*3 Star Play Under* The UC Riverside Highlanders decided in the offseason to put the focus on defense. David Patrick's team had always played slowly and looked to win low scoring games, but they were never as good defensively as they are this season. The Highlanders rank 121st in the country in effective field goal percentage defense. Last year, they ranked 326th. 

Cal Poly has a new coach in John Smith. He also wanted his team to work on defense since they were dreadful on defense last season. Cal Poly has been good in the conference so far on defense. In fact, they rank second in Big West action in defensive efficiency. 

Cal Poly is 256th out of 353 in the country in average possession length, so they play slowly. UC Riverside is 348th out of 353, so they are stalling in a big way.

These two teams rank 296th and 340th in offensive efficiency. With a very slow pace and two improved defenses, I expect a very low scoring game.

Take the under. 

*4 Star Play Under* The Utah Utes have dramatic splits against man defense compared to zone defense. The Utes are far better against man defense. Utah scored only 53 and 45 points in their two games against Washington last year. Utah easily ranked first in the Pac 12 in offensive efficiency a year ago, but they couldn't solve the Washington matchup zone. Utah is weaker offensively this year, and they are slightly better on defense than a year ago.

Washington has slowed their pace down a lot without Quade Green running the show in their last few games. In fact, Washington's games have finished with 112, 116, 119, 120, and 125 points in the five games without Green in the backcourt. Two of those games went into overtime, and they were still that low scoring. 

Washington's defense is excellent, but their offense has been a mess much of the year. Green was a facilitator for this team, but he is out of the lineup now. 

I made this number several points lower.

Take the under. 

*3 Star Play Over* The Hampton Pirates offense struggled earlier this year. Why? They were without superstar Jermaine Marrow. With Marrow back in the fold, this Hampton team is pushing the pace much more and they have a lot of scoring capability. Hampton's games have finished with 177 points, 156 points, 163 points, 211 points, and 174 points since Marrow has been back on the floor. 

Campbell is playing a couple possessions per game faster in conference action than they did in non-conference play. The Fighting Camels main problem on offense is turnovers, but Hampton doesn't force many of those.

Hampton ranks 346th out of 353 teams in the country in defensive efficiency. The Pirates have allowed at least 80 points in each of their last five games. 

Campbell and Hampton both rank among the worst teams in the country in fouls committed on defense. A quick pace and plenty of free throws here.

Take the over. 

*3 Star Play Over* The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles couldn't score in the non-conference schedule. They played very slowly because they were up against teams that just had too much talent for them. The Golden Eagles are now in OVC play and playing against much weaker teams. They have decided to pick up their pace a lot. 

Tennessee Tech has seen 9 of their last 10 games go over this posted total. The lone game that stayed under this number was 133 points. 

Morehead State is due for some positive regression on offense. The Eagles shot 33.6% from 3 point range a year ago, but they are only at 27.7% this season. Morehead State has gone over this total in 8 of their last 9 games. 

These teams played earlier this month and the final was 83-72. Neither team much defense at all, and this is a low total.

Take the over.