The Oakland Golden Grizzlies take on the Towson Tigers in the first round of the CAA tournament at Mandalay Bay Event Center. Action starts at 9:00 pm ET on Monday, Mar. 28 and will air on CCS.
The Tigers fell to Northeastern 71-60 in the 2. Timajh Parker-Rivera had a good game, contributing seven points, 11 rebounds, and one block for Towson. The Golden Grizzlies, meanwhile, are feeling some disappointment after the 59-55 loss to Wright State in the 3. Jalen Hayes scored 14 points and recorded 10 rebounds earning his 15th double-double of the season.
Baskets could be hard to come by as Towson ranks eighth in the nation, allowing just 100.6 points per 100 possessions, while Oakland is 12th (105.8). It will also be a tale of two tempos, as the up-tempo Golden Grizzlies are ranked 15th in possessions per game with the grind-it-out Tigers at 313th.
The Tigers enter the game with records of 20-12 Straight Up (SU) and 12-12 Against The Spread (ATS). The Tigers have seen an uptick in scoring as of late, averaging 86.5 points during the last 10 games compared to their season average of 71.4 points per game. Below-average play has been the norm lately for the Towson defense. The Tigers have given up an average of 78.0 points to opponents in their last 10 games, well over their defense’s season average of 66.8 PPG.
On the other side, the Golden Grizzlies have 21-11 SU and 19-7-1 ATS records. During the last 10 games, they averaged 71.8 PPG, below their 86.3 PPG season average. The Golden Grizzlies convert their free throws at a high percentage, ranking ninth in the nation at .768. The Golden Grizzlies rarely make costly errors handling the ball. They have the 42nd-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country at 1.35. The Oakland defense has allowed an average of 72.0 points per game during the last 10 games, lower than their season average of 78.9. Teams seem to consistently miss shots against the Golden Grizzlies, who are the 11th-best team in the nation in terms of opponent field goal percentage allowed at .434.
Towson and Oakland will be facing off for their first head-to-head game in recent seasons.
Predictions: SU Winner – Oak, ATS Winner – Oak
Notes
Towson has allowed an average of 63.2 points per home game this season. Oakland averages 85.4 points per away game, ranking second in scoring.
The Oakland Golden Grizzlies rank 11th for their offensive rating of 116.6. The Towson Tigers have a defensive rating of 100.6 (ranked eighth).
Towson has an average field goal percentage of 42.7%. Oakland is a losing 6-10 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Towson Tigers rank higher based on their field goal percentage (240th) than their effective field goal percentage (284th). The Oakland Golden Grizzlies rank higher based on their effective field goal percentage (52nd) than their field goal percentage (76th).
Oakland ranks 42nd in assists, recording 15.6 per game. Towson performs worse at 311th with 11.3 assists per game.
Towson, the 44th-ranked team in blocked shots, records an average of 4.7 per game. Oakland does worse, ranked 163rd with 3.5.
The Towson Tigers are among the best offensive rebounding teams in the country (ranked fifth). The Oakland Golden Grizzlies rank 26th in defensive rebounding.
On average, Oakland forces a turnover rate of 16.6%, ranked 12th in the nation. When Towson turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a winning 12-7 record.
