The Niagara Purple Eagles and Hartford Hawks were both pretty awful last year. The two teams combined for 17 wins and stunk it up all throughout their seasons. Since these teams were so awful, both jumped at the chance to be on ESPN’s 24 hour coverage of college hoops, even at the worst time slot possible. It will likely be the only time you see either of these two teams all season so if you are interested in either side, now’s the time to watch.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from the Chase Family Arena at 6:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, November 15, 2016. Catch every moment of the game live on ESPN2.
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Niagara was 7-25 SU and 14-14-1 ATS last season. The Purple Eagles were very nice to bettors on the road though with an 8-4-1 ATS mark.
The Hawks play in the America East, one of the few conferences without any lined games in the regular season. In the postseason they did cover both their games though and notched an outright win as an 18-point underdog against Albany.
Last Year’s Meeting
When these teams met last season, Hartford played without its top player, Pancake Thomas. Thomas led the team in every category except blocks and without him in the line-up, someone else would have to step up. Luckily, it happened to be the entire team that rose to the occasion to drill shots behind the arc.
Hartford combined to go 12-26 from the three-point line and although it was outshot from the field in general, its ability to make it rain from three was enough to push the Hawks over the top. Coupled with that, Hartford held Niagara to just 6-22 shooting from beyond the arc.
The other big factor when these teams met was turnovers. Niagara turned the ball over 8 more times than Hartford did and those turnovers loomed large in a 4-point game. If the Purple Eagles had done a better job of holding onto the ball, they probably would have won despite Hartford’s hot night shooting.
Key Stat
There was no team worse in rebound margin last season than Hartford and it will be interesting to see how this team protects the glass this year. Hartford was outrebounded by an enormous margin, 11.9 RPG, a number that is even crazier when you consider the third-worst team on the list is a full three rebounds better.
This is an area that Niagara should be able to exploit. Although the Purple Eagles were one of the worst shooting teams in the country last season, their best offensive category was rebounding and that should give them a healthy margin.
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How will Hartford cope without Pancake Thomas? Thomas was by far the best player on the team last year, but decided to leave after graduating early in pursuit of playing time at other universities. It’s hard to underestimate what Thomas meant to this team, he was the only real offensive threat last season and his production is impossible to replace.
Without him, the Hawks will be reliant upon two foreign transfers to make them competitive. Nikola Colovic and Hassan Attia are both talented, but raw, and will need some time to season.
Niagara’s most talented underclassmen transferred from the roster and now the Purple Eagles are once again in chaos. Coach Chris Casey has now lost 20 players to reasons other than graduation over the past three seasons and the big question now is what kind of team can he put together.
This is a toss-up game. Hartford will likely be favored since the Purple Eagles are the hosts, but it won’t be by much. Take a chance with Niagara on the moneyline to get the job done in an arena that might not even have 1000 people in it.
College Basketball Odds: Niagara 67, Hartford 62
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