Thursday CBB Free play. My selection is on the 'over' between Arizona State and Washington at 11 pm et on Thursday.

This total has been climbing steadily since opening and it's the right move in my opinion as the game has 'track meet' potential. Arizona State has seen the 'over' cash in four straight games. In fact, the 'over' is 8-1-1 in the Sun Devils last 10 games overall. It's a similar story for Washington as the Huskies have seen each of their last four games go 'over' the total. Washington has allowed seven of its last nine opponents to knock down 28 or more field goals. That spells trouble as the Sun Devils are certainly capable of 'filling it up', having made good on 25, 31, 29, 33, 24, 22 and 25 field goals in their last seven contests. The question becomes whether the Huskies can contribute enough offensively to help this total along. I'm confident they can. They've been pushing the pace, hoisting up 59 or more field goal attempts in four of their last six games and just had a streak of three straight games knocking down 27 or more field goals snapped in a poor shooting performance against Utah (on the road) last time out. Arizona State isn't really stopping anyone defensively, yielding 27, 24, 25, 24, 26 and 28 made field goals over its last six contests. The first matchup between these two teams reached 138 total points earlier this month. I'm confident this one will finish considerably higher, noting that both teams shot poorly in that January 8th meeting but the pace was certainly there with Washington hoisting up 67 field goal attempts and Arizona State getting off 71. Take the over.

My selection is on the ‘over’ between Cleveland and Houston at 8:10 pm et on Thursday.

The Rockets were involved in a relatively low-scoring game against the Wizards last night. Regardless whether Donovan Mitchell is able to go for the Cavaliers (he re-injured his groin on Tuesday in New York) I still expect Cleveland to go off offensively in this one. The Rockets were fortunate the Wizards couldn’t make the most of their scoring opportunities last night or the result would have been far more lopsided. Houston allowed a whopping 98 field goal attempts in that contest. The Rockets have allowed four of their last five opponents to get off 91 or more field goal attempts. Meanwhile, Cleveland has hoisted up 87 or fewer FG attempts in four straight games. In spite of that it has knocked down 40 or more field goals in each of those four contests. Defensively, the Cavs are terrific but they do face a Rockets squad that has made good on 42 or more field goals in four of its last five games. I do think we see Cleveland suffer a bit of a letdown defensively here after going against Memphis, Golden State, Milwaukee and New York in consecutive games. Take the over (8*).

My selection is on the 'over' between Detroit and Montreal at 7:05 pm et on Thursday.

The Canadiens sat back and defended, waiting for the Bruins to make a mistake and perhaps open up a scoring opportunity on Tuesday night (they ended up with only 22 shots on goal). The strategy worked well for the first two periods but Montreal ultimately fell by a 4-2 score. Here, I expect the Habs to employ a different strategy against a Red Wings squad that checks in allowing 3.8 goals per game on the road this season. Detroit has been stuck in the mud offensively, scoring three goals or less in six straight games. I do see this as an excellent opportunity to break out against a Montreal team that gives up 3.7 goals per contest on home ice. Yes, the Habs are missing a number of key contributors up front, leaving them in tough offensively but as we saw against the Bruins, guys like Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach are more than capable of generating scoring chances and here, they'll have the benefit of facing a more beatable goaltender in Ville Husso (.897 save percentage in 11 road games this season) than they saw in standout Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman two nights ago. Take the over (8*).

My selection is on the 'over' between UCLA and USC at 9 pm et on Thursday.

The first meeting between these Los Angeles rivals resulted in a low-scoring 60-58 UCLA victory back on January 5th. I expect a higher-scoring affair in Thursday's rematch as we're dealing with a reasonably low total, largely due to the recent run of 'unders' both teams have been on. It's only a matter of time before the Bruins enjoy an offensive explosion in my opinion. I believe we might just see that 'slingshot' effect in this matchup on Thursday. Note that UCLA has gotten off 60 or more field goal attempts in three of its last four games. Here, it faces a vulnerable USC defense that has had little success (or interest) in slowing its opponents' pace, yielding 24 or more made field goals in four of its last six games and 58 or more field goal attempts in five straight contests. On the flip side, the Trojans can shoot. They've incredible knocked down 24 or more field goals in 11 straight games. The Bruins are one of the best defensive teams in the nation without question but here, against a revenge-minded Trojans squad, I expect them to have their hands full. Take the over (8*).

Thursday NHL Free play. My selection is on Winnipeg -1.5 goals over Buffalo at 8:05 pm et on Thursday.

The Sabres are rolling right now, winners of four games in a row, and have done nothing but impress on the road this season. With that being said, their season-long streak of avoiding a loss by two goals or more is six games (that coming during a season-high six-game winning streak in December) and they've now reached five. I believe they fall short on Thursday in Winnipeg and will lay the extra goal with the hometown Jets as we're being offered a generous return in my opinion. A home game against the Sabres might not usually warrant a great deal of attention but here, I'm confident the Jets will be up for it following a disappointing 2-3 road trip that ended with a thud on Tuesday night in Nashville (2-1 loss). Note that Winnipeg is an impressive 17-6 on home ice this season, outscoring opponents by an average margin of 1.1 goals. The Jets are 12-3 when coming off a loss against a division opponent over the last two seasons, as is the case here, outscoring foes by 1.5 goals on average in that spot. Take Winnipeg -1.5 goals.