The semi-finals of the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball tournament get underway tonight at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah when the number-two seed Northern Arizona Lumberjacks tip off against the number-three seed Montana Grizzlies at 7 p.m. EST followed by the top-seed Weber State Wildcats taking on the fourth-seeded Portland State Vikings at 10 p.m.
Northern Arizona is a -2 ½ point favorite over Montana in the first game with a 158 point total. In the nightcap, Weber State is a -3.0 point favorite in its game with Portland State. The total in the WSU/PSU game is 146 ½.
Montana and Northern Arizona split their regular season series with each team winning on the opponent’s home court in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Grizzlies defeated the Lumberjacks on Jan. 25 as a +5 ½ point road-dog 74-71. The Lumberjacks exacted revenge when the schools last met on Feb. 22 as a +5.0 point road underdog and winning straight up 88-81. The OVER has been the best total bet in NAU games cashing in four of the last five and five of the last seven games. The totals trend also leans to the OVER in Montana games covering in four of the last five and six of the last ten.
The Wildcats defeated Portland State straight up and covered the spread in both their games in the Big Sky home and home round-robin. On Jan. 10, Weber State got a double-digit 75-65 win, covering the -3.0 chalk ATS. Then on Feb. 8, the Wildcats traveled to Portland, Oregon and nipped the Vikings by a bucket 64-62 as a +4 ½ road underdog.
The Wildcats have covered ATS seven of its last 10 games while the Vikings, currently on a three game winning streak SU and ATS have covered four of their last five and six of their last 10. The trend in totals betting has the OVER cashing in four of the last five games that Portland State and Weber State played respectively. All college basketball lines and totals can be found at Wagerweb.com.
