The Omaha Mavericks play the Duquesne Dukes in the first round of the CBI tournament at A.J. Palumbo Center. The game gets underway at 7:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Mar. 16.
The Dukes fell to La Salle 88-73 in the 1 of the Atlantic 10 tournament. Micah Mason was the team’s leading scorer with 26 points. The Mavericks, meanwhile, are coming off a 78-70 loss at the hands of Denver in the 1 of the Summit League tournament. Tra-Deon Hollins led the team in scoring with 17 points.
There could be a fair amount of transition offense in a game that features two of the nation’s more up-tempo teams. Duquesne is ranked 26th in the nation in possessions per game (73.0), while Omaha is sixth (74.2).
The Dukes have gone 16-16 Straight Up (SU) and 14-15 Against The Spread (ATS). In their last 10 games, they are 3-7 ATS. The rebounding edge goes to the Dukes in this matchup, who are one of the top rebounding teams in the nation with an average of 39.2 boards per game.
As for their opponent, Omaha has a SU record of 18-13 and an ATS record of 14-13. Omaha is one of the top foul-shooting teams in the nation, connecting on 18.0 shots from the line per game.
Duquesne and Omaha have not played one another in a regular season matchup in recent years.
Predictions: SU Winner – NEOma, ATS Winner – NEOma
Notes
“Duquesne is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games at home”.
“Duquesne is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games at home”.
“The total has gone OVER in 7 of Duquesne’s last 9 games at home”.
“Duquesne is 1-9 SU in its last 10 games “.
“The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Duquesne’s last 5 games “.
With 73.0 possessions and 1.075 points per possession, the Duquesne Dukes perform worse on both metrics than the Omaha Mavericks. Omaha averages 74.2 possessions and 1.103 points per possession.
The Omaha Mavericks average an effective field goal percentage of 52.1% this season. The Duquesne Dukes have an underachieving record of 2-9 when opponents have an eFG% of 52.1% or greater.
On average, the Duquesne Dukes attempt 25.0 three point field goals per game and the Omaha Mavericks attempt 17.0. In games where they attempt at least 20 threes, Duquesne is an even 15-15, while Omaha has a losing record of 4-8.
Duquesne, the 46th-ranked team in rebounding, register an average of 39.2 rebounds per game. Omaha does worse, ranked 220th with 34.3.
Omaha averages 9.1 steals per game, ranking fifth in the country. Duquesne is a losing 1-4 when it allows at least 9 steals.
