Friday's Best NCAAB Bet
Iona Gaels at Fairfield Stags (-3.5, 130)
Late last month, this seemed like a matchup to determine which team would win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season title. But the Gaels have failed to hold up their end.
Iona (13-9, 7-4) has dropped three straight by a combined seven points – each game by no more than a bucket. Those setbacks to Loyola, Manhattan and Canisius have given the Stags a golden opportunity to take care of business at home.
And Fairfield (17-4, 10-1) doesn’t give away games at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard. Even though the facility is off campus, the Stags are 9-2 SU and ATS in their past 11 home games. They have won five straight overall and 15 of their past 16.
One of the biggest keys has been the play of stud freshman Maurice Barrow. In a blowout win over Canisius, he posted 14 points and 12 rebounds in a career-high 38 minutes for his third double-double.
"Mo has been the silent assassin," Fairfield coach Ed Cooley said. "Everybody else is getting a lot of the pub, but I know what I am getting exactly out of Mo Barrow every night. He's close to a double-double in just about every MAAC game."
The 11 busloads of Fairfield students scheduled to make the trip to Harbor Yard should get to see him do it again.
Pick: Fairfield
College Basketball Knowledge
Harvard won its last seven D-I games, with road wins at BC and George Washington; they're 4-0 in Ivy, with all wins by 9+ points. Princeton won four in row, nine of last 11 games vs Harvard, with last three wins all by exactly 3 points; Crimson lost last seven visits here, by 8-22-27-16-14-3-3 points. Ivy League home favorites of 7 or less points are 3-2.
Penn is 12-2 in last 14 games vs Dartmouth, winning six of last seven in this gym, with wins by 18-27-16-20-2-10 points. Quakers won first two Ivy League games, by 8-2 points- they have showdown with Harvard on Saturday, will they look past this? Dartmouth is 1-3 in Ivy, losing by 15-9-21 points. Double digit home favorites are 3-2 in Ivy League.
Cornell won eight of last ten games vs Yale, with home team 10-2 in last dozen series games; Big Red lost five of last seven visits here. Cornell is 2-13 in last 15 games, losing four Ivy League games by 4-4-7-21 points. Yale is 2-2 in Ivy, winning its only home game by 8 over Brown. Home favorites are 6-5 against the spread in Ivy League games.
Columbia won its last four games vs Brown, winning last two here by 6-11 points; Lions are 3-1 in Ivy (4-0 vs spread) with only loss at Harvard by 11- they're 2-0 as an Ivy favorite. Favorites are 8-6 vs spread in Ivy League, 2-1 on road. Brown is 0-4 in Ivy League, with three losses by 8 or less points- they're 1-2 as an Ivy League underdog.
Underdog is 10-1 vs spread in Siena's MAAC games; Saints are 0-4 as a home favorite, winning home games by 6-4-2 points, with losses to both Iona/Fairfield. Siena won six in row, 10 of last 11 games vs Manhattan, winning four in a row here, by 17-13-24-25 points. Double digit home favorites are 12-5. Manhattan covered three of its last four games; they won last game on 55-foot bank shot at buzzer at Marist.
Marist (+7.5) won 74-64 at Canisius Dec 5, its first win in last six games vs Griffins- they lost last three visits here by 9-26-15 points. Red Foxes are 2-3 as MAAC road underdog, losing its away games by 16-38-14-32 points. MAAC home favorites of more than 13 points are 3-5 vs spread. Canisius are 3-2 at home in MAAC, with wins by 1-2-15 points.
St Peter's (-10) beat Niagara 77-57 Jan 15; they've won last three series games, by 4-9-20 points, after going 1-10 in previosu 11 series contests. Peacocks are 2-5 in last sevenj visits here, winning by 3-9 pts. Niagara is 4-1 vs spread in last five games they're 3-1 as home dog, losing at home by 17-6-8. MAAC home dogs of 5 or less points are 5-6 vs spread.
Loyola won eight of its last ten games vs Rider, taking four of last five hin this gym; Greyhounds won five of last six games; they're 3-2 away from home in MAAC, losing by 18 at Iona, by 10 at Fairfield. MAAC single digit home favorites are 3-12-1 vs spread. Rider is just 2-3 in its MAAC home games, but they've won three of last four games overall.
Home team won last seven Iona-Fairfield games; Gaels are 1-6 in their last seven visits here, losing last four by 3-9-2-17 points. Fairfield won last five games, with only one win by less than 8 points- they're 4-1 as MAAC home favorite, winning at home by 22-10-27-2-15 points. Home faves of 5 or less points are 2-10 vs spread in MAAC games this year.