NIT Title Game Prediction – Golden Gophers vs Cardinal
In the finals of the NIT tournament tonight at Madison Square Garden 2 teams that missed out on the Big Dance have a chance to add to their trophy collection.
Venue/ Stadium: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Time/Date: 7 PM EST Thursday, March 29, 2012
NCAA Odds From: Bovada
Moneyline: OFF
Spread (ATS): Minnesota -1
Over/Under: 131.5
Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Stanford Cardinal Preview
Minnesota is looking for their 3rd NIT crown and in an interesting fact Stanford is just the 4th team to play at MSG in the preseason and postseason NIT in the same season. NCAAM lines have Minnesota as the slight 1-point favorite with a total of 131.5.
In the semifinals of the NIT Minnesota beat Washington in a 68-67 OT thriller and Stanford beat UMASS 74-64.
This season Minnesota is 19-13-2 ATS with an O/U record of 17-16-1 and Stanford is 18-15 ATS with an O/U record of 18-15.
The Golden Gophers have had a tougher road to the NIT finals playing 2 teams from major conferences in Miami and Washington while Stanford has not faced one.
Stanford F/C Josh Owens had 15 points and tied a career high with 12 rebounds in the win over UMASS and he is key on offense and defense guarding Minnesota’s leading scorer and rebounder Rodney Williams. This is a key match up in this NIT final. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Another key match up in this game is at the PG position with Stanford’s Chasson Randle and Minnesota’s Andre Hollins, who scored a team-high 20 points in the OT win over Washington.
The Cardinal are a better rebounding team and Williams has a tall task since 2nd leading rebounder Ralph Sampson III is questionable for this game and he has not played since the beginning of this month due to a knee injury.
Minnesota played great D in their win over Washington and they need to play good defense again in this final. They also missed on 10 of their 13 3-pointers and they need to shoot the long bell well in this game facing a Stanford team that has a better frontcourt.
In some betting trends for this NIT final Stanford is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, 10-4 ATS in their last 14 non-conference games, and they have an Over record of 6-1 in their last 7 games.
Minnesota is 6-0-1 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, 7-0-1 ATS in their last 8 games overall, and they have an Over record of 5-2 in their last 7 games.
Jason’s Pick: Minnesota has had an impressive run to the finals, but it will end tonight, as Stanford has a better all around team and the Cardinal will win and capture the NIT crown.