2-1 yesterday in local games with winners in Manhattan and Columbia and a big loser in Seton Hall.
Three Ivy teams on the board on Friday:
Brown at home vs. Rhode Island
Cornell vs James Madison in Richmond
Harvard at California
My best bet is:
James Madison -12.5
Cornell is bad. They're a very young team, 0-5 on the road, shooting only 35% from the field. I haven't seen them play with the addition of freshman 6-8 F Gabe Stephenson who joined them in their last game vs Lehigh (he had a double/double: 11 points/11 rebounds) after coming back from a broken foot. But the fact that a freshman can lead the team in rebounds in his first collegiate game says it all. The Big Red's center Vandenberg has had surgery and is out for the reason.
James Madison is a decent team. They beat West Virginia by 16, they're coming off of a 85-69 win at Penn State and a 84-66 beating of Morgan State at home.
This game is part of the Spider Invitational and is being played at Richmond, certainly more of a home game for JMU than Cornell.
James Madison should dominate Cornell on the glass (JMU is averaging 40 boards a game vs 30 for Cornell) and the Dukes should win this one by 20+.
FWIW, Brown returns all five starters from last years team which finished #2 in the Ivy but they haven't shown much so far this year. IMO nine points is a lot to ask them to cover. Don't expect more than 500 fans at Pizzitola Center for this one!
Harvard is not that strong this year, with the cross-country travel and playing at California the line of 20 is probably about right.
Three Ivy teams on the board on Friday:
Brown at home vs. Rhode Island
Cornell vs James Madison in Richmond
Harvard at California
My best bet is:
James Madison -12.5
Cornell is bad. They're a very young team, 0-5 on the road, shooting only 35% from the field. I haven't seen them play with the addition of freshman 6-8 F Gabe Stephenson who joined them in their last game vs Lehigh (he had a double/double: 11 points/11 rebounds) after coming back from a broken foot. But the fact that a freshman can lead the team in rebounds in his first collegiate game says it all. The Big Red's center Vandenberg has had surgery and is out for the reason.
James Madison is a decent team. They beat West Virginia by 16, they're coming off of a 85-69 win at Penn State and a 84-66 beating of Morgan State at home.
This game is part of the Spider Invitational and is being played at Richmond, certainly more of a home game for JMU than Cornell.
James Madison should dominate Cornell on the glass (JMU is averaging 40 boards a game vs 30 for Cornell) and the Dukes should win this one by 20+.
FWIW, Brown returns all five starters from last years team which finished #2 in the Ivy but they haven't shown much so far this year. IMO nine points is a lot to ask them to cover. Don't expect more than 500 fans at Pizzitola Center for this one!
Harvard is not that strong this year, with the cross-country travel and playing at California the line of 20 is probably about right.
