LIU vs Sacred Heart 2/3/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Sacred Heart Pioneers and the LIU Sharks meet in college basketball action from the Steinberg Wellness Center on Thursday night.

The Sacred Heart Pioneers will try to snap a three-game losing skid after a 71-66 loss to St. Francis-Brooklyn last time out. Tyler Thomas leads the Pioneers in scoring with 17.8 PPG and 2.3 APG while Aaron Clarke has 16.1 PPG with a team-high 4 APG to lead Sacred Heart in assists so far this season. Nico Galette has 10.7 PPG with a team-high 8.3 RPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Sacred Heart as the Pioneers’ top rebounder. As a team, Sacred Heart is averaging 65.3 PPG on 44% shooting from the field, 34.5% from three and 70.8% from the foul line while allowing 67.8 PPG on 46% shooting from the field and 35.9% from three this season.

The LIU Sharks will look to rebound from back-to-back losses after an 88-81 loss to Bryant on the road last time out. Ty Flowers leads the Sharks in scoring with 19.2 PPG along with 7.4 RPG and 3 APG while Eral Penn has 15.3 PPG with 7.3 RPG. Isaac Kante’s got 11.7 PPG and a team-high 7.9 RPG to make up the trio of double-digit scorers for LIU as the Sharks’ top rebounder. Tre Wood also leads the Sharks with 3.5 APG as well this season. As a team, LIU is averaging 73.5 PPG on 41.8% shooting from the field, 31.5% from three and 66.2% from the foul line while allowing 73.1 PPG on 41.5% shooting from the field and 32.7% from three this season.

Sacred Heart is 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a losing record while the over is 4-1-1 in their last 6 games overall. LIU is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games against a team with a losing road record while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 Thursday games.

I get the case to be made for a team like Sacred Heart as LIU isn’t the first team I normally associate with laying big numbers. However, the Pioneers have been blown out in their two road games this month, and say what you want about the Sharks, but LIU has battled hard at home this season, taking the conference top dog in Wagner to OT as well as posting big wins over Central Connecticut State and Mount St. Mary’s. I think this is a double-digit win for LIU, so I’ll lay it and play it with the Sharks here.