Crick's Picks: College Basketball 2/22/23

SportsPicks@SportsPicks

February 22, 2023

These are not Sportspicks "Recommended Picks"

2/21/23 Results

6-2 ATS
5-1 ML's - Parlay Lost
0-1 "Longshots"
1-0 ATS "Game of the Night" Pick - 0-1 Straight-Up

Game of the Night

#20 Providence vs #18 Connecticut

Location: Harry A. Gampel Pavillion - Storrs, Connecticut
Tip-Off: 6:30 PM EST

Tale of the Tape

Providence / Connecticut

FGA - 59.9 pg / 60.2 pg
FG% - 46.4% / 45.2%
2P% - 51.6% / 52.4%
3P% - 34.9% / 35.2%
FTA - 22.6 pg / 19.7 pg
FT% - 74.6% / 74.6%
EFG% - 51.8% / 52.6%
DReb% - 75.0% / 74.6%
OReb% - 35.6% / 38.2%
TO's - 12.3 pg / 12.9 pg
Fouls - 15.4 pg / 18.6 pg
Adj Off Eff - 116.1 / 117.9
Adj Def Eff - 98.6 / 93.3
PPG - 78.9 pg / 78.0 pg
PAG - 69.6 pg / 64.3 pg
% FGA in Paint - 44.4% / 37.6%

Overview

MORE LOVE for the Big East this evening!! For the second time in as many nights, our "Game of the Night" will come from this ultra-competitive conference. Marquette and Creighton certainly didn't disappoint us last night, as the game came down to the final seconds!! The Golden Eagle's, Tyler Kolek, hit a short jump shot with 29 seconds left to give his team the 73-71 lead. Then Marquette, the league's 2nd best offensive team, relied on it's defense to get a stop when it needed it most!! With the win (and a Xavier loss), Marquette has a 1.5 game lead, over second-place Providence, with just three conference games left (All vs teams ranked 8th or worse in the League). For the Friars to keep themselves in the race for the #1 seed in the Big East Tourney, they'll have to find a way to defeat a very good, but streaky, UConn team on the road. In this conference, road victories can be real tough to come by.

Match-Up

Providence comes into this game winners of 2 straight, and 3 of their last 4. The only setback being a 73-68 loss on the road at St. John's. The Friars come into this one averaging 78.9 ppg (46.4 FG%), while surrendering 69.6 ppg to opponents. They are led by Sophomore Forward Bryce Hopkins (16.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 39.3 3P%), and Head Coach Ed Cooley's offense runs through him. They will go as he goes. However, a pair of Senior Guards are the spark plugs for this engine. Jared Bynum (9.3 ppg , 4.5 apg) and Noah Locke (11.1 ppg , 38.5 3P%) are veteran guy's who have played in A LOT of College Basketball games. Cooley knows he can trust putting the ball in their hands in close games down the stretch. Fellow Senior Ed Croswell is the other "Big Man" for Cooley's squad. He averages 13.1 ppg, while shooting 62.1% from the field, and grabs 7.3 boards per game. Last, but certainly not least, is Sophomore Guard Devin Carter who is the second-leading scorer (13.4 ppg) on the team, and also averages 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. Providence is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the Big East, but will need to be "On Point" tonight because they will be squaring-off against the BEST offensive rebounding team in the entire country.
Connecticut comes into this contest after winning 4 of their last 5 games, and the Huskies last three losses have come by a combined 7 points (Creighton 56-53 , Xavier 82-79 , Seton Hall 67-66). Head Coach Dan Hurley's troops are led by a pair of very talented players. Junior Forward Adama Sanogo (16.9 ppg , 7.3 rpg) and Sophomore Guard Jordan Hawkins (16.4 ppg , 4.0 rpg) both shoot 39.0% or better from long range, and have the ability to take over a game on any given night. Senior Guard Tristen Newton (10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.1 spg) is Hurley's most experienced player, and will handle most of the "Floor General" duties. Two Freshmen, Forward Alex Karaban (9.5 ppg , 4.1 rpg) and Center Donovan Clingan (7.4 ppg , 6.1 rpg, 1.9 blks), help create a strong presence in the paint. The Huskies have four guy's that shoot 39.0% or better from 3-point land, and have a strong core of players off the bench that can come in and provide some very productive minutes. As said before, the Huskies are the best offensive rebounding team in the country (38.2 OReb%), but haven't done well when they get behind early in games and have lost some games to lesser competition.

Prediction

Once again, I believe this one is going to be a back-and-forth battle throughout. Like I've said before, this league always provides some of the most exciting games of the entire season, and I think another good one is in store for us tonight!! Providence MUST HAVE a win in this game to stay in contention for the Big East regular-season title. If they lose, Marquette will have a commanding lead over the second-place team, with just three league games left to play. I look for this contest to be decided in the paint, and at the "Charity Stripe". Both teams are very solid from the free-throw line (Both 74.6%), and I think that will definitely come into play. However, I believe this one is going to be decided on the offensive glass. The team that wins that fight, in my opinion, will come out of this game victorious. With two of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country, this is going to be an absolute "Dogfight" down low. I look for the Friars to be very much in this game for it's entirety, and possibly leading coming down to the final minutes. However, I think UConn gets some favorable calls down the stretch, and ends up winning a close one from the free-throw line!!

My Pick: Providence +7.5

Final Score: Connecticut 79 Providence 75

Crick's Picks 2/22/23