NIT Final 4 – Minutemen vs Cardinal Handicapping Pick
The Massachusetts Minutemen are a high scoring team out of the Atlantic 10. They made a push at the end of the season to qualify for the Big Dance but fell short in the A-10 Tournament, losing to juggernaut St. Bonaventure.
Massachusetts Minutemen (25-11) vs Stanford Cardinal (24-11)
Tuesday March 27
Madison Square Garden – New York, New York
7:00PM
Moneyline: Stanford -145, Massachusetts +130
Spread: Stanford -2.5
O/U: 150
Massachusetts
This high scoring team was nearly knocked out in the NIT opener against Mississippi State and has won three straight games as underdogs of 6 or more points. They have never played Stanford which is about as far as you can get from the campus.
UMass is averaging 77 points per game good for 16th in the nation.
For them it is all about pace as they are not a particularly efficient scoring team. They look to create more possessions and play with a deep roster with 10 players averaging more than 13 minutes per game. Leading all of them is guard Chaz Williams.
Just 5’9” he is the team’s leading scorer and was worth the wait after transferring from Hofstra.
Stanford
I am surprised that Stanford has gotten this far. They weren’t a particularly strong team this year and but hey got a very favourable NIT draw in facing Cleveland State, Illinois State and Nevada – all mid majors teams. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Even though they needed OT to beat the Redbirds none of those teams are really high ceiling squads.
The Cardinal were favoured in each of their games by at least 6 points.
This one should be entertaining because the Cardinal love to try and beat you from deep.
In guards Chasson Randle and Aaron Bright they have two shooters who hit from better than 43% on three pointers. When they miss they rely on burly power forward Josh Owens to clean up the glass. The senior seems to be motivated by avoiding playing his last game in red and white.
If they win they get fellow Pac 12 team Washington later in the week.
Spread Pick: Massachusetts +2.5
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Massachusetts 74 – Stanford 68
