Sport: College HoopsPick Selection: Fairfield Stags +2.5 -110
Fairfield Stags at Manhattan Jaspers 7:00 PM ET
Fairfield Stags +2.5 -110
***Underdog Game of the Week***Fairfield hits the road for its third straight game but that should not be a concern as it is 5-8 away from home. The Stags are not a bad road team and two games really stand out in the schedule. Even though they were losses, Fairfield played extremely well at Cincinnati and at Georgetown. Against the Bearcats, the Stags lost by just five points and although the final score showed a 12-point loss the Hoyas, they did not trail by double figures until the final minute of the game.
Manhattan is struggling as it has dropped seven straight games to fall to 2-10 in MAAC play. The Jaspers are just 3-6 at home this season including a 1-4 mark in conference action. Over this seven game losing streak, the Jaspers have struggled shooting the ball going 40.4 percent from the floor to its opponents 52.5 percent success rate. Manhattan is shooting just 66 percent from the charity stripe and 34.6 percent from three-point range during this stretch as well.
Looking at the records and you see that Fairfield and Manhattan have the same overall records, home records and road records. However, the Stags have a four-game edge in conference records and the lone rationale for that is based on non-conference games. And that is proven by the strength of that schedule. Fairfield played a schedule ranked 100th while the Jaspers played a schedule ranked 338th which was one of the easiest in the country. Manhattan?s non-conference record of 7-4 makes sense because of that.
Fairfield netted 20 of 23 free throws in the Niagara victory last time out which was the fourth straight game in which the team has reached 20 or more free throws. For the season Fairfield is shooting 70.4 percent from the line, which ranks third in the conference. Manhattan, while struggling during its recent skid is also struggling at home, hitting just 63.8 percent from the line. The Stags hit a solid 73.3 percent of their free throws on the road.
Manhattan is a good three-point shooting team but as mentioned, it is struggling. The year-long success is part of a great situation. Play against home teams where the line is +3 to -3 that are shooting between 32 and 36.5 percent from long range going up against a team allowing 36.5 percent or more from long range after two straight games of allowing 50 percent or higher from the floor. His situation is 24-5 ATS (82.8 percent) over the last five seasons with the average point differential being +6.7 ppg. Play Fairfield Stags 2.5 Units
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