Butler Bulldogs at Valparaiso Crusaders Betting Odds

Opening Line: Butler -9 / Valparaiso +9 O/U 144

Time: 9 PM EST Friday February 26, 2010 on ESPNU

Tonight in a Horizon League match up the Valparaiso Crusaders host the 10th ranked Butler Bulldogs. Butler will make the Big Dance, but they may have to win out and win the Horizon League tournament to get, at least, a #2 seed. Valpo will not be going to the NCAA tournament unless they can win the conference tournament, but if they can beat Butler and the end the season well they should get a bid to the NIT.

This season Valparaiso is 9-2 at home and is 16-9-1 ATS and Butler is 11-1 on the road and 12-17 ATS.

Both teams played their last game last Thursday and while Butler beat Siena 70-53 while Butler lost to Bowling Green 87-70.

Butler is on the nation's longest winning streak, as they have won 17 straight and they have yet to lose in Horizon League play.

Butler has won 8 straight games against Valparaiso.

Valpo does have a well-balanced offense with 2 guards and a forward averaging in double figures, but they have to find out a way to score on a great Butler defense that is only giving up an average of 60.3 ppg.

Butler has held 9 of their last 11 opponents to below 40% shooting.

Crusaders leading scorer Brandon Wood (17.9 ppg) is the leading scorer in the Horizon League, but in the first game against Butler in the beginning of December he only had 7 points before fouling out. Wood has to have a good game tonight or the Crusaders are in trouble.

Butler has a solid offense averaging 70 ppg and, much like Valpo, they are well balanced with a G/F, G, and 2 forwards averaging in double figures. The Bulldogs are led by leading scorer G/F Gordon Hayward (15.8 ppg).

The Crusaders have to rebound well as a team tonight and they have to hold onto the rock, as in their last game they committed 18 turnovers. For the season they are averaging 14 turnovers a game and they cannot afford to give the ball up to Butler tonight.

Valparaiso is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games, 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games, and has an Over record of 5-0-1 in their last 6 home games.

Butler is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games as a road favorite of 7.0-12.5, 1-8 ATS in their last 9 games following a ATS win, and has an Over record of 4-1 in their last 5 road games.

In the last 5 games between these 2 teams the total has gone Under 5 times and Butler is 1-3-1 ATS.

Our Selection : The Bulldogs will be looking to go undefeated in Horizon league play for this season, so we don't expect a big let down for this game. They'll be facing a Valparaiso team that leads the league in scoring(73.1 points) and has the best shooting percentage (47.2) so scoring shouldn't be at a premium. These two battled it out in December with Butler garnering an easy victory at home 84-67. The Crusaders have been in 10 straight games where the total has surpassed the posted line of 143 at Sportsbook.com and we think that we'll see that again tonight. Take over 143 points.