The Vermont Catamounts (21-13) face the Western Carolina Catamounts (16-17) in the first round of the CBI tournament at Roy L Patrick Gymnasium. Action starts at 7:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Mar. 16.
The Catamounts were beaten by Stony Brook 80-74 in the 3 of the America East tournament. Trae Bell-Haynes was the team’s leading scorer, finishing with 17. The Catamounts, meanwhile, are feeling some disappointment after the 73-69 loss to Chattanooga in the 3 of the Southern tournament. Mike Brown accounted for 19 points, seven rebounds, and three steals.
Brown and Torrion Brummitt have upped their production over the last five games for the Catamounts. Brown has averaged 20.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 2.0 three-pointers during that stretch, while Brummitt has put up 20.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.4 blocks.
Despite a 21-13 Straight Up (SU) record, the Catamounts have not fared well Against The Spread (ATS) with a 1-4-1 record. They have outperformed expectations over their last 10 games, going undefeated ATS (10-0) and 8-2 SU.
On the other side, the Catamounts have 16-17 SU and 18-9-1 ATS records. Western Carolina has a good SU record over the last 10 games (7-3), but have a 0-2-1 record ATS. Teams with weak ball handling have not fared well against the Catamounts, who rank 21st in the nation with 8.0 steals per game.
This game marks the first time Vermont and Western Carolina have played one another in recent seasons.
Predictions: SU Winner – WCU, ATS Winner – WCU
Notes
“Western Carolina is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road”.
“The total has gone OVER in 5 of Western Carolina’s last 5 games on the road”.
“Western Carolina is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games “.
The Vermont Catamounts rank 87th for their offensive rating of 109.7. The Western Carolina Catamounts have a defensive rating of 103.4 (ranked 94th).
The Western Carolina Catamounts average 70.7 possessions per game and 1.031 points per possession. The Vermont Catamounts earn fewer possessions with 68.4, but they score more points with 1.097.
Vermont has the 20th-ranked average effective field goal percentage at 55.0%. Western Carolina is an abysmal 2-6 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
Vermont, the 75th-ranked team in blocked shots, records an average of 4.3 per game. Western Carolina does worse, ranked 185th with 3.3.
Western Carolina records 8.0 steals per game (ranked 21st). Vermont is 6-5 when allowing at least 8 steals.
