Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons

Creighton -4

For a number of different reasons I believe we're getting excellent value on Creighton in this situation:

Drake defeated Southern Illinois 70-65 on Saturday night; Kevin Dillard scored 19 points and Carlton Fay and Tony Freeman had 13 apiece for the Salukis (9-5, 2-3), who lost their third in a row; expect another "letdown" this evening.

Keep in mind that Southern Illinois is a sub-par 2-5 ATS its last seven overall and just 2-5 ATS its last seven on the road.

On the other side of the court: The Bluejays are more likely to finish in the bottom half of the MVC than they are to defend their co-championship. The Jan. 9 loss at Wichita State provided more evidence. The Shockers jumped out to a 20-8 lead and Creighton never got closer than 11 points; that being said, they have an excellent opportunity to improve their play on both sides of the ball tonight against a reeling Salukis squad.

Not only is Creighton 4-1 SU its last five at home, its also 4-1 SU its last five vs. Southern Illinois.

Bottom line: The Bluejays have the matchup advantage in this one; look for CREIGHTON to improve to 4-3 ATS when playing the roll of favorite and for Southern Illinois to move to 0-3 ATS this year when playing the roll of underdog!

7* CREIGHTON