Broseph's Bits And Saturday Gospel

Northern Arizona -3 -- The Grizzlies will try and keep up their good ways in the Big Sky conference when they hit the road to take on Northern Arizona. It'll be tough for the Grizz without Will Cherry who will be out due to a sprained ankle. Cherry averages 15.5 points per game and shoots 44% from the field. This mean's they'll rely on Brian Qvale (14.4 ppg) and Derek Selvig (10.8 ppg) more. Northern Arizona has a good homecourt and multiple weapons for teams to deal with. The Lumberjacks are led by Cameron Jones (19.5 ppg), Gabe Rogers (11.7 ppg) and Shane Johannsen (10 ppg). Montana won the first meeting at home 83-80 on December 29th. Cherry scored 27 points adding four rebounds and six assists to that stat line. NAU shot 56% in that game getting 30 from Jones and 19 from Platt. Now the scene shifts to NAU's building where they've lost by just once. We like NAU's chances to hold serve at home against a weaker Montana team.

Bowling Green -3 -- The Falcons have enjoyed conference play after starting the season 5-9. They are 6-2 in the MAC having won three straight and five of their last six. The Falcons play a stiff 2-3 defense which has helped them allow only 65.2 points per contest. Bowling Green is led by Scott Thomas (11.8 ppg), A'uston Calhoun (10.8 ppg) and Dee Brown (9.9 ppg). Western Michigan is 11-9, 4-3 in the MAC. They have some defensive problems giving up nearly 70 points per contest. They do score a bit more then Bowling Green, but may lack the shooters to break the zone. Demetrius Ward (38.9%) and Alex Wolf (38.6%) are the best shooters the Broncos have. Western Michigan is coming off a nice road win at Miami Ohio, but they've lost at Towson and Toledo who are two of the worst teams in the country. This team's inconsistency makes me like Bowling Green who has defended homecourt well.

Virginia +9.5 -- The Cavaliers weren't expected to do much this season. While they aren't going to be in the field of 68, they've proven to be a thorn in the side of their opponents. After knocking off Clemson, the Hoos hit the road to take on Miami who is coming off a win over Georgia Tech where they had a TON of turnovers. The Cavs haven't exactly wilted on the road. They won at Minnesota and Virginia Tech before losing to Duke, BC and Wake Forest. The Blue Devil game was close for a half while the team could have won in Boston College. The team defense keeps them in games allowing just 63 points per contest. Mustapha Farrakhan (13.1 ppg), K.T. Harrell (9.9 ppg) and Joe Harris (9.9 ppg) are the UVA leaders on offense. The Hurricanes meanwhile love to play close contests. They have played seven straight games that have been decided by single digits. This is coming after an 11 point loss at Duke which was also close. The Canes lack of a solid point guard and an inconsistent offense will keep the Cavaliers in it till the end.