College Basketball betting trends, odds and predictions for Sunday, November 19th, 2017 from various handicappers and websites
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South Carolina hammered Western Michigan 78-60 at home six days ago; Broncos made only 5-21 on arc. Gamecocks won three of their first four games, with all three wins by 18+ points, and only loss 69-65 to Illinois State, when Redbirds were 28-39 on foul line (Carolina was 20-30). Carolina is retooling after a Final Four run LY’ they’re starting a freshman/sophomore. Western is 1-2 vs D-I teams, beating Appalachian State by 19 Friday after losing by 7 to Tulsa. Broncos start three juniors and a senior.
Boise State is already 4-0; they were down 9 to UTEP with 3:23 Thursday, but rallied to win, then they spanked Illinois State by 18 Friday, making 12-27 on arc. Broncos start three seniors, one junior; they’ve made 40% of their 3’s so far this month- their opponents have made only 24.7% of theirs. Iowa State is in a rebuild after four starters graduated LY. Cyclones’ PG Babb played all 40:00 Thursday/Friday, in wins over App State by 6, Tulsa by 2- they were up 16 on Tulsa with 10:03 left Friday, then hung on for dear life.
Auburn won two of first three games despite being without two key players being held out of games because of NCAA issues; Temple shot 57% inside are vs Auburn in Owls’ 88-74 win on Friday- Auburn was up 2 with 10:00 left. Tigers start two sophs, three juniors. Hofstra was 3-0 with a win over Dayton before they lost 78-59 to Clemson Friday. Pride start two juniors, two seniors- they aren’t deep- two guys played 39:00 Friday. Hofstra doesn’t force lot of turnovers, but teams are shooting only 28.3% on arc against them.
Clemson is 4-0, scoring 78+ points in all four games; Tigers beat Ohio by 5, Hofstra by 19 in first two games here. Clemson is shooting 57% inside arc, 78% on foul line; they start three juniors, two seniors. Temple scored 82 ppg in beating Old Dominion by 11, Auburn by 14- those are only two games Owls have played so far. Temple has made 44% of its 3’s so far- they start two juniors, two seniors- four of their guys played 34:00+ on Friday, when they outscored 34-18 over last 10:00 of a 14-point win.
USC scored 79.5 ppg in beating Fullerton/North Dakota State fairly easily to start season; USC is not at full strength yet, with a guy being withheld because of NCAA issues. Trojans have forced turnovers 25.3% of time so far; they’ve started two juniors, two seniors so far. Vanderbilt will be a step up in class for USC; Commodores lost 69-60 at Belmont, a crosstown game; they’re 2-1, with wins by 19 over Austin Peay, 3 over NC-Asheville. Vandy is starting two frosh, three seniors- they’ve turned ball over 21% of time so far this season.
Vermont is 2-1 with a 73-69 loss at Kentucky, which is more impressive than wins over Bradley, Coastal Carolina. Catamounts played three guys 31:00+ yesterday; they start two sophs, and two seniors. Vermont was 10-21 on arc Saturday as they pulled away from Coastal late in game. Northern Kentucky is 3-0 vs D-I teams, scoring 84.3 ppg in wins by 18-9-13 points over James Madison, Iona, East Tennessee. Norse has forced turnovers on 24% of possessions this month, but are shooting only 29.1% on arc.
Boston College beat three stiffs (all outside top 300) before losing 75-64 to Texas Tech yesterday, in a brickiest where two teams combined to go 7-35 on arc; Eagles start two sophs, two juniors- they used three guys 35:00+ vs Tech. LaSalle lost to Northwestern 82-74, when Wildcats made 12-21 on arc. Explorers played three guys 32:00+ yesterday- they start three seniors and a junior. Both teams have played slow pace so far; teams have shot 40.9% on arc against LaSalle this season.
Northwestern is 3-1 this year, with only loss a 92-88 defenseless home game vs Creighton earlier this week. Wildcats made 12-21 on arc in 82-74 win over LaSalle yesterday- they used three guys 33:00+ Saturday, got to foul line only 6 times the whole game. Texas Tech starts five seniors; three of their five subs are freshmen. Red Raiders are 3-0 with 11-point win over BC and coupe wins over stiffs. Tech is forcing turnovers 27.7% of time; their eFG% defense is 6th in country. Northwestern starts two juniors, three seniors; lot of experience on the floor.
Wake Forest is off to terrible 1-3 start, with two losses to teams outside top 150; Deacons beat Quinnipiac yesterday, when they made 10-24 on arc. Wake starts two juniors, three seniors; only two of their guys played more than 27:00 yesterday. Houston was upset by Drexel Friday but beat host Liberty yesterday, despite making only 6-24 on arc. Cougars played nine guys double digit minutes; only two guys played more than 29:00- they start three seniors, two juniors. Both teams are playing for third day in a row.
