2nd of 3 in CBB 3-pack Wednesday
(NCAAB) VMI vs. Western Carolina,
Point Spread: 1.00 | -105.00 VMI (Away)
Result: Loss
#661 ASA PLAY ON 8* VMI +1 over Western Carolina, Wed at 7 PM ET - WCU is the last place team in the Southern Conference with a 1-9 record. Their only win was at home vs the Citadel (the lowest rated team in the conference) and that was by just 2 points. Not only was WCU’s win by only 2 points, it was a game they trailed for 85% of the time and their largest lead of that game was 2 points which was the final margin. In other words, this team is very close to being 0-10 in conference play. Their losses have come by an average of 10 PPG. They faced VMI on the road just a few weeks ago and lost by 26 points. So many may be thinking revenge here. Not us. VMI has one of the top offenses in the Southern Conference and as with the first game, we don’t think WCU can keep up. VMI scored 87 points in the first meeting and if they get to at least the mid 70’s here, which we think they will, they will win. When VMI scores at least 71 points, they are 10-4 SU. They are averaging 78 PPG in conference play and should get to at least that in this game. They are facing a WCU defense that stinks. They rank 8th in the conference in defensive efficiency and they are facing a VMI offense that ranks 2nd in the league in offensive efficiency, 1st in eFG%, 2nd in three point percentage while making 77% of their FT’s in conference play. Western ranks at the bottom of the league in a number of key categories including efficiency and eFG%. VMI has scored at least 78 points in 7 of their 10 Southern conference games with 2 of those games (not scoring at least 78) coming against the #1 and #2 teams in the league in defensive efficiency. Now they face the WORST defensive team in the league in which they scored 87 in the first meeting as we mentioned. The Western Carolina offense has not scored more than 69 points in 5 of their last 7 games. We don’t think they can keep up here and with the line at basically a pick-em we like VMI.