Monmouth vs Niagara 3/10/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Niagara Purple Eagles and the Monmouth Hawks meet in college basketball action from the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall on Thursday night.

The Niagara Purple Eagles come into this one as the #5 seed in the conference tournament, picking up a 14-15 overall record including a 9-11 mark in MAAC conference play this season. Marcus Hammond leads the Purple Eagles in scoring with 18.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 2.8 APG while Noah Thomasson has 10.8 PPG and a team-high 3.4 APG to lead the Purple Eagles in assists as well as make up the pair of double-digit scorers for Niagara so far this season as Niagara’s top assist man. Sam Iorio also has 8.7 PPG and a team-high 6 RPG. As a team, Niagara is averaging 67.7 PPG on 44.2% shooting from the field, 34.5% from three and 73.9% from the foul line while allowing 65.7 PPG on 41.6% shooting from the field and 32.6% from three this season.

The Monmouth Hawks enter the tourney as the #4 seed with a 19-12 mark overall and an 11-9 record in conference play this season. George Papas leads the Hawks in scoring and assists with 15.3 PPG, 5.5 RPG and 2.9 APG while Shavar Reynolds has 14.1 PPG with 3 RPG. Walker Miller’s got 14.6 PPG and 6 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Monmouth so far this season. Nikkei Rutty also has a team-high 7.6 RPG of his own to lead the Hawks in rebounding so far this season. As a team, Monmouth is averaging 69.2 PPG on 42.3% shooting from the field, 32.5% from three and 72.5% from the foul line while allowing 67.8 PPG on 40.5% shooting from the field and 31.7% from three this season.

Niagara is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 5-0-1 in their last 6 games following a win. Monmouth is 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a losing record and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games following a loss.

I get why this may be a harder game than one would think as these two split the two regular season meetings. However, while Monmouth has been skidding coming into the tournament, the reality here is that the Hawks are one of the teams to beat with Iona now bounced from the tournament. I’ll take my chances with Monmouth laying only a bucket here.