Recent Play Details

Monmouth (7PM ET Flo Sports) – Another 2-0 day on Wednesday as Missouri comes back to get the win and we cash another 5% MAX BET on UNC Asheville.  We are RED HOT on the CBB hardwood, it’s an 8-1 overall run and I’ll continue to press with another 5% MAX BET in CAA action when the #18 Charleston Cougars hit the road to battle the Monmouth Hawks at the OceanFirst Bank Center in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

I’m going to get to the matchup and caliber of these teams last because I think that’s the least important part of the handicap here.  It’s obvious Charleston is the better team, the Cougars are #18 in the country, they are 19-1 and haven’t lost a game since early November against then #1 North Carolina so there’s not a person on planet Earth that is going to make a case for Monmouth being the “better” team here.  There’s also not many that are going to make a case for Monmouth at all, but I sat across from the Monmouth bench when they played at Colgate earlier this season and saw the way King Rice coached this team.  I’ve also listened to Rice in multiple post game press conferences, he’s stated numerous times that this was always going to be a learning experience and I would say Monmouth is one of the more optimistic 1-17 teams I’ve ever come across.  Monmouth lacks legitimate talent but the Hawks are one of the youngest teams in the country and have played hard in games where they were way overmatched trying to improve. 

Rice has talked about how difficult the jump from the MACC to the CAA would be with one of the most inexperienced rosters in the country but this young Hawks team is gaining experience with each game.  Monmouth stayed within THIS number on the road against Syracuse and in game I was at against a strong Colgate team.  Monmouth also hung with Wilmington on this floor, a team I consider roughly equal to Charleston, losing to the Seahawks by just 13.  Monmouth nearly beat a good Norfolk State team here and kept it within a 21-point margin against Cornell, Stony Brook, Hofstra and Towson.  For as good as Charleston has been I’m not fully sold that the Cougars are THAT much better than the likes of Wilmington, Towson and Hofstra (Monmouth would have covered +21 against all of these teams so far).  I think the Monmouth efforts are going to get better as these players get CAA game after CAA game under their belts, I could see Charleston overlooking lowly Monmouth and love this as a spot where the Hawks can give their fans an effort they can be proud of here. 

That brings me to the fans, one might think there wouldn’t be much interest in seeing 1-16 Monmouth play but I’ve come to know the Monmouth fan base (from their time playing Siena on an annual basis in the MAAC) as a passionate fan base that will likely show up for this game even if to just see their team take a shot at one of the better teams in the country this season.  The OceanFirst Bank Center is only about 15 years old, it’s a 4,000 seat arena on campus that would easily sell out for a game like this if Monmouth was good and, with students now back, there should be a decent crowd on hand tonight.  If Charleston is fully focused here AND plays their best game they will cover this number but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this turns into a “load management” type game for Charleston with this being the Cougars fourth game in eight days with a road trip to Northeastern on deck for this weekend.  Rice is a veteran coach that knows how to handle a rebuild, he encouraged his guys the entire time when I could basically hear every word he was saying at Colgate and I think the mindset at Monmouth is go out and try to get better for next year, not the desperation of a team losing basically every game.  A team like that is dangerous, Monmouth has nothing to lose and everything to gain in a home game here.  I think Monmouth plays hard for 40 minutes tonight and this one tucks inside the 21 point margin without much issue.  Play on Monmouth +21 (-110) for 5% (or 5 units)