PREMIUM
*10* NCAAB Game of the Week >> NOON ET!
(NCAAB) Yale vs. Princeton,
Point Spread: 7.00 | -106.00 Yale (Away)
Result: Loss
Point Spread: 7.00 | -106.00 Yale (Away)
Result: Loss
The set-up: The Ivy League finally "joined in" with the rest of college basketball and held a postseason tourney in 2017, for the first time in its history. So far so good, in terms of excitement. Princeton rolled through the regular season 14-0 but needed OT to get past a sub-.500 Penn team on Saturday (note: Penn was playing on its homecourt) and then defending champion Yale edged Harvard (Ivy champs in four straight seasons in 2012, '13, '14 & '15), 73-71. The sets up this "high noon" showdown between Princeton, on an 18-game winning streak, and Yale, the defending champs.
Yale: The Bulldogs had a memorable 2015-16 season, winning the Ivy League at 13-1, breaking the school's 54-year NCAA tourney drought. Yale then upset Baylor in the first round of the NCAA tourney for the school's first-ever NCAA win. Yale finished with 23 wins, the most since the 1907-07 season. Three starters were lost off last year's team, including forward Brandon Sherrord. He set an NCAA single-season record by making 30 consecutive FG attempts and earned All-Ivy honors (also lost were the team's top-two scorers, Mason and Sears) . There was no 13-1 league mark for Yale this year but the Bulldogs did got 10-4 and now after the two-point win over Harvard, sit at 18-10 overall and will enter this title game on a four-game winning streak. Yale owns exellent balance with Oni (13.2 & 6.4), Dallier (9.5 & 4.1 APG) and Phils (7.0) starting in the backcourt, while the 6-9 Downey (11.8 & 6.9) and the 6-7 Reynolds (9.7 & 5.0) start up front. Key reserves are guard Copeland, the team's second-leading scorer at 12.9 PPG, and the 6-9 Bruner (8.3 & 5.7). Oni had 18 & 6 and Downey 13 & 10 against Harvard, while off tehebench, Copeland had 12 points and Bruner 11 & 8.
Princeton: The Tigers haven't lost since December 20, rattling off an impressive 18-game win streak, culminating in an overtime victory against Penn on Saturday. Win No. 18 of the streak was hardly stress-free, as the team's "Core Four" played poorly, with one exception. That quartet I referred to is made up of two senior small forwards in the 6-5 Cook (13.8 & 5.1) and the 6-4 Weisz (10.5-5.5-4.0) with that duo joined by a pair of sophomore guards in Cannady (13.7) and Stephens (12.2 & 4.5). However, only Stephens came through on Saturday, making 9 of 18 shots for 21 points while adding 10 rebounds. As for Cannady, Cook and Weisz, that trio combined to go 7 of 33 from the floor (21.2%), including 1 of 13 on threes!
The pick: I had Penn against Princeton on Saturday and got 'robbed' ATS, as Princeton covered in OT. This is Princeton's best team in a long time but as I noted Saturday, the last thing the Tigers needed was a conference tourney in 2017. It means that instead of having already secured an invite to the Big Dance, Princeton was forced to win two more games to get that bid. Princeton "got lucky" on Saturday and I don't believe a win will come any easier here on Sunday. Yale's won four straight and has reached 90 points in two of those games. The Bulldogs have depth and talent plus a check of the the team's ATS record book reveals Yale is 8-1 ATS in its last nine neutral-site games. Make Yale a 10* play.
Yale: The Bulldogs had a memorable 2015-16 season, winning the Ivy League at 13-1, breaking the school's 54-year NCAA tourney drought. Yale then upset Baylor in the first round of the NCAA tourney for the school's first-ever NCAA win. Yale finished with 23 wins, the most since the 1907-07 season. Three starters were lost off last year's team, including forward Brandon Sherrord. He set an NCAA single-season record by making 30 consecutive FG attempts and earned All-Ivy honors (also lost were the team's top-two scorers, Mason and Sears) . There was no 13-1 league mark for Yale this year but the Bulldogs did got 10-4 and now after the two-point win over Harvard, sit at 18-10 overall and will enter this title game on a four-game winning streak. Yale owns exellent balance with Oni (13.2 & 6.4), Dallier (9.5 & 4.1 APG) and Phils (7.0) starting in the backcourt, while the 6-9 Downey (11.8 & 6.9) and the 6-7 Reynolds (9.7 & 5.0) start up front. Key reserves are guard Copeland, the team's second-leading scorer at 12.9 PPG, and the 6-9 Bruner (8.3 & 5.7). Oni had 18 & 6 and Downey 13 & 10 against Harvard, while off tehebench, Copeland had 12 points and Bruner 11 & 8.
Princeton: The Tigers haven't lost since December 20, rattling off an impressive 18-game win streak, culminating in an overtime victory against Penn on Saturday. Win No. 18 of the streak was hardly stress-free, as the team's "Core Four" played poorly, with one exception. That quartet I referred to is made up of two senior small forwards in the 6-5 Cook (13.8 & 5.1) and the 6-4 Weisz (10.5-5.5-4.0) with that duo joined by a pair of sophomore guards in Cannady (13.7) and Stephens (12.2 & 4.5). However, only Stephens came through on Saturday, making 9 of 18 shots for 21 points while adding 10 rebounds. As for Cannady, Cook and Weisz, that trio combined to go 7 of 33 from the floor (21.2%), including 1 of 13 on threes!
The pick: I had Penn against Princeton on Saturday and got 'robbed' ATS, as Princeton covered in OT. This is Princeton's best team in a long time but as I noted Saturday, the last thing the Tigers needed was a conference tourney in 2017. It means that instead of having already secured an invite to the Big Dance, Princeton was forced to win two more games to get that bid. Princeton "got lucky" on Saturday and I don't believe a win will come any easier here on Sunday. Yale's won four straight and has reached 90 points in two of those games. The Bulldogs have depth and talent plus a check of the the team's ATS record book reveals Yale is 8-1 ATS in its last nine neutral-site games. Make Yale a 10* play.
