It’s the final game of the NIT on Thursday, as the Indiana State Sycamores are slated to take on the Seton Hall Pirates. Both teams were #1 seeds in their region, and both felt they should have been part of the NCAA Tournament. Now they will meet at Hinkle Fieldhouse, on the campus of Butler University.
The Indiana State Sycamores come into the game with a 32-6 record on the season. The Sycamores won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title, but fell to Drake in the conference tournament title game. Indiana State is coming off a win over Utah.
For Seton Hall, they are 24-12 on the season. The Pirates finished fourth in a tough Big East Conference. The Pirates are coming off a blowout win at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs on Tuesday.
The Indiana State Sycamores are -2.5 in this game over the Seton Hall Pirates.
Talk of the Town – Indiana State
So far in the NIT, the Indiana State Sycamores have played four games, and twice they have scored 100+ points. They scored 101 against SMU and 100 against Utah. The middle two games saw them score 76 and 85. On the season now, Indiana State is up to 85.1 points per game.
The Sycamores are making more than 50% of their shots and nearly 11 three point shots made per game. Indiana State has the fourth best free throw percentage in the country as well. Robbie Avila has been the leader on the offensive side. In the win over Utah, he scored 26 points and ripped down 10 rebounds.
Ryan Conwell is next for the Sycamores, and he has been great as well. In three of the four tournament games, he has scored 23+ points. Indiana State lost two non conference games this season. The first was on the road at Alabama, and the second was against Michigan State.
Battle Tested Pirates
There is no doubt that the Seton Hall Pirates have been battle tested. In the Big East with powers like UConn, Marquette and Creighton, the Pirates saw them all. In fact, the Pirates ended the month of February against Creighton, and lost, and started March with a loss at UConn.
In the NIT, the Pirates have beaten Saint Joseph, North Texas, UNLV and now Georgia. During those four games, Seton Hall is scoring 80 points per game. The defense for Seton Hall has only allowed more than 70 in the tournament once.
Kadary Richmond is the top scorer for the Pirates. In the win over Georgia, Richmond scored 15 points. Dre Davis is next, and he was solid in the win as well. In 37 minutes, Davis scored 19 points and recorded 9 rebounds. The Pirates last loss was in the Big East Tournament to St. John’s.
Thriller at Hinkle
What a game this should be. The Indiana State Sycamores are going to have the crowd advantage, with the game played in their home state. Indiana State just keeps passing every test, running through four other NIT contenders along their way. Look for one more here, before their head coach takes a new job. Our final bet for this game is the Indiana State Sycamores -2.5 over the Seton Hall Pirates on Thursday to win the NIT title.
100% up to $3,000 Bonus
Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.