NCAA Basketball Free Pick – Friday, February 11, 2011
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Siena (10-13, 7-6 MAAC) at Iona (14-10, 8-5 MAAC)
Date/Time: Friday, February 11, 7:00 pm EST
Venue: Arena: Hynes Athletics Center, New Rochelle, NY.
Broadcast: ESPNU
Money Line: Siena +500 / Iona -700
Spread: Iona – 11
Over/Under: 146 ½
Whoever said Friday night college basketball wasn’t the showcase the rest of the week was, certainly didn’t count on this week’s MAAC clash between the Siena Saints and the Iona Gaels.
Check out the latest College Basketball Odds here.
The Hynes Athletic Center will be buzzing when the whistle blows at 7:00 EST and you can catch all the action on ESPNU.
Siena and Iona are packed together in the MAAC, holding down 6th and 4th place respectively. The Gaels check in at 14-10 overall and are 8-5 in the MAAC. The Saints maintain a record of 10-13 and are 7-6 in the conference.
Iona has already played Siena this season, back on January 3, losing 73-67. The Gaels went 0-2 against the Saints last year, losing by an average margin of 16. Over four years, Iona has gone 0-9 against Siena, including 0-1 at home.
However, this year’s Gaels are no cupcake and is an overwhelming favorite here and will try to use their home court advantage and look to improve their 9-4 home record.
After a rough loss to Fairfield, Iona returned to their home hardwood taking out the Manhattan Jaspers on Monday 85-67 in conference play. The Gaels dominated in offensive rebounding and three pointers using their advantage on the boards to squeeze the trigger on some additional shots, with an advantage of 18 to 10. Mike Glover scored a game-high 20 points as Iona drained 30 points from three-point range. Glover has three straight double-digit point games.
Meanwhile, after their win over Manhattan, Siena’s three-game winning streak ended in Albany as the Saints lost to the Greyhounds in MAAC action, 76-69. This was an upset, a game the Saints were expected to win. The Saints beat the Greyhounds earlier this season 76-59. Ryan Rossiter led the futile effort scoring 23 points while hauling in 20 rebounds to become Siena’s all-time rebounding leader as the Saints committed 14 turnovers, which led to 22 points and a Greyhound rally.
Siena is 4-7 on the road and the Gaels are a much better team at home, making this a difficult win for the Saints. Iona comes into the contest scoring 78 points to 67 points a game for Siena.
The Gaels’ Glover (19.1 ppg, 10.5 rpg) and junior guard Scott Machado (13.8 ppg, 7.6 apg) should be a solid matchup for Rossiter, (19.0 ppg, 13.1 rpg), and senior guard Clarence Jackson, who is netting 14.6 points and 3.1 rebounds a night for the Saints.
With numbers like that and neither team playing very good defense, expect a scoring fest in this one.
The odds makers have the Iona Gaels as a -11 point favorite with an over/under of 146.5.
Matt’s Free Pick: Iona 79, Siena 71
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Siena Saints Betting Trends:
- Siena is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
- Siena is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games on the road
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Siena’s last 6 games on the road
- Siena is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Iona
Iona Gaels Betting Trends:
- Iona is 0-4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
- Iona is 14-7 SU in its last 21 games
- Iona is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Iona’s last 5 games
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