I don't know where there was more euphoria last night...my apartment or Jenny Craig Pavilion. San Diego knocked off St. Mary's last night on ESPN2 and dozens of people stormed the court. It's an underrated part of the college experience. I remember my freshman year at Syracuse after one of our many great wins getting the opportunity to do this. The funny thing about this is once you get on the court, you really don't have much else to do except jump around and scream. If you are late to the party though, you won't be in the pack. You will actually be on the outside looking for someone to party with.
The euphoria of this event actually loses it's luster the more you do it. I can say I probably stormed the court at least five times in my college career including once at a football game when we knocked off Virginia Tech. It's almost boring to have to navigate the crowd and railings in order to make it onto the floor for 10-15 seconds of potential face time on ESPN. I do want to tell you the most important rule is don't fall. One of the times that I made my way to the court, a female student took a dive over the railing and had to curl in the fetal position to survive.
The rules of when to storm are murky at best. In my mind, you have to be an unranked team beating a ranked squad. If you are favored by Vegas or if every pundit on the national networks pick you then it's not worth it. There have been plenty of court stormings that just don't need to be done. One of the flexible rules that should be used on a case by case basis is the last second miracle shot. Sometimes it should lead to a storming while other times not so much.
There was a court storming in my apartment after the 2-0 night the Gospel gave you, the reader. St. Bonaventure and Detroit took care of business. We hope these totals do the same.
Iowa/Northwestern Over 136.5 -- Northwestern hosts Iowa on Thursday night in the Big 10. The Hawkeyes and Wildcats played a great game January 12th in Iowa with Northwestern winning 90-71. Iowa has struggled to score as of late failing to hit 65 points in three straight games. This team scores 67.2 points per game while giving up the devilish number of 66.6. Matt Gatens (12.5 ppg), Bryce Cartwright (11 ppg) and Melsahn Basabe (10.5 ppg) lead the way for Iowa. Northwestern turns to John Shurna (17.3 ppg), Michael Thompson (14.4 ppg) and Drew Crawford (12.5 ppg) for their offensive output. They put up 73.3 points per contest while allowing 68.2. They've gone over the total in 12 of their 18 lined games. Outside of games against Wisconsin and Ohio State at home, the Wildcats have put up nice point totals in front of their own fans. Northwestern tried slowing the pace down, but their coach said after the Penn State loss that they may have to speed it up again.
Portland/San Francisco Over 134.5 -- San Francisco tries to pick up the pieces after getting undressed at home by St. Mary's. The Dons are on the road at Portland on Thursday. San Francisco has put up some nice numbers on the road at Santa Clara and Pepperdine this season. The first meeting between these two teams was a SF win 81-74. They score just 68 points per game, but almost give up 70 points per game. Michael Williams (15.1 ppg), Rashad Green (11.6 ppg) and Perris Blackwell (10.4 ppg) lead the way for San Francisco who has themselves in this West Coast Conference race. We've used Portland a ton this season. The Pilots put up 71.3 points per game while giving up 67.3. Luke Sikma (13.9 ppg), Nemanja Mitrovic (13.5 ppg) and Jared Stohl (13.3 ppg) are the Pilots main threats. This team has put up 64, 85 and 79 in their last three home games. One of these two teams need to hit 70 for this bet to have a good chance and I think someone will.
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