NCAAB Preview
UConn made 21-40 3's in winning its first two games, beating Maryland by 1, Yale by 18; Huskies have five starters back from LY's 20-10 team that couldn't play in postseason. Detroit shot 29% in 74-58 loss Friday at South Alabama; Titans lost four starters from LY's 20-13 NIT team. Horizon road underdogs are 4-5 vs spread. AAC home favorites are 5-4.
Boston College allowed 84 ppg in losing first two games, to Providence in OT, to UMass at home by 13; Eagles allowed 32 offensive rebounds in two games. Toledo has four starters back from 15-13/10-6 team; they beat a stiff team by 47 in opener. ACC home favorites are 4-7 vs spread this month. MAC road underdogs are 6-4 against the spread.
Temple split its first two games, winning by 5 at Penn, losing at home to Kent State by 4; Owls are shooting 25.6% behind arc. Temple lost four starters from LY. Towson State beat couple stiffs by 37-20 points; they have four starters back from 18-13/13-5 team- this is team that was 1-31 two years ago. CAA road underdogs are 4-4; AAC home faves are 5-4.
Rutgers split its first two games under Jordan, losing 79-76 at UAB last game when Blazers had 22 offensive boards and went 23-34 on foul line. Knights had only 3 turnovers in that game. Yale lost by 18 at UConn, as Huskies hit 11-17 behind arc. Bulldogs have four starters back from LYs 14-17 team. Ivy League underdogs are 3-2; AAC home faves are 5-4.
UAB beat Troy the last five years by average of 18 points, with 12 the closest of the five; Trojans lost opener 69-54 at Ole Miss team playing without star guard Henderson. UAB had 22 offensive boards in its win (79-76) over Rutgers, but forced only three turnovers; Blazers have four starters back from 16-17 team. Sun Belt road dogs are 2-4 vs spread.
Alabama shot 58% inside arc in 66-62 win at Texas Tech LY, hanging on to 20-point lead with 12:04 left; Tide did have 20 turnovers (-6). Bama lost its opener 82-73 to Oklahoma in Dallas after leading 26-10 8:11 into game. Tech is 2-0, beating couple of stiffs by 15-20 points; they shot only 63% from line. SEC non-conference home faves are 3-2 vs spread.
LMU won its first two games on neutral court by 3-9 points, scoring an average of 88 ppg; Lions lost 73-70 to Long Beach LY, despite making 13-25 from arc- they won previous two series games, both in OT. Long Beach got whacked by 34 at Arizona; rebuilding 49ers overscheduled as usual. Big West teams are 4-10 against the spread so far this month.
Arizona nipped San Diego State 68-67 in title game of Hawai'i tourney last Christmas, forcing 16 turnovers (+8); Wildcats lost previous two games with Aztecs, who lost three starters from LY. Arizona won first two games over Big West teams by 11-34 points; now they're moving up in class. Pac-12 favorites are 7-6 against spread this month.
Stanford split first two games, beating decent Bucknell team by 4, then getting run off its home floor 112-103 by BYU Monday; Cardinal won 70-68 at Northwestern LY, after leading by 18 with 5:43 left in 1st half. Wildcats got Collins his first coaching win Friday; they made 10-21 on arc, got 25 from star Crawford. Big Dozen teams are 5-3 vs spread.
Washington lost starting F Jarreau 2:00 into opener, 88-78 win Sunday over Seattle; Huskies have three starters back from 18-16 team and are expected to be better this year. Cal-Irvine lost first two games, in OT to Fresno State, by 5 at Pacific; Anteaters are allowing 88 ppg- playing fast vs team with superior athletes is bad idea. Big West road dogs are 3-5.
Belmont split first two games, beating local rival Lipscomb by 4, then losing 69-61 at Richmond; Bruins made just 10-40 from arc so far. OVC road underdogs are 5-8 vs spread. Indiana State has four starters back from LY's 18-15 team; they beat Ball State 82-73 in its opener, making 9-16 from arc. MVC home favorites are 1-4 against spread this month.
South Dakota State won 68-67 at Montana in double OT LY, after it blew 6-point lead in first OT; Montana's star G Cherry played only 14 minutes for Griz; he's graduated now, and Montana isn't as good- they lost opener 84-58 at Minnesota. Jackrabbits lost twice in San Diego, by 4 to host Toreros, then by 9 to LMU, despite going 37-50 on the line.
St Mary's wore down good Akron team late Monday night, going 32-36 on foul line, beating Zips by 22; they also beat darn good La Tech team by 13. North Dakota State beat stiff in opener; they've got whole team back from LY's 24-10/12-4, but this is deep water for them, not having played a D-I team yet, while WCC's Gaels already have two good wins.
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