Cappers Sports Picks

My 10* Conf Tourney Game of the Year (Summit) is on North Dakota St at 9:45 ET.

Summit League Tournament is being held at The Pentagon in Sioux Falls, a neutral site. The Summit's top-two seeds, No.1 South Dakota St and South Dakota, advanced on Saturday with wins. The other four teams play Sunday, including No. 6 UMKC and No. 3 North Dakota State. The Roos and Bison met in back-to-back games in KC back on Jan 29 and 30, with each team winning once. UMKC comes in just 11-13 on the season, while North Dakota St, after a 2-6 non-conference start, went 11-5 in Summit League to earn the No. 3 seed and post a 13-11 over record.

Billy Donolon won 20-plus games in THREE of his six seasons at Wright St and is in his second year at UMLC. The Roos were 16-14 last season and this season have lost a number of contributing players during the year like guard Pennington (14.0), plus big men Lamar (11.4 & 6.0) and Roessink (7.6 & 4.0). Guard Nesbitt missed about a month (Jan-Feb) but is back (10.8 & 6.2) to join  fellow guard McKissic (17.5-3.6-3.3) and the 6-8 Allick (14.6 & 5.8) in double digits.

Kyan Brown is in his seventh season at North Dakota St and last year's team went 25-8. However, the scoring duo of Shahid (18.4) and Ward (16.9) have moved on. A trio of seniors have stepped up this season, the 6-10 Kreuser (14.8 & 6.9) plus guards Griesel (11.6 & 6.5) and Eady (11.1 & 5.5). Also making contributions have been the 6-7 Harden-Hayes (9.7 & 5.4), guard Cook (9.4 & 3.1) and 6-10 freshman Nelson (6.4 & 3.5).

It seems to be a given that South Dakota St and South Dakota will meet in the championship game but if there is a 'dark horse' in the Summit, it will be the Bison. North Dakota St ended the regular season with back-to-back games at home vs South Dakota St and at South Dakota, gaining a split in each series. Expect the Bison to win handily here and advance to a semifinal meeting with South Dakota. Lay the points.

Good luck...Larry

My 9* Rivalry Rout is on Oregon at 8:00 ET.

Dana Altman spent 16 seasons at Creighton and took the school to seven NCAA tourneys in his last 12 years at the school. He came to Oregon for the 2010-11 season and won the CBI championship in his first season. He's now in his 11th season in Eugene having won 20-plus games in each of his first 10, averaging 25.9 wins per year. Oregon has played in SIX of the last eight NCAA tourneys and it would have been seven if last season's year was not cut short (Ducks were 24-7). The Ducks (18-5 /13-4 Pac-12) rallied from a halftime deficit against UCLA on Wednesday, scoring 45 second-half points of an 82-74 victory. The win moved Oregon into sole possession of first place and marked the Ducks' fourth straight win and NINTH in 10 games. Oregon can claim consecutive outright Pac-12 Conference championships for the first time with a road win Sunday against rival Oregon State in Corvallis.

Oregon State's Wayne Tinkle lost his son Tres (18.5 & 6.8) and center Kelley (11.1 PPG / 5.3 RPFG / 3.5 BPG) from last year's team but heads into this contest on a three-game winning streak with a 14-11 overall mark (10-9 in the Pac 12). All three of those wins, over Cal, Stanford and Utah, have come impressively on the road. However, Oregon State's recent surge followed a stretch where it lost FOUR out of five.

Altman lost key players from last season, most notably Pritchard (20.5-4.3-5.5) but also SG Mathis (8.5) and the 6-7 Juiston (7.9 & 6.3). The 6-6 Eugene Omoruyi, who sat out last year as a transfer from Rutgers is averaging 16.9 & 5.4. The 6-6 Figueroa transferred from St John's and adds 11.9 & 6.4 and the 6-6 Eric Williams (10.5 & 6.4) transferred from Duquesne. That trio gives Oregon a strong frontcourt, even with 6-11 center N'Faly Dante (8.2 & 5.8) suffering a torn ACL in mid-December (out for the season). 6-8 guard Duarte leads the team in scoring (17.7) and is now joined in the backcourt by PG Will Richardson, who is back from a left thumb injury suffered in the preseason. He's averaging 10.0 PPG in 11 games.