Florida State won its first two games by 20-24 points, forcing turnovers 29.1% of time, but both opponents are borderline stiffs. Seminoles started three juniors and a senior Friday- they played ton of kids double digit minutes Friday. Colorado State beat couple of stiffs to start season, then got whacked 80-53 by Tulane Friday; Rams are in a rebuild, starting two sophs, three seniors- they were down 37-14 at halftime in last game. Colorado State made only 15-57 on arc in their first three games.
Niagara upset rival St Bonaventure to start its season, then lost last game by 26 at Minnesota; Purple Eagles were outscored 36-10 in last 10:00 against the Gophers. Niagara starts three juniors, two seniors. UMass struggled to beat Mass-Lowell by 5 in its opener, then lost in OT to Harvard last game; Minutemen start two sophs, two juniors- they haven’t played in a week. UMass is just 6-27 on arc in its first two games. Niagara’s last winning season was five years ago, when Mihalich was the coach.
Virginia is 3-0, but this is quick turnaround for them after their tough 76-67 win at VCU Friday night. Cavaliers beat couple of stiffs in their first two games by 12-44 points; they’ve forced turnovers 26.3% of time, are shooting 60% inside the arc while playing slowest tempo in whole country. Monmouth is a gritty underdog; they lost by 10 at Seton Hall, their only loss in three games. Hawks start three juniors and a senior after going 55-15 the last two years. Cavaliers are off to NYC for a holiday tournament after this game.
Nebraska beat couple of stiffs to start season, then got whacked 79-56 at St John’s Thursday; they’ve made only 27% of their 3’s so far, have the #325 (out of 351) eFG% in country. Huskers start three juniors and a senior; they played in NYC Thursday. North Dakota went 2-1 in Hawaii tournament that ended Monday; Hawks beat Troy/Pine Bluff, lost to the host Rainbows by 3. UND start three juniors and a senior- they got to line 38 times (31-38) in last game. Crandall is an explosive scorer for North Dakota (41 pts in first game, 20-21 in next two).
Armadillosports.com
Vanderbilt hosts USC
StatFox.com
Vanderbilt will be hoping for an early boost to their tournament resume with a home victory over #10 USC on Sunday.
USC and Vanderbilt will be meeting in one of the more high profile matchups of the weekend on Sunday. The Trojans are the main draw here, as head coach Andy Enfield is now in charge of the most talented team he’s ever had. Enfield did some of his best work for Florida Gulf Coast University, but he has completely turned around this USC program in just a few years now. The Trojans went 11-21 in his first year with the team, but they were 21-13 in 2015-16 and then went 26-10 last year. They were eliminated in the Round of 32 a year ago, but this team is definitely thinking Final Four or bust this year. The Trojans have a ton of good players and now is the time for them to put it all together. As for Vanderbilt, things are a bit different this year. The Commodores are retooling a bit right now, but that doesn’t mean that this team isn’t thinking about making it to the tourney. Expectations are higher with head coach Bryce Drew in town, and the fans in Nashville aren’t going to accept a lousy season.
The Trojans are hoping to have a special season and they really do have the talent to make sure that happens. Two guys that stand out more than others are F Bennie Boatwright and G Jordan McLaughlin. Both guys are gifted scorers and they can each shoot the ball extremely well. Look for both of them to space the floor in this one, and don’t be surprised if Boatwright really goes off here. The Commodores have struggled defensively at times this season, so Boatwright’s ability to get buckets should shine in a game like this. On the inside, F Chimezie Metu will do his work on both ends of the floor. Metu is a guy that can finish around the rim, but he can also protect it on defense. He’ll make sure that nothing comes easy for Vanderbilt in this one, but he must avoid foul trouble. That hasn’t necessarily been an issue for him in the past, but it’s just crucial that he is able to stay on the floor. It’s worth noting that Metu is trying to expand his range to the three-point line. He has had some success with that already, but it’s probably not a shot that USC wants him taking very often. As for other players to keep an eye on, Gs Elijah Stewart, Jonah Bolden and Derryck Thornton are all very good at what they do. Each of them can have an impact in this one, so don’t be surprised if any of the three changes this game.
Vanderbilt lost a lot of its best players from last season, but the team still has some familiar talent on campus. The three most recognizable names on this roster would definitely be F Jeff Roberson, G Riley LaChance and G Matthew Fisher-Davis. All of these players played a huge role on last year’s team and they’ll need to be even better this year. Roberson is a guy that scores from inside and out, and he is very active on both ends of the floor. He’ll likely be tasked with stopping Boatwright in this game, so it’s important that he is ready for a battle here. LaChance, meanwhile, is a tough, savvy guard. He is capable of hitting the outside shot, but he can also drive the ball to the hole. He’ll need to be on his game on Sunday, too. The Trojans have some serious talent in their backcourt, so Vanderbilt will need everything that LaChance has to offer. Fisher-Davis, meanwhile, is a sniper from the outside. The senior has hit more than two threes per game in every one of his years with Vanderbilt. He averaged 13.9 PPG last year and the Commodores will likely need him to average even more this season.