Recent Play Details

Niagara (2PM ET ESPN Plus) – UTEP missed a three pointer at the buzzer that would have given us a winning Saturday and it ends up being our first setback on what has otherwise been a huge week.  We are going to finish well in the plus this week regardless of what happens today but I’d love to finish it out strong on Sunday and I’ll head back to the MAAC to kick things off as we go back to the well with the Niagara Purple Eagles when they take on the St Peter’s Peacocks at the Yanitelli Center in Jersey City, New Jersey.

The arena is now called the Run Baby Run Arena but that’s the opposite of what Niagara wants to do, and I think slow and steady is going to win the race for the Purple Eagles here.  Niagara controlled the pace for most of the game against Rider but got out of sorts at the end allowing Rider to get a couple quick buckets that led to a final lead change which ended up losing the game (Niagara still covered the +5) for the Purple Eagles.  The difference here is Rider is capable of that while St Peter’s simply isn’t as the Peacocks have been one of the worst offensive teams in the country all season. This is common knowledge at this point but I’ll say it again, THIS IS NOT THE SAME ST PETER’S TEAM THAT WENT TO THE ELITE EIGHT LAST YEAR.  Bashir Mason is in his first season as head coach and he inherited a roster void of any real talent.  To make things even more difficult, transfers like Cam Young, Alex Rivera and Kyle Cardaci really haven’t done anything.  St Peter’s ranks 361st nationally in field goal percentage and are one of the worst three point shooting teams in the country.  St Peter’s also likes to play slow so Niagara won’t have a stylistic clash like they did with Rider.  Essentially St Peter’s is a worse version of Niagara and the Purple Eagles do everything that the Peacocks want to do but do it better.  Niagara comes in off four straight losses, the Purple Eagles are desperate for a win and should get it in what is just a dream matchup for Niagara here.

Niagara really couldn’t be more unlucky to be on a four game losing skid right now, they have lost their past four games by 5, 6, 2, and 3 respectively and had a lead in all of those games late.  It has to be frustrating for head coach Greg Paulus but this is a guy that took over a program that had nothing and has had them competitive in the MAAC since the day he got there so I don’t think you are going to see a Niagara team 4-5 in conference play come out and hang their heads here.  Instead I think you see EXACTLY what I alluded to in the last paragraph, a team that does what St Peter’s wants to do but does it better. Niagara will slow this game down except they are hitting 44.5% from the field as a team and have a player in Noah Thomasson capable of creating and getting buckets.  Niagara also shoots it well as a team from three, hitting 35.8 percent as a team which is good for 86th nationally.  Niagara isn’t going to turn the ball over so points are going to be EXTREMELY difficult to come by for St Peter’s here and if this one gets physical (very possible) Niagara has a nice edge at the free throw line as well. 

In the end this is as good of a matchup that Niagara could ever ask for in what is easily their most desperate spot of the season. Niagara badly needs a win right now, they could have won ALL of their past four games and I think a focused Purple Eagles team finally snaps their losing skid against a St Peter’s team that isn’t going to generate enough half court offense to hang for 40 minutes here. Play on Niagara +1 (-110) for 4% (or 4 units)