Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Sports Betting:

Vegas Play of the Day: USC at Arizona State

Julian Jacobs USC

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Southern California’s Julian Jacobs dribbles against Oregon during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, March 5, 2016, in Los Angeles. Oregon won 76-66.

We’ve entered the third season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.

Starting bankrolls have reset to $10,000, with the maximum bet being to win $1,000 and the minimum wager $300. Ray Brewer won the 2015-2016 season, after Taylor Bern prevailed in 2014-2015. Bern stepped away in the middle of the 2016-2017 season with a 16-12 record and $13,317 bankroll, with Mike Grimala taking his place.

USC minus-4.5 at Arizona State, $330 to win $300:

A couple weeks ago USC was on a five-game winning streak that included an impressive upset over UCLA. The Trojans were 21-4 and seen as one of the hottest teams in the country.

Since then the Trojans have gone ice cold, losing three straight by a combined 54 points. USC was bludgeoned during its toughest stretch of the schedule, facing No. 5 Oregon, No. 6 UCLA and No. 4 Arizona in succession. But now USC gets a break, and I think they will take advantage of it as they travel to Arizona State tonight. The Sun Devils are a giant step down in competition from the Trojans’ past three foes.

Picking a road underdog doesn’t worry me in this case. The Sun Devils actually have been better against the spread on the road than they’ve been at home, and USC is a respectable 6-4 on the road overall and 5-5 against the spread this season.

The Trojans’ sophomore big man Chimezie Metu has been on fire lately, scoring double figures in 12 of his past 13 games, and is fresh off of a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds against No. 4 Arizona. The Sun Devils are tied for 311th in the country in rebounding and won’t have the size to stop Metu.

Despite the losing streak, I’m willing to lay the 4.5 points with the Trojans tonight.

Current Standings: Keefer (38-29-2, $10,501), Grimala (5-5, $10,000), Brewer (24-25-1, $7,925), Granger (10-12-1, $7,820)

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