Well last night didn't go as planned considering St. Joseph's had a headscratching loss at home to St. Bonaventure who is now 2-0 in Philadelphia. We also lost a heartbreaker in Ball State as it was close throughout, but Buffalo won. Time to focus on Thursday's card now:
Record: 9-7
Montana -13 vs. Idaho State This is your classic battle of the best and the worst in a lower conference. The Grizzlies have not lost in conference and are currently rolling now that Will Cherry has joined Kareem Jamar in the backcourt. The two average almost 26 points per game as Jamar shoots almost 50% from the field. Mathias Ward leads the way for the Grizzlies and he shoots over 50%. Idaho State on the other end is towards the bottom of a lot of Big Sky categories. They are led by Melvin Morgan who puts up 12.1 points per game. He averages almost four turnovers per contest. The last time these two teams played, the Grizz won by 36. It probably won't be that bad, but we like Montana.
Arizona State -3.5 vs. USC
This is a headscratcher of a line. The Sun Devils are playing good basketball right now and are led by Jahii Carson who is putting up 17.3 points per game. He is getting help from Carrick Felix (14.6 ppg) and Evan Gordon (10.1 ppg). They have won 10 of their last 13 games and are coming off a tough home loss to Arizona. USC is going in the opposite direction having lost three of their last five although they won their last game at home by 1 over Oregon State. The Trojans have beaten Utah on the road representing their only win away from home. Eric Wise and JT Terrell are the leading scorers for USC. I like the Sun Devils to win this one handily.
I came really close to adding Loyola Marymount tonight against Pepperdine, but the Lions are not playing good basketball right now. They should beat Pepperdine who has lost three straight, but we'll watch this from the sidelines instead of making it an official selection.