I apologize, I haven’t had too much time to write articles. Coaching youth basketball and handicapping, especially Saturday’s College Basketball slate takes a lot of time. I’ll try and get better at it here as football finishes up and before baseball gets into full swing. That being said we are cruising so far this season in College Hoops. Just shy of 20 Units of profit after a nice 10-3 weekend. We’re hoping to keep it rolling as we have three plays on the docket for tonight.
My Free play features the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (11-8 Overall, 4-0 NEC) traveling to Easton, Massachusetts to take on the Stonehill Skyhawks (7-12 Overall, 3-2 NEC). They will tip it off at 7:00 ET.
The SkyHawks dropped their last contest on Saturday at home vs Merrimack 59-47. Stonehill only managed to shoot 33.3 percent from the field and turned the ball over 18 times on their way to defeat. They are led in scoring on the season by Senior 6’6″ Forward Andrew Sims at 15.5 ppg. The Knights are winners of their last 5 contests, all by 8 points or more including an 88-80 victory over Central Connecticut St. on Saturday. The Knights feature four different players averaging in double digits on the offensive end and have been getting better on the offensive end in conference play.
Even with FDU having one of the worst defensive efficiency ratings in the country, they are still in a similar boat as Stonehill who only ranks around 60 spots ahead of them on defense. With both defenses being suspect and both teams leaning toward pushing tempo I think this one comes down to who takes care of the ball and who finishes on the offensive end. The FDU Knights rank at 138th in AdjO according to KenPom which is very good when your playing in the 32nd ranked conference in the land. (That’s dead last excluding independents) They also rank 50th in the country in Turnover% meaning they take care of the ball very well and on defense they are 53rd in the country in turning their opponents over. Stonehill on the other hand has had trouble taking care of the ball as they turn it over on 19.8% of their possessions. Couple that with the Skyhawks ranking 326th in AdjO, and you’ve got a recipe that leans toward the Knights being tough to stop when they have the rock and the Knights picking up some extra possessions along the way. These small conference games also seem to mean less when it comes to home court advantage, and FDU has actually been better on the road than at home while Stonehill has been worse statistically on their home floor. I’ve got this one at 78-71 for the Knights.
Fairleigh Dickinson +1 for 2 Units
