NIT:
Indiana State -3 vs. Cincinnati
Non-conference or post season my angle still applies, I love the little school hosting the big school. I found a couple singles in Section 200, 3 singles in Section 218. If you wanted to sit together you would need to hit the secondary market. The Hulman Center will be packed to the rafters on Tuesday. Sycamores rank 18th on offense, Cincinnati ranks 15th on defense. This is strength on strength but the home court edge tips the scale for me.
Georgia +8.5 @ Ohio State
The Buckeyes are playing some good basketball, 8-2 over the last 10 including wins over Purdue, Michigan State, and Nebraska. Buckeyes beat Virginia Tech on Saturday shooting just 39.3% from the floor. Georgia has been impressive so far in the NIT, beat Xavier by 2 at home, upset Wake Forest by 6 on the road. Fear some regression might be coming from beyond the arc since the Bulldogs went 14/27 against Wake but I'll going to look past that since they went only 8/24 inside the arc. Bulldogs are 5-6 on the road this year with wins at Florida State & South Carolina. OT loss at Florida, 3-point loss at Arkansas, 1-point loss at LSU. I think they will keep this one interesting; I'll grab the 8.5.
CBI in Orlando:
High Point -2.5 vs. Arkansas State
No rust yesterday for High Point, Panthers now have the 33rd ranked offense in the county after shooting 53.8% in the 93-74 win over Cleveland State. I wasn't sure how they would respond but they answered the bell and then some. Both teams have similar numbers on defense, ranking 255th & 256th in the country. Unlike Cleveland State, Arkansas State has the offense to compete with the Red Wolves ranking 60th in the country. Arkansas State killed Montana on the offensive glass with 22 rebounds, they rank 30th in the country. Good news for me, High Point ranks 10th on the offensive boards and 50th on the defensive glass. The ability to take away the Red Wolves strength gives the Panthers the edge plus it will be 3 games in 4 days for Arkansas State. I'll lay the points.
Fairfield +6 vs. Seattle U
Both teams beat me yesterday. Seattle was down 6 at home before outscoring Evansville by 20 in the 2H. Fairfield was up 12 before hanging on for the 3-point win over Chicago State. Stags shot 57.7% in that game but got hurt on the boards. Good news, Seattle isn't as good as Chicago State typically on the offensive glass. Seattle has a good D ranking 64th, MAAC conference play should have Fairfield ready since Marist and Saint Peter's both have Top 100 D's and the Stags went 4-2 against those two teams this year. I think Fairfield will have enough offense to keep it interesting.
