Fighting Irish vs Hoyas NCAAB Handicapping Prediction
Even though both teams lost in some upsets last week each has a chance to get a double-bye in the Big East tournament. The Irish have won 3 straight against the Hoyas, but they are underdogs in this game and overall this season they are 5-4 facing ranked teams.
Venue/ Stadium: Verizon Center, Washington, DC
Time/Date: 7 PM EST Monday, February 27, 2012
NCAA Odds From: Bovada
Moneyline: Notre Dame +240 / Georgetown -290
Spread (ATS): Georgetown -6.5
Over/Under: 120
No 18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. No. 8 Georgetown Hoyas Preview
NCAAB lines have Georgetown as 6.5-point home favorites with a total of 120.
In their last games Notre Dame lost to St. John’s 61-58 while Georgetown got over their loss to Seton Hall by beating Villanova 67-46.
This season Notre Dame is 11-10-2 ATS with an O/U record of 7-16 and Georgetown is 13-9 ATS with an O/U record of 11-11.
The Irish had been red-hot shooting the 3 in their 9-game winning streak, which was snapped in the loss to St. John’s and the Hoyas will have to play good perimeter defense.
Notre Dame’s leading scorers Jerian Grant (12.7 ppg) and Eric Atkins (12.7 ppg) can bomb the 3 with the best of them, but both were ice cold in the loss to St. John’s combining for 7 points and hitting 1 of their 10 3-pointers. They will have to get back on track in this game. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Irish F Jack Cooley (12.4 ppg 9.3 rpg) has been playing great in the last few games and he is key in this match up, as he has to score and man the glass. It is vital that he gets some inside buckets so the Hoyas do not pack the perimeter to contain the Notre Dame guards.
Georgetown is led by the G/F duo of Jason Clark (14.5 ppg) and Hollis Thompson (13.1 ppg 5.5 rpg). Thomson and Otto Porter (8.8 ppg 6.7 rpg) give the Hoyas the edge in the frontcourt and if these 2 can control the paint the Hoyas will snap their 3-game losing streak to Notre Dame.
Neither team is a high scoring one so defense and rebounding are even more important in this Big East game.
In some betting trends for this Big East match up Notre Dame is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games, 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, and they have an Under record of 13-5 in their last 18 games.
Georgetown is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall, 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, and they have an Under record of 13-6 in their last 19 games as a home favorite.
Jason’s Pick: This low scoring defensive battle will be a close game and even though I think Georgetown will pull out the W Notre Dame will cover the 6.5-point spread.
