The Saint Joseph’s Hawks (5-2) square off against the Princeton Tigers (4-1) at Michael J. Hagan ’85 Arena. The game gets underway at 7:00 pm ET on Tuesday, Dec. 8.
The Hawks won a close one over Columbia 80-78 on Friday. Aaron Brown was the game’s leading scorer with 26 points on 11-for-16 shooting. The Tigers, meanwhile, are feeling some disappointment after their 91-77 loss against Stony Brook on Saturday. Devin Cannady had a team-high 16 points.
Saint Joseph’s, a four-point favorite, will look to capitalize at home against Princeton. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is set at 153 points. The Hawks have gone 5-2 Straight Up (SU) and 3-4 Against The Spread (ATS). An area where the Hawks are particularly strong is shot blocking, where they average 5.6 blocks per game, 29th in Division I. Saint Joseph’s has given up very few turnovers with an average of only 10.3 per game.
Over on the other bench, Princeton has a SU record of 4-1 and an ATS record of 1-1. When it comes to making good decisions with the ball, not many are better than the Tigers. They have one of the top assist-to-turnover ratios in the country at 1.53. Switching gears to the Princeton defense, the Tigers allow very few three-pointers on defense with 6.0 given up per game. The Tigers are a terror on the defensive glass, averaging an impressive 30.0 defensive rebounds per game.
Saint Joseph’s and Princeton meet for what will be their first head-to-head battle of the season. Princeton won the last game in the matchup, bringing its SU record to 2-1. Additionally, with a 2-1 record, Princeton has the advantage ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – Prince, ATS Winner – Prince, O/U – Over
Notes
Saint Joseph’s is 3-6 ATS in its last 9 games.
Saint Joseph’s is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games at home.
The Princeton Tigers have a defensive rating of 92.2 (ranked 43rd), while the Saint Joseph’s Hawks have an offensive rating of 107.9 (ranked 136th).
With 69.5 possessions and 1.079 points per possession, the Saint Joseph’s Hawks perform worse on both metrics than the Princeton Tigers. Princeton averages 71.9 possessions and 1.143 points per possession.
The Saint Joseph’s Hawks average an effective field goal percentage of 49.4% this season. The Princeton Tigers have split their games this season (1-1) when opponents have an eFG% of 49.4% or greater.
The Saint Joseph’s Hawks average 19.0 three point attempts per game, and the Princeton Tigers attempt 27.0 per game. When going for at least 20 three pointers in a game this season, Saint Joseph’s is a perfect 2-0, while Princeton also has a winning record (3-1).
Saint Joseph’s ranks 52nd in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.39, while Princeton ranks 26th with an A/TO of 1.53.
Princeton, the 59th-ranked team in rebounding, registers an average of 41.2 rebounds per game. Saint Joseph’s does worse, ranked 177th with 37.3.
The Saint Joseph’s Hawks average 4.1 steals per game. The Princeton Tigers are undefeated at 2-0 when they allow at least 4 steals.
