The Monmouth Hawks and the Princeton Tigers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Jadwin Gym. Monmouth is 1-8 on the year so far and coming off their first win over Manhattan. As for Princeton, they’re sitting at 7-2 on the season. The Tigers took out Lafayette in their last game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Monmouth lost eight straight games to open up the season. Those defeats came courtesy of Seton Hall, Virginia, Illinois, Norfolk State, Colgate, Cornell, Lehigh and Rider. The Hawks’ first win came over Manhattan last weekend.
In the Sunday game versus Manhattan, Monmouth got off to a 44-29 edge by the break. The Hawks were outscored 40-32 from there but still won 76-69. Myles Ruth led the way with 21 points and two rebounds.
Over on the Princeton side, they lost to Hofstra and Navy in their first pair. The Tigers rebounded with wins over UMBC, Marist, Army, Northeastern, Cairn and Drexel in the next six outings.
On Tuesday versus Lafayette, Princeton was able to keep the streak going. The Tigers were up three points at halftime and ended up with a 69-58 victory after 38 second-half points. Ryan Langborg was tops on 19 points and five rebounds.
PICK: I’m going to stick with Princeton. The Tigers are riding high right now on this seven-game win streak. Princeton has scored pretty well along the way—they’ve hit 69 or more points in seven of their nine outings. As for Monmouth, they played great against Manhattan in their last game. That said, the Hawks have struggled mightily this year and they’ve given up 80 or more points in four of their last five. Princeton should have no issues putting up a big score here.