The Brown Bears will travel to Gallagher Center to challenge the Niagara Purple Eagles in their home opener. Action begins at 7:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
The Purple Eagles fell to Saint Joseph’s 73-62 on Sunday. Karonn Davis had a good game for Niagara, finishing with five points, three steals, and three rebounds. The Bears are coming off a 71-55 win over Holy Cross on Monday. Steven Spieth had a big game and claimed his first double-double of the season, registering 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Niagara is a slim underdog, with Brown favored by one. The Over/Under (O/U) is set at 145 points. While the Purple Eagles are 0-2 Straight Up (SU) so far, they’ve managed an Against The Spread (ATS) record of 2-0 so far.
Over on the other bench, the Bears have started the season poorly ATS with a 0-1 record to go along with a 1-1 SU record. The Bears have one of the best opponent three-point field goal percentages in the country at .205. The Bears have established a reputation of cleaning up the defensive glass with 34.5 defensive rebounds per game, making them one of the top teams in the nation.
This game marks the first time these teams will play this season. The last time these two played, Niagara won, bringing the head-to-head record to an even 1-1 SU. The teams also have an even 1-1 record ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – Nia, ATS Winner – Nia, O/U – Over
Notes
Niagara is 5-16 SU in its last 21 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Niagara’s last 8 games.
Niagara is 4-15 SU in its last 19 games at home.
The Brown Bears have a defensive rating of 89.6 (ranked 93rd), while the Niagara Purple Eagles have an offensive rating of 81.0 (ranked 329th).
The Niagara Purple Eagles average a field goal percentage of 31.4% this season. The Brown Bears are a winless 0-1 when opponents have a FG% of 31.4% or greater.
On average, Niagara attempts 23.0 three pointers and Brown attempts 28.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Niagara Purple Eagles are winless at 0-1 while the Brown Bears are even at 1-1.
The Niagara Purple Eagles average 5.5 steals per game. When allowing 5 or more steals, the Brown Bears are an even 1-1 this season.
