Monday Recap: 2-3
Manhattan faded in the final five minutes, Arkansas LR a complete no-show in the second half, and St Marys kept making runs in the second half only to keep giving them back. On the brighter side, Northern Iowa gets the W, even though it was like pulling teeth, and the Buffalo Over hit.
Illinois-Chicago +2.5
Penn -7
Flames- Sitting at 11-6 overall and 3-4 in conference, Ill-Chicago has since made a huge run to finish the season, winning 11 straight. They finally meshed and played like the team that was supposed to dominate the Horizon. This is the most experienced team in college basketball. Their top five scorers are seniors. Banks and Bailey are perhaps the most underrated backcourt in the country. They have been a very good road team, winning five straight, and their two losses before that were by 1 at Wright St, and by 3 at Detroit. Split the regular season series with Wisc-Mil, with Wisc-Mil having the more convincing win, but I think in this type of game I like having the senior-laden, guard oriented team getting a couple of points in what should be a close game either way.
Quakers- Strange seeing Princeton as such a heavy dog in the Ivy, but they clinched the league championship and bid to the Big Dance with their win over Dartmouth on Saturday. Might be seeking a bit of revenge as Penn whipped them by 15 earlier this season at Princeton, but it seems like Penn has their number. Won 5 straight against the Tigers, with four of those coming by double-digits. This is the biggest game of the season for Penn. Great way to finish the regular season...on their home floor, getting a chance to beat their arch-rival and conference champ. While I don't think Princeton totally folds the tent tonight, I don't see them coming close to matching Penn's intensity for this game, and wouldn't surprise me if the starters for Princeton get limited minutes if Penn has a decent lead by halftime.
Manhattan faded in the final five minutes, Arkansas LR a complete no-show in the second half, and St Marys kept making runs in the second half only to keep giving them back. On the brighter side, Northern Iowa gets the W, even though it was like pulling teeth, and the Buffalo Over hit.
Illinois-Chicago +2.5
Penn -7
Flames- Sitting at 11-6 overall and 3-4 in conference, Ill-Chicago has since made a huge run to finish the season, winning 11 straight. They finally meshed and played like the team that was supposed to dominate the Horizon. This is the most experienced team in college basketball. Their top five scorers are seniors. Banks and Bailey are perhaps the most underrated backcourt in the country. They have been a very good road team, winning five straight, and their two losses before that were by 1 at Wright St, and by 3 at Detroit. Split the regular season series with Wisc-Mil, with Wisc-Mil having the more convincing win, but I think in this type of game I like having the senior-laden, guard oriented team getting a couple of points in what should be a close game either way.
Quakers- Strange seeing Princeton as such a heavy dog in the Ivy, but they clinched the league championship and bid to the Big Dance with their win over Dartmouth on Saturday. Might be seeking a bit of revenge as Penn whipped them by 15 earlier this season at Princeton, but it seems like Penn has their number. Won 5 straight against the Tigers, with four of those coming by double-digits. This is the biggest game of the season for Penn. Great way to finish the regular season...on their home floor, getting a chance to beat their arch-rival and conference champ. While I don't think Princeton totally folds the tent tonight, I don't see them coming close to matching Penn's intensity for this game, and wouldn't surprise me if the starters for Princeton get limited minutes if Penn has a decent lead by halftime.
