482 ATS (+82.5 Units) on his Locks since joining Zone Coverage.
Every day he will offer his Locks and Degenerate picks. Locks are the games he’s confident in. Degenerates are entertaining but riskier picks.
