Today’s college basketball card is lengthy as compared to the average Sunday slate, and I have one early ticket to show for it. It’s Week 17 in the NFL and we’ve cooked up a couple plays as the pros’ emotions range from apathy to desperation. Let’s get today’s express version rolling with the Road Dog Report for 12/29/2019!
Saturday’s card was up and down with Northern Arizona +7.5 getting saved by the hook after squandering a 6-point halftime lead. Cleveland State gets the cover as a double-digit Road Dog, which naturally was a simple number-grab at +11.5. Pacific was ice cold from beyond the arc and reverted back to their poor free throw shooting tendencies. Finally, Sacramento State could not hold off the power duo of Frey and Belo at Montana State.
(1685) Lafayette at Sacred Heart -4
The 7-3 Lafayette Leopards make their way into New England to face the 7-5 Sacred Heart Pioneers. Seventh-year coach Anthony Latina has orchestrated one of the best teams he’s had at Sacred Heart, winning seven of their last nine this season. Lafayette comes in hot as well, winning six of their last seven. The Leopards saw a six-game winning streak come to and end via a beatdown at the hands of Rutgers by a score of 63-44.
Lafayette should not be discouraged by last Sunday’s loss to the Scarlet Knights. After all, Rutgers is a damn good team who has put on several dominant performances at home already this year. The Leopards owe a lot of their success to great, selective shooting. Their 49.5% field goal shooting is 11th best in D1. Furthermore, their three point shooting is a phenomenal 41.4% (4th best in D1). They are an excellent 76.6% from the line, although they do not draw a lot of fouls.
As a mainstay at Lafayette, Fran O’Hanlon is in his 25th year as coach of the Leopards. He arguably has his best team since the 2014-15 squad that made the NCAA Tournament. O’Hanlon mostly uses a seven-man rotation that has a lot of experience together. It is their consistency as a shooters that makes them dependable; they’ve shot under 35% from beyond the arc in only three of their ten games.
Sacred Heart is led by an inside-outside duo in 6’8″ 245-pound forward EJ Anosike and guard, Koreem Ozier. Ozier is their main deep-ball threat who has been streaky from beyond the arc this season. In reality, Anosike is their high-percentage big man who is a dominant force down low. Make no doubt about it, Lafayette’s 6’8″ 234-pound Aussie, Myles Cherry, will have his hands full with Anosike. Cherry will need one of his best games to square up against Anosike and keep him from running away with the contest.
On the Money
Sacred Heart is a middling 6-5 ATS overall with a 2-1 ATS record at home. They’ve been a home favorite only once, thrashing Presbyterian by the score of 83-57 as a 5.5-point favorite. This Pioneers team has disregarded whether they are a dog or favorite four times, winning outright as dogs three times and losing as a favorite once.
Lafayette’s 6-2-1 ATS record is equally as good on the road, as the Leopards have come through with a 3-1-1 ATS record away from Easton. They’ve performed well as a Road Dog at 2-1-1 ATS, with that lone loss being last week’s beatdown at Rutgers. Furthermore, those two Road Dog Ws were straight-up wins against St. Joe’s (94-71, +5.5) and Princeton (72-65, +6).
Although I rate Princeton a touch lower than Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s as comparable, today’s X-factor is the Pioneers’ EJ Anosike. Princeton and St. Joe’s lack a dominant big man and we won’t know until this game is over how Lafayette will fare in this scenario. My ratings and the market performance say the Leopards have a great shot at winning this outright, but the +4 will probably be needed if Anosike has another strong outing.
That’s a one-and-done in the Road Dog Report for 12/29/2019! Follow us on Twitter or subscribe for daily email alerts with links to our latest handicapping articles. It’s almost NFL Playoffs time, and we’ve got you covered with analysis and insights to help you cash some tickets!
