Santa delivered

Thanks to a missed free throw by Mac Koshwal in the closing seconds of the DePaul-Pitt contest, we picked up 7 Units. Then, Nevada took care of Portland on its home floor to give us a clean sweep last night. We look to build on that Tuesday with 18 Units worth of plays:

Marquette at West Virginia (-12)
The Golden Eagles handed the Mountaineers their worst loss last season, a 75-53 loss at the Bradley Center. But a lot has changed since that game in Jan. of 2009 as MU lost its top three scorers and West Virginia blossomed into the No. 6 team in the nation.
Bob Huggins has moved sophomore Devin Ebanks to the point in the last couple of games, and though it took some getting used to, the 6-9 stud has taken well to the role, posting 22 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists in WVU's last game against Seton Hall. He will be a matchup nightmare for Marquette, whose starting backcourt totals about 12 feet in height.
Huggins took exception to Marquette running up the score last season, and rest assured he hasn't forgotten. This year he has the talent edge and WVU's length and aggressive defense should force Marquette into some turnovers and lead to fast break points for the Mountaineers.
West Virginia will be playing hard all 40 minutes in this one, and will run away in the second half. Take the Mountaineers for 4 Units.

Purdue at Iowa O/U 131
These two teams open Big Ten play at opposite ends of the college basketball spectrum. The Boilermakers enter with an 11-0 record, while the Hawkeyes stumble in at 5-7.
Purdue prides itself on solid defense, having held opponents to under 40 percent shooting this season. Iowa has held opponents to 41 percent shooting at Carver-Hawkeyes Arena, and the only way the Hawkeyes will be able to keep this one close is by playing solid defense.
The Boilermakers have a lot of options on offense, but they know that the way to get a win on the road is by bringing it defensively. They have held opponents in road/neutral games to 43 percent or worse shooting so far this season.
Look for that to continue against a Hawkeye team whose second-leading scorer, Anthony Tucker, was handed an indefinite suspension last week.
Take the under for 4 Units.

Pacific at Oklahoma State (-10.5)
After an embarrassing loss to Tulsa on Dec. 2, the Cowboys have won four straight. James Anderson has been scorching the nets for OSU, and Pacific has allowed opponents to shoot 37 percent from 3-point range, and 47 percent from distance in road games.
Pacific is 1-3 on the road, which includes losses to San Jose State and Santa Clara.
The Cowboys have turned things around after the Tulsa loss and should cover the number here. Take OSU for 2 Units.

Syracuse (-3.5) at Seton Hall
Both of these teams have the ability to score in bunches, and this contest should be entertaining. The Pirates had a great opportunity to knock off West Virginia on Saturday, but came up short in overtime. Now they host the No. 5 team in the nation that seems to be clicking on all cylinders.
The Orange has a bevy of weapons and has used them all to average 88 points per game. They've also done it with defense, holding opponents to 62 ppg.
The Hall has talent of its own, but may have expended too much energy in that loss to WVU to turn around and compete with a Syracuse team that likes to run only three days later.
Seton Hall may stick around for the first 30 minutes, but look for them to run out of gas down the stretch. Take Syracuse for 3 Units.

Penn State at Minnesota (-11.5) O/U 133
It seems like every year Vegas forgets just what Big Ten basketball is like, and the over/unders are always inflated. This one is no different as Penn State and Minnesota both play hard-nosed defense, holding opponents to 60 points per game or less and 40 percent shooting or less.
Neither team really tends to get out in transition very often. Penn State ranks 296th in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted pace, and will look to slow this game down.
Although Minnesota averages 80 points per game, the Gophers have been held in check against similar opponents to PSU. Take the Nittany Lions for 2 Units and the under for 3 Units.