After enduring a tough early schedule, Fairfield is the play at home in the Arena at Harbor Yard tonight versus Manhattan.
Fairfield finally gets back to playing someone in its own league. and it also happesn to be their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener. The Stags have played a brutal schedule thus far and are more battle-tested than Manhattan.
The schedule for Fairfield has included Boston College, Providence, Loyola-Chicago, Georgetown, Connecticut, Mississippi and St. Joseph’s. It doesn’t hurt saying that all of those games were losses as all helped get the Stags ready for MAAC play. Greