Play of the Day record now: 11-8-2 (58%)
Rider couldn't hit a three yesterday and therefore couldn't pull away from lowly St. Peter's. My record is going downhill fast, so I need a winner tonight and I think I found one:
St Joe's -1.5
I had originally posted Western Carolina, but a few new facts have surfaced which scared me off that game. Sorry.
I look for the Hawks to show it off tonight in a nationally televised game on the deuce over Villanova. St. Joe's is a more talented team and the Wildcats have been struggling a bit of late. This should be a close game with Villanova's tendency to turn the ball over being the difference in the end.
After winning five games in a row (all conference games), St. Joe's is starting to live up to its expectations. The backcourt of Marvin O'Connor and Jameer Nelson is one of the best in the nation.
But Penn snapped the win streak at 5 last Saturday night 62-60 at The Palestra.
Na'im Crenshaw was his usual terrible self at the Palestra, shooting 1-10 from the field and missing the first half of a 1 and 1 with two seconds left. He needs a shrink not a shooting coach as he's normally a 70% FT shooter but only hits 53% at the Palestra.
St. Joe's top rebounder 6-7 Bill Phillips (11ppg, 7 rpg) was scoreless and didn't play well as he was recovering from the flu.
If you take out O'Conner's 11 of 21, the Hawks hit just 11-40 (27.5%) from the field vs their season average of 47%.
Meanwhile Villanova was getting slammed at Miami, down 27-3 at the ten minute mark of the first half.
Villanova is good rebounding team and they can shoot but they can't hold on to the basketball.
In Saturday's game the Wildcats committed 26 turnovers, six more than season average of 19.9 per game. Conversely, St. Joe's only commits an average of 13 to's per game.
The Wildats also shot only 33% from the field including 17% from the arc.
Villanova's Reggie Bryant is part of the problem. Bryant was averaging 10.3 ppg in early January but has only scored 3.8 ppg in his L5. He sat out the Bucknell game and the first half of the game vs Miami due to "minor violations of team rules". Sounds like trouble is brewing.
While this is not a conference game, it is the last chance for St. Joe's Marvin O'Connor to get a win over his former team as 'Nova has won the last four meetings dating back to 1996.
Villanova may also be looking ahead to Virginia Tech on Wednesday night, a team they just beat by two on the road, and a must win for them to stay alive in the Big East.
St. Joe's doesn't play again until Thursday when they visit lowly Rhode Island and the Hawks have a comfortable lead in the Atl East at 6-0 over #2 Fordham at 4-3.
St. Joe's is a nice 4-1 ATS on the road while Villanova is 2-4 ATS at home.
Rider couldn't hit a three yesterday and therefore couldn't pull away from lowly St. Peter's. My record is going downhill fast, so I need a winner tonight and I think I found one:
St Joe's -1.5
I had originally posted Western Carolina, but a few new facts have surfaced which scared me off that game. Sorry.
I look for the Hawks to show it off tonight in a nationally televised game on the deuce over Villanova. St. Joe's is a more talented team and the Wildcats have been struggling a bit of late. This should be a close game with Villanova's tendency to turn the ball over being the difference in the end.
After winning five games in a row (all conference games), St. Joe's is starting to live up to its expectations. The backcourt of Marvin O'Connor and Jameer Nelson is one of the best in the nation.
But Penn snapped the win streak at 5 last Saturday night 62-60 at The Palestra.
Na'im Crenshaw was his usual terrible self at the Palestra, shooting 1-10 from the field and missing the first half of a 1 and 1 with two seconds left. He needs a shrink not a shooting coach as he's normally a 70% FT shooter but only hits 53% at the Palestra.
St. Joe's top rebounder 6-7 Bill Phillips (11ppg, 7 rpg) was scoreless and didn't play well as he was recovering from the flu.
If you take out O'Conner's 11 of 21, the Hawks hit just 11-40 (27.5%) from the field vs their season average of 47%.
Meanwhile Villanova was getting slammed at Miami, down 27-3 at the ten minute mark of the first half.
Villanova is good rebounding team and they can shoot but they can't hold on to the basketball.
In Saturday's game the Wildcats committed 26 turnovers, six more than season average of 19.9 per game. Conversely, St. Joe's only commits an average of 13 to's per game.
The Wildats also shot only 33% from the field including 17% from the arc.
Villanova's Reggie Bryant is part of the problem. Bryant was averaging 10.3 ppg in early January but has only scored 3.8 ppg in his L5. He sat out the Bucknell game and the first half of the game vs Miami due to "minor violations of team rules". Sounds like trouble is brewing.
While this is not a conference game, it is the last chance for St. Joe's Marvin O'Connor to get a win over his former team as 'Nova has won the last four meetings dating back to 1996.
Villanova may also be looking ahead to Virginia Tech on Wednesday night, a team they just beat by two on the road, and a must win for them to stay alive in the Big East.
St. Joe's doesn't play again until Thursday when they visit lowly Rhode Island and the Hawks have a comfortable lead in the Atl East at 6-0 over #2 Fordham at 4-3.
St. Joe's is a nice 4-1 ATS on the road while Villanova is 2-4 ATS at home.
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