Oregon St is led by guard Thompson (15.5-3.4-40) and fellow guard Lucas (12.8) is the only other double digit scorer. That duo is joined in the starting lineup by fellow guard Reichle (7.2-3.3-3.1) plus the 6-7 Alatishe (9.2 & 8.4) and the 7-1 Silva (5.3 & 2.5). Alatishe transferred from Nicholls State and has been a big addition. Oregon State is hoping to build on the positive momentum from THREE straight road wins and can earn a season sweep of Oregon with a win here, something the Beavers last accomplished in the 2018-19 season.

As noted above, an Oregon win means the No. 1 seed in the Pac 12 tourney but if that's NOT enough motivation, the Ducks SURELY remember losing 75-64 in Eugene back on Jan 23. PG Will Richardson did not play in Oregon's first meeting with Oregon State, as he didn't make his season debut until Feb 4 He scored nine of his 15 points in the second half and sank 6 of 8 shots from the floor in the comeback win over UCLA and, as Altman credited for for "taking over" against the Bruins. It's not lost on anyone that the Ducks are 9-2 since Richardson's return. Can you say "Pac 12 champs?" Lay the points.

Good luck...Larry

My 9* Weekend Wipeout is on Maryland at 7:00 ET.

Penn St was 21-10 last season but the Nittany Lions went through some turmoil right as practices started when head coach Pat Chambers resigned in late October following an investigation into inappropriate conduct. Penn State is playing this season with interim head coach Jim Ferry and the Nittany Lions play their final regular season game of the current season Sunday at Maryland. Penn St is overall, including in Big Ten play.

Mark Turgeon coached Wichita St for seven years, before leading Texas A&M to four straight NCAA tournaments in four years going 97-40. He joined Maryland when it was still in the ACC but its move to the Big Ten has been good for the basketball program, as over the last six seasons the Terps have won 20-plus games in five seasons (exception was a 19-win season), making four NCAA tourneys (would have been five, as Maryland was 24-7 when the season was shut down last year). Maryland, despite Wednesday's 60-55 loss at Northwestern, has made a nice late-season run to put itself in position to grab an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. The Terps are 15-11 overall, including 9-10 in the Big Ten.

Penn State enters off one of its best games of the season, an 84-65 beatdown of struggling Minnesota at home Wednesday night. The Nittany Lions opened up a 46-28 halftime lead but NO ONE can make much of anything these days of a win over Minnesota (Gophers are 3-12 their last 15 overall and 0-10 on the road this season). Penn St surely misses All-Big Ten forward Lamar Stevens (17.6 & 6.9). The Nittany Lions have two players averaging in double figures, guards Jones (15.5) and Brockington (13.0 & 4.6). However, the team's depth is decent. The 6-7 Seth Lundy (9.4 & 3.8) and the 6-9 Harrar (9.1 & 8.6) are solid frontcourt players, plus guards Dread (7.9), Sessoms (7.9) and Wheeler (6.4-4.4-3.6) add backcourt depth.

PG Cowan (16.3 & 4.7 APG) and big man Jalen Smith (15.5 & 10.5) are gone from last season's Maryland team but the Terps have a deep backcourt. Ayala (14.5 & 3.1) and Wiggins (13.9 & 5.7) lead the way, supported by Morsell (8.8 & 3.8) and Hart (7.7 & 3.6). Up front, it's the 6-7 Scott (11.3 & 6.7) and 6-8 BC transfer Hamilton (6.6 & 2.5). Maryland had won FIVE straight before stumbling at Northwestern, as 15 turnovers and 42 percent shooting 'killed' them. The Terps are playing with revenge from a 55-50 loss at Penn St on Feb 5 but more importantly, a win gets them to 10-10 in Big Ten play, which really improves Maryland's at-large hopes. However, a loss and the Big Ten tourney becomes a potential eliminator for the Terps' NCAA hopes. Lay the points.

Good luck...Larry