The 2nd week of college basketball is among us, and Tuesday night’s slate of games features some good matchups across the league.
Massachusetts vs. Northeastern
Massachusetts enters a home contest against Northeastern at 2-0 after grinding out a win at Fairfield. Northeastern looks to be the toughest opponent the Minutemen have faced yet, as the Huskies walk into this game 2-0 and have gotten 39 and 42 point performances out of Jordan Roland. Through 2 games, Roland is the nation’s leading scorer, and the former George Washington Colonial is a great shooter and all-around difficult to stop. Defense will absolutely be the focal point for UMass in this game if it wants to come away with a win. The Huskies are shooting an effective 60.4% from the field.
Pick ATS: Northeastern -1.5
Davidson @ Charlotte
After a tough opener against Auburn to start the season, Davidson is looking to claim the Hornet’s Nest once again when it faces off against Charlotte on the road. You have to go back to the 2012-13 season to find the last outing where Charlotte took down Davidson, and the Wildcats should continue to roll in this non-conference rivalry. The 49ers lost their opener to James Madison and really struggled defensively. After Jon Axel Gudmundsson and Kellan Grady weren’t able to get much going against Auburn in Annapolis, I think both come out with some fire and take down Charlotte with ease.
Pick ATS: Davidson -11.5
St. Bonaventure @ Siena
Still winless and facing its first true road game of the season, this is a game the Bonnies have to win. Again, it won’t be easy, especially without Osun Osunniyi in the lineup. The Bonnies played Vermont tight but are absolutely struggling shooting the ball. Through 2 contests, St. Bonaventure is just 15.2% from three and 45.7% from two. You would hope it’s only a matter of time until Dom Welch and Kyle Lofton get going — they are a combined 4/24 from three point range. This Siena team is the worst the Bonnies have seen this season, and the Saints are pretty bad defensively. I think Bona picks up its first win in a close one.
Pick ATS: St. Bonaventure -1
Duquesne vs. Lamar
It’s been a week since Duquesne’s debut, and boy was it a big one for Keith Dambrot’s bunch. The Dukes ran away from Princeton in the 2nd half after a slow start to the game, relying on lights out shooting and a big night from Sincere Carry. Lucky for Duquesne, Lamar won’t be any more challenging than Princeton was; in fact, Duquesne isn’t scheduled to play a higher ranked team according to Kenpom until it faces Davidson on January 5th. If things go the way of the Dukes, they could string together a lot of confidence building wins prior to conference play.
Pick ATS: Duquesne -13.5
George Washington vs. American
The Colonials didn’t have much of an issue taking care of a pretty bad Howard team this past weekend. Arnaldo Toro showed he’s still got it with a 22 point, 18 rebound performance against the Bison. Lucky for the Colonials, American is one of the smaller teams in the nation and is off to an 0-2 start, falling 37 spots in Kenpom’s rankings since the start of the season. I like the Colonials’ advantage on the boards against an American team that has a -19 rebounding margin right now.
Pick ATS: George Washington -4.5
Grant Labedz 2019-20 A-10 Record ATS: 11-9
