Holy Cross vs Lehigh 1/28/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks will travel to the Hart Center to take on the Holy Cross Crusaders this Friday night in College Basketball action.

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks improved to 8-13 on the season after defeating the Army Black Knights, 84-71, this past Wednesday night. Lehigh was outstanding offensively against Army and was able to pull away in the 2^nd half after taking a 72-58 lead with 5:35 left in regulation. Lehigh shot 55.2% from the field & 46.7% from beyond the arc while allowing Army to shoot 47.2% from the field & 21.4% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Mountain Hawks was Tyler Whitney-Sidney who had 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, & 2 steals.

On the season, Lehigh is averaging 67.7 ppg on 44.7% shooting from the field. The Mountain Hawks are averaging 7.5 three-pointers per game on 36.4% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Lehigh has been led by Evan Taylor (14.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.2 bpg), Jeameril Wilson (11.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.0 apg), Keith Higgins Jr. (9.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.3 apg), & Marques Wilson (8.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.6 apg).

Defensively, Lehigh is allowing their opponents to average 71.5 ppg on 43.0% shooting from the field. The Mountain Hawks have a rebound margin of -1.8 and a turnover margin of -4.1.

The Holy Cross Crusaders lost their 3^rd straight game and dropped to 3-15 on the season after being defeated by the American University Eagles, 67-49, this past Wednesday. Holy Cross struggled on both ends of the court against American University and could not fight back after going into halftime trailing by a 29-20 margin. Holy Cross shot just 34.5% from the field & 14.3% from beyond the arc while allowing American University to shoot 51.0% from the field & 33.3% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Crusaders was Gerrale Gates who had a double-double with 18 points, 13 rebounds, & 1 steal.

On the season, Holy Cross is averaging 65.4 ppg on 41.6% shooting from the field. The Crusaders are averaging 5.7 three-pointers per game on 33.9% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Holy Cross has been led by Gerrale Gates (15.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.4 apg), Kyrell Luc (11.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.6 spg), Judson Martindale (9.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.1 apg), & Bo Montgomery (7.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.2 apg).

Defensviely, Holy Cross is allowing their opponents to an average of 71.3 ppg on 46.9% shooting from beyond the arc. The Crusaders have a rebound margin of -0.6 and a turnover margin of -0.4.

The Mountain Hawks are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games vs. a team with a losing straight up record & 7-1 ATS in their last 8 road games. The Crusaders are 1-9 ATS in their last 10 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400 & 4-12 ATS overall on the season.

Lehigh has been led by their offense which, despite not ranking great in terms of scoring offense, has shot the ball well as they come into this game ranked 155^th in FG% & 61^st in 3P-FG%, however, the Mountain Hawks have struggled on the defensive end and currently rank just 250^th in scoring defense & 194^th in defensive FG%. Holy Cross has really struggled on both ends of the court as the Crusaders come into this matchup ranked just 303^rd in scoring offense, t-244^th in scoring defense, & 335^th in defensive FG%.

Lehigh is just 3-8 on the road this season, however, this is a team that has some solid wins against Colgate & Navy on the season and certainly has more talent on both ends of the court when compared to Holy Cross. Holy Cross has already been defeated by Lehigh this season and as I expect the Crusaders to have trouble slowing down the Mountain Hawks offense in this one, I’m taking Lehigh to cover this road spread. Good Luck!