Nova Report
The Cats game Thursday was postponed as Temple got Covid. Now they head a few miles East to Newark, NJ to take on the 15th ranked Seton Hall Pirates (9-2). The Hall pretty much hates Nova and the Rock has not been a friendly venue for the Cats. Despite its #22 ranking and being on the road, Nova is -1/138 (though I expect the Hall to be favored by gametime).
Last out, Nova grinded out a win vs. 17th ranked Xavier in the Cat House. Nova was down 8 at half but good defense and cold shooting by Xavier turned the tide and got Nova the win. However, for the fourth game in a row, they shot poorly.
Seton Hall lost its last game at Providence 70-65?.no shame in losing to a ranked Friar team at the Dunk. Clearly, they want to get back on track today. They are led by Jared Rhoden (16.7 ppg) and Bryce Aiken (11.2 ppg). 6?10? Tryese Samuel chips in 10.8 ppg. All in all, the Pirates have 8 players who score 7 or more points per game. The Hall is known as a defensive juggernaut: ranked 7th in defending the 3, 30th on defensive efficiency and 25th in turnover efficiency. Most people see this being a low scoring game.
For the Wildcats, they STILL need to move the ball around more and don?t hesitate to shoot if open. They also need Slater and Samuels to awake from the deep freeze they are in. Clearly, every possession needs to be a good one vs. the Pirates so turnovers need to be few and far between. Nova shot poorly last year in 4 straight games before they broke out. They have now matched that poor shooting number in 2021. Can they break out vs. a defensive stalwart though?
What will happen? The pundits are likely correct that this will be a low scoring grind it out battle with free throws determining the outcome at the end of the game. I do expect Nova to shoot better but they may not get a lot of shots off. In the end, this is a tough spot for the Cats, I hope I am wrong (and have been consistently) so my play is a 5 point teaser taking Seton Hall+6/Under 143 (note: total went from 134.5 to 138 so I bet it again and changed it in this write-up)
My Nova Pick Record:3-9