NCAA Basketball Free Pick – Thursday, December 23, 2010
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(10) Georgetown (10-1) at (16) Memphis (9-1)
Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 8:00 PM EST on ESPN2
Spread: Georgetown -4 ½
Over/Under: 146.5
One could expect a hard-fought battle between these two powerhouse basketball programs as they prepare to do battle at the FedEx Forum in Memphis on Thursday.
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The Hoyas are on a 10-1 run out of the Big East, but they will have their hands full with the Memphis Tigers of the Conference USA, another team that is on the rise. Memphis is rolling having won four of five games, while Georgetown has won six straight.
The Tigers are 0-1 against ranked competition and in four seasons, has a record of 1-1 against Georgetown including a 14-point win last year, in a game the Hoyas never seemed to be truly a part of.
Georgetown then went on as the number three-seed, suffering an embarrassing first-round loss to Ohio in the NCAA Tournament while Memphis failed to make it all.
The Hoyas hold the edge in three areas over the Tigers. The most important has to be in three-point shooting, 42 to 34 percent, which means they will have no trouble putting points on the board. Georgetown also ranks better in personal fouls, and turnovers, with just 14 per game to the Tigers 16.
They are also the second best team in shooting percentage at 52.5 percent, scoring an average of nearly 81 points per game. There might not be a better shooting backcourt in the nation than Austin Freeman, Jason Clark, and Chris Wright. Freeman leads the team in scoring with 18.5 PPG, with both Clark and Wright averaging over 13 PPG as well.
On the inside, both Julian Vaughn and Hollis Thompson have the ability to dominate. Vaughn is averaging 8.9 PPG and a team high 6.7 RPG, while Thompson puts up 8.5 points and 5.0 boards on the average night.
At the same time, the Tigers have struggled of late, needing extra time to beat both the Murray State Racers and the Arkansas State Red Wolves.
Memphis does however possess a well-balanced attack with a number of different scoring options, and despite Wesley Witherspoon and DJ Stephens being out of the lineup, there are still seven other players that are averaging at least 6.0 PPG.
Joe Jackson has stepped up his game ad has become the team’s top scorer at 11.5 PPG.
The key for the Hoyas will be to slow down the game and every chance they get, do what they do best: attack backdoor for easy layups. The key for the Tigers will be to make Georgetown play at their speed.
The odds makers have the Georgetown Hoyas as a -4.5 point favorite with an over/under of 146.5.
Free Pick: Georgetown 80, Memphis 74
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