PREMIUM
Rogers' 10* Tuesday TOP TICKET >> 26-15-1 in College Hoops!
(NCAAB) Northeastern vs. Harvard,
Point Spread: -3.00 | -105.00 Harvard (Home)
Result: Win
Point Spread: -3.00 | -105.00 Harvard (Home)
Result: Win
The set-up: Northeastern opened the season 4-2 but head into this game at Harvard 4-4, having lost each of its last two contests, falling at Cornell and Stony Brook. The Huskies are in the midst of a four-game road swing and will wrap at Vermont on Saturday. The Crimson are just 2-4 to open a season in which it had hoped to return to the top of the Ivy League standings. Harvard won five straight Ivy titles (four straight NCAA appearances) before last year's team went just 14-16, including 4th in the Ivy League at 6-8. Harvard will be playing in consecutive games for the first time this year, as after it hosts Northeastern, it will head to Boston College for a game Wednesday night.
Northeastern: Bill Coen is in his 11th year at Northeastern, having had three 20-win teams in that at stretch, including a 23-12 season back in 2015, when the Huskies gave No. 3 seed Notre Dame all it wanted in a 69-65 first-round NCAA loss to the Fighting Irish. Northeastern finished 18-15 last season and reached the CAA Tournament semifinals for the fourth-straight season under Coen, who is now in his 11th season at the helm of Northeastern in 2016-17, totaling a 167-164 overall record. This year's team is led by seniors T.J. Williams and the 6-8 Alex Murphy. Williams is averaging 22.8-3.6-6.6 and Murphy 14.1 & 5.9.
Harvard: Head coach Tommy Amaker is in his 10th season with Harvard and after six straight 20-plus win seasons and four straight NCAA appearances, Harvard was just 14-16 last year, including 4th in the Ivy League at 6-8. He has a roster that includes seven freshmen and six sophomores this season but one of those newcomers, freshman guard Aiken leads the team in scoring at 12.4 PPG. 6-7 freshman forward Seth Towns is second in scoring at 11.5 PPG (adds 4.3 RPG) plus fellow freshman Henry Welsh (at 6-10), is averaging a team-best 5.7 RPG (adds 5.8 PPG). The top-two returning players are senior guard Chambers (8.4 & 6.6 APG) and sophomore guard Johnson (9.5).
The pick: Harvard may be just 2-4 so far but Amaker is just one win from tying Frank Sullivan as the all-time winningest head coach at Harvard. Amaker has directed the Crimson to a period of unprecedented prosperity in the form of four NCAA tournament appearances (2012-15), five Ivy League championships (2011-15) and six 20-win seasons (2010-15). Under Amaker, Harvard has posted a 155-63 (.711) overall record since the start of the 2009-10 season, ranking as the 19th-highest win percentage in the country over the last six-plus seasons (as of games played Dec. 3). Harvard has also posted an 82-14 (.854) record at Lavietes Pavilion since the start of the 2009-10 season, representing the 18th highest home-court win percentage in the country over the last six-plus seasons (again, as of games played Dec. 3). Good enough for me to make Harvard a 10* play against this so-so Northeastern squad.
Northeastern: Bill Coen is in his 11th year at Northeastern, having had three 20-win teams in that at stretch, including a 23-12 season back in 2015, when the Huskies gave No. 3 seed Notre Dame all it wanted in a 69-65 first-round NCAA loss to the Fighting Irish. Northeastern finished 18-15 last season and reached the CAA Tournament semifinals for the fourth-straight season under Coen, who is now in his 11th season at the helm of Northeastern in 2016-17, totaling a 167-164 overall record. This year's team is led by seniors T.J. Williams and the 6-8 Alex Murphy. Williams is averaging 22.8-3.6-6.6 and Murphy 14.1 & 5.9.
Harvard: Head coach Tommy Amaker is in his 10th season with Harvard and after six straight 20-plus win seasons and four straight NCAA appearances, Harvard was just 14-16 last year, including 4th in the Ivy League at 6-8. He has a roster that includes seven freshmen and six sophomores this season but one of those newcomers, freshman guard Aiken leads the team in scoring at 12.4 PPG. 6-7 freshman forward Seth Towns is second in scoring at 11.5 PPG (adds 4.3 RPG) plus fellow freshman Henry Welsh (at 6-10), is averaging a team-best 5.7 RPG (adds 5.8 PPG). The top-two returning players are senior guard Chambers (8.4 & 6.6 APG) and sophomore guard Johnson (9.5).
The pick: Harvard may be just 2-4 so far but Amaker is just one win from tying Frank Sullivan as the all-time winningest head coach at Harvard. Amaker has directed the Crimson to a period of unprecedented prosperity in the form of four NCAA tournament appearances (2012-15), five Ivy League championships (2011-15) and six 20-win seasons (2010-15). Under Amaker, Harvard has posted a 155-63 (.711) overall record since the start of the 2009-10 season, ranking as the 19th-highest win percentage in the country over the last six-plus seasons (as of games played Dec. 3). Harvard has also posted an 82-14 (.854) record at Lavietes Pavilion since the start of the 2009-10 season, representing the 18th highest home-court win percentage in the country over the last six-plus seasons (again, as of games played Dec. 3). Good enough for me to make Harvard a 10* play against this so-so Northeastern squad.
