Duquesne Dukes Vs. St. Joseph's Hawks: Betting Odds and Picks, Jan. 21, 2009
Duquesne Dukes vs. St. Joseph's Hawks
Free Pick: Duquesne +6.5 (-110)—Click Here for Betting Odds
Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 7:00p
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The Duquesne Dukes have quietly become one of the better shooting teams in the country, and they get the call as decided underdogs when they visit the St. Joseph's Hawks tonight.
The Dukes are averaging 79.0 points per game this season while going 12-5 straight up, and that scoring average actually rises to 80.7 points on the road, where they are a good 5-2 straight up. Duquesne is hitting 47.0 percent of their shots this season, but that does not tell the entire story.
You see, the Dukes are hitting on an amazing 55.0 percent of their two-point attempts this year, which ranks them No. 15 in the entire country in that category. They are also a good offensive rebounding team, so even when they have missed, they have still made up for it with many second-chance points that have improved their scoring average.
This makes for a terrible matchup for a Hawks team that allows offensive rebounds on an unacceptable 37.5 percent of opponents' shots, ranking them 299th in that category. St. Joe's is just a modest 9-7 straight up this season, and their home record of 4-3 is actually worse than the road record of the Dukes.
Now the Hawks are on a 4-0 run both straight up and against the spread, but they have not faced a team as talented as Duquesne during this stretch, and they were fortunate to cover vs. NC Charlotte in their last game, as they did not cover the entire game until the closing seconds.
Look for the Dukes to keep this close and possibly win outright.
College basketball Free Pick: Duquesne +6.5 (-110)—Courtesy of LT Profits