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Providence heads to Chicago on Saturday night for a Big East matchup with DePaul at Wintrust Arena, and the market is giving the Blue Demons a small home-favorite edge. DePaul is laying 2.5, which fits the surface-level profile. The Blue Demons have been strong at home at 12-5, while Providence has struggled away from home at 2-8. Still, this isn’t a simple “home team” handicap, because Providence’s offensive profile is much stronger than its record suggests, and short spreads like this often get decided by shot quality and late-game execution rather than overall win-loss. This matchup also carries an interesting game-script split. DePaul’s best path is to make this a controlled, defensive game where it can win possessions and avoid

Wyoming heads to Phoenix on Saturday night for a Mountain West matchup against Grand Canyon at GCU Arena, and the Antelopes are priced as a solid home favorite. The number sits at -8, which is a meaningful spread because it asks Grand Canyon not only to win at home, but to create separation against a Wyoming team that has enough offense to trade possessions and keep a backdoor cover in play. That’s the first decision point. If you think Grand Canyon can control the game state, get to the line, and force Wyoming into tougher halfcourt possessions, the favorite becomes attractive. If you think Wyoming’s perimeter shooting and scoring balance shows up, +8 can stay live for most of the

Illinois heads to Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night for a Big Ten matchup with UCLA, and this is the kind of spot where the number is built on two competing truths. Illinois has been the better team all season and it has traveled like one, sitting at 9-2 on the road with a top-10 ranking and a profile that supports it laying points. UCLA, however, has been elite at home at 14-2, and Pauley Pavilion has consistently been a place where opponents get dragged into tougher possessions and more stressful finishes. That’s why this spread at -6.5 is meaningful. It implies Illinois is still expected to win with margin in one of the conference’s tougher road environments. The total at

New Mexico heads to Fresno on Saturday night for a Mountain West conference matchup at the Save Mart Center, and the Lobos are priced as a clear road favorite. Laying 8.5 away from home is always a statement number in league play, but New Mexico’s season profile explains it. The Lobos have been the more consistent team, they’ve built a record that reflects both ceiling and stability, and they’ve shown they can score in bunches when the tempo opens up. Fresno State, meanwhile, has been far more comfortable at home than on the road, and its best chance is to turn this into a physical, possession-by-possession game where the favorite has to execute for 40 minutes. The total is also