Massachusetts Minutemen vs. Boston College 4:00 PM Eastern
Massachusetts Minutemen vs. Boston College 4:00 PM EasternWhile Boston College played a defensive style game against Wagner in a 76-50 win, but Wagner is a notoriously slow team that struggles on offense and now they face a Massachusetts unit that likes to push pace, ranking 23rd in total possessions per game last season. Boston College should get plenty of good looks inside as Massachusetts ranked 316th in opponent 2-point shooting percentage last season.
Pick: Massachusetts vs. Boston College Over 144.5 (Greg's Handicapped Total 152)
Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions vs. Baylor Bears 5:00 PM Eastern
Arkansas-Pine Bluff opened the season by getting lambasted 106-61 against Arkansas and face a Baylor team that was incredibly impressive in their exhibition matchups and hung 87 points on Northwestern State to begin the season. While Baylor should be better on defense this season, they were 235th in points per possession allowed last season while Arkansas-Pine Bluff was far worse, ranking 321st in points per possession allowed and is never afraid to run, ranking 62nd in possessions per game.
Baylor -35.5 and Over 157.5 (Greg's Handicap Baylor -40 and Total 164)
Northeastern Huskies vs. Virginia Cavaliers 5:00 PM Eastern
Virginia brings back much of a team that was one of the most balanced in the country last season as they were 32nd in points paper possession while on defense they were 35th in points per possession allowed, but they aren't a team that plays fast as they were 232nd in total possessions per game last season. Northeastern is coming off of a 93-85 loss to Boston U, but I expect the tempo to slow as Bill Coen is one of the longest tenured coaches as the same school in college basketball and last season the team was 131st in total possessions per game and 231st in this department two seasons ago.
Picks: Northeastern +33.5 and Under 153.5 (Greg's Handicap Northeastern +26.5 and Total 150.5)
Valparaiso Beacons vs. Purdue Boilermakers 6:30 PM Eastern
Purdue should be much improved this season on defense with the focus now being around 7-foot-4 big man Daniel Jacobsen, who had 22 points and seven rebounds in their 78-72 loss on opening night to Gonzaga. Neither team played at a fast pace last season as Valparaiso was 238th in total possessions per game last season while Purdue wasd 342nd and Valparaiso brings back a lot of their guards from last season, an offense that was 251st in points per possession.
Picks: Purdue -19 and Under 146.5 (Greg's Handicap Purdue -28 and Total 142)
Detroit Mercy TItans vs. Marquette Golden Eagles 8:00 PM Eastern
The Marquette defense was stout against Mercyhurst in a 78-43 thrashing, but Marquette will likely be pushing a much faster pace in this game as Detroit was 135th in total possessions per game last season while Marquette was 72nd. Marquette is much more stout in the post than in past seasons with Sananda Fru entering from Louisville after the 6-foot-11 big man averaged nine points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game, but the was 320th in defensive rebound percentage with opponents snagging 32% of their missed shots as an offensive rebound last season and Detroit has solid roster retention from a team that was 106th in 3-point shooting last season at 35.1% and 80th in offensive rebound percentage.
Pick: Detroit +30.5 (Greg's Handicap Detroit +23.5)
CS Northridge Matadors vs. Kansas State Wildcats 9:00 PM Eastern
Both teams will look to run more after sluggish starts to the season as Kansas State coach Casey Alexander comes over from Belmont where his team last season led the country in 3-point shooting percentage at 41% and were 95th nationally in total possessions per game. CS Northridge ranked second in total possessions per game last season and played a fast first half in their season opening loss to Wichita State that featured a combined 87 points in the first half before a crazy outlier of 59 points in the second half with both teams combining to go 13-of-48 from 3-point range for the game.
Pick: CS Northridge vs. Kansas State Over 160.5 (Greg's Handicapped Total 165)
Cal Baptist Lancers vs. Oregon State Beavers 9:30 PM Eastern
Cal Baptist is not same team they were last season when they ranked 34th in opponent 2-point shooting percentage and 16th in rebound percentage last season as coach Rick Croy left from Arizona State and Kyle Geller become the new coach after being an assistant at Notre Dame. Cal Baptist is now based around outside shooting and led to a 71-63 outright loss to North Florida, who was a bottom 20 team in points per possession allowed last season and now they face an Oregon State unit that has one of the taller collective of forwards in the nation and are coming off of a 102-61 season opening win over Weber State.
Pick: Cal Baptist vs. Oregon State Under 156.5 (Greg's Handicapped Total 146.5)
North Dakota State Bison vs. San Francisco Dons 10:00 PM Eastern
North Dakota State is coming off of getting blasted 105-64 against St. Mary's, but face a San Francisco team that is unlikely to put them under duress as they were 333rd in turnover per possession generated on defense last season. San Francisco has an entirely new backcourt and while they had success on both sides of the ball in their 78-62 win over Radford, they had the benefit of facing a Radford team that was in transition with their own backcourt which made them look more impressive than what they really are.
Pick: North Dakota State +9.5 (Greg's Handicap North Dakota State +2.5)
