The No. 8 ranked Memphis Tigers (22-3) of C-USA travel to Spokane, Wash., tonight, installed as a -5 point favorite at Sportbet.com, for a bracket-buster match-up with the Gonzaga Bulldogs of the WCC. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. EST in sold-out Veterans Memorial Arena and will be televised by ESPN.
There is no doubt this game would be an even match-up if not slightly favoring the Bulldogs had it not been for the recent suspension of power forward Josh Heytvelt and guard Theo Davis due to an alleged off campus incident involving a controlled substance last Saturday night.
On Monday night , Santa Clara ended Gonzaga’s 50 game home winning streak by defeating the Bulldogs 83-74. The loss was the first game the Bulldogs had played without Heytvelt and Davis.
The Tigers enter today’s game having won 14 straight games. The last time Memphis lost was a 79-71 setback at then No. 9 Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl Classic in Tucson, Ariz., on Dec. 20.
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Gonzaga brings an 18-9 overall record and an 8-3 West Coast Conference mark into Saturday’s match-up. The Bulldogs have won six of their last eight contests entering Saturday’s clash. Included among those six wins was a 90-86 double-overtime victory at then No. 23 Stanford.
The match-up will be only the third all time meeting between the two schools on the hardwood. The second encounter came in the 2005-06 campaign, and the Tigers posted an 83-72 win at Fed Ex Forum in Memphis. Prior to last year’s game, Memphis and Gonzaga also played in the 1998-99 season. The two schools played in the 1998 Preseason NIT, with Gonzaga taking an 88-73 win in a first-round game in Memphis.
Gonzaga failed to cover the -6 ½ point spread in its game with Santa Clara, the last game the Bulldogs played and the only game in which Heytvelt and Davis were not in the lineup. Prior to the suspension, Gonzaga had covered ATS three of its last five games with the UNDER cashing on totals betting in 3-of-5 games.
While enjoying a 13 game SU winning streak, the Tigers have also cashed for their backers by covering ATS five straight and 7-of-10 games. The UNDER has cashed in totals betting in the last 6-of-10 games Memphis has played.
