hno:
Virg Tech +1.5
The injury to Justin Burrell will ultimately be the difference in this game. For a team that lives off of offensive rebounding for points, the loss of one of their main contributors on the glass should be the death blow. St John's doesn't shoot well enough to win games that way. Instead they rely on offensive rebounds, and garbage buckets to score points. The loss of Burrell will leave the Johnnies to think in the front court to go against a solid front court in VT. The Hokies are no slouches on the glass themselves. They have out rebounded almost every opponent so far this year, and have especially showed up on the glass in big games. They were +17 Navy,+4 Wisconsin, +9 Seton Hall, and +2 Xavier. If they are able to do anything near that today against St John's they should win going away. As it is they have much more fire power in their lineup with AD Vasallo 18.8ppg, Malcolm Delaney 16.3ppg, and Jeff Allen 14.5 ppg/9.3rpg. With those 3 players they have something St John;s doesn't have....offensive fire power. St. John's is now short 2 starters from their beginning season starting lineup. Anthony Mason Jr is out for the season, and Burrell missed last game, and will be out again today. Without 2 of their top scorers, and facing a team that rebounds at their level they won't have much of a chance. Home court should neutralize some of that, but it certainly won't be enough. St. John's holds a gaudy record at 9-1, which is why I am getting such a good number, but at a closer look none of the wins are really "good" wins, and their only loss was agains the only respectable team they played, Boston Coll. The key to this game will be VT's ability to keep St John's off the glass. They should do so and get the easy win
The injury to Justin Burrell will ultimately be the difference in this game. For a team that lives off of offensive rebounding for points, the loss of one of their main contributors on the glass should be the death blow. St John's doesn't shoot well enough to win games that way. Instead they rely on offensive rebounds, and garbage buckets to score points. The loss of Burrell will leave the Johnnies to think in the front court to go against a solid front court in VT. The Hokies are no slouches on the glass themselves. They have out rebounded almost every opponent so far this year, and have especially showed up on the glass in big games. They were +17 Navy,+4 Wisconsin, +9 Seton Hall, and +2 Xavier. If they are able to do anything near that today against St John's they should win going away. As it is they have much more fire power in their lineup with AD Vasallo 18.8ppg, Malcolm Delaney 16.3ppg, and Jeff Allen 14.5 ppg/9.3rpg. With those 3 players they have something St John;s doesn't have....offensive fire power. St. John's is now short 2 starters from their beginning season starting lineup. Anthony Mason Jr is out for the season, and Burrell missed last game, and will be out again today. Without 2 of their top scorers, and facing a team that rebounds at their level they won't have much of a chance. Home court should neutralize some of that, but it certainly won't be enough. St. John's holds a gaudy record at 9-1, which is why I am getting such a good number, but at a closer look none of the wins are really "good" wins, and their only loss was agains the only respectable team they played, Boston Coll. The key to this game will be VT's ability to keep St John's off the glass. They should do so and get the easy win
So Florida -3
1st Half Under 51 So Fla/Wright St
I rarely, if ever play 1st half plays, but I have noticed something the past few times in Wright St games. First halves have been extremely slow pace wise, and point wise, therefore I am going to give the first half under a go, disregarding the laughably low number. In their past 4 games they have scored 36 points vs UALR, 41 Norfolk St, 41 Oral Roberts , and 60 Wake Forest. Obviously the Wake game was played at a much higher pace, but still only 60 points were scored. The other games were teams that play at the same pace of South Florida. Both teams play exceptional defense, and neither shoot at a high percentage and struggle to score on offense. Although Wright St has played much better as of late, and even got one of their better players, Troy Tabler back, I still don't see them winning this game. So Florida will have a huge advantage talent wise, and with each game they gain more chemistry after inserting 2 new starters, (Augustus Gilchrsit, Mike Mercer), into the starting lineup. Those 2 teamed with Jesus Verdejo, and Dominque Jones, make a pretty formidable scoring attack. While they have struggled to put it all together as of yet, there is no denying the talent. In a game like this where they will have a decided talent edge over Wright is a game where I think they can break out. Because they play such good defense, holding oppoents to 38.4%, and Wright St shoots so poorly 37.8%, they should be able to shut down the Raiders offense creating some points off their defense. Confidence is all this team needs, and if they can create some points off their defense that can be the kick start they need. This is a Wright St team in disarray and just won't be able to match up with So Florida's edge in talent
1st Half Under 51 So Fla/Wright St
I rarely, if ever play 1st half plays, but I have noticed something the past few times in Wright St games. First halves have been extremely slow pace wise, and point wise, therefore I am going to give the first half under a go, disregarding the laughably low number. In their past 4 games they have scored 36 points vs UALR, 41 Norfolk St, 41 Oral Roberts , and 60 Wake Forest. Obviously the Wake game was played at a much higher pace, but still only 60 points were scored. The other games were teams that play at the same pace of South Florida. Both teams play exceptional defense, and neither shoot at a high percentage and struggle to score on offense. Although Wright St has played much better as of late, and even got one of their better players, Troy Tabler back, I still don't see them winning this game. So Florida will have a huge advantage talent wise, and with each game they gain more chemistry after inserting 2 new starters, (Augustus Gilchrsit, Mike Mercer), into the starting lineup. Those 2 teamed with Jesus Verdejo, and Dominque Jones, make a pretty formidable scoring attack. While they have struggled to put it all together as of yet, there is no denying the talent. In a game like this where they will have a decided talent edge over Wright is a game where I think they can break out. Because they play such good defense, holding oppoents to 38.4%, and Wright St shoots so poorly 37.8%, they should be able to shut down the Raiders offense creating some points off their defense. Confidence is all this team needs, and if they can create some points off their defense that can be the kick start they need. This is a Wright St team in disarray and just won't be able to match up with So Florida's edge in talent
GL Hd...on Va-T and Miamia myself.
I actually go to Clemson so I've been able to follow them for years now... Their collapse two years ago was simply because they lost their only inside presence, James Mays. Now, Purnell has added depth to the bench and Booker is one of the best post players in the country. I just don't know if Miami can stop Stitt, Booker, and I just have a feeling the Olgesby is going to have a huge game behind the arc tonight. Good luck.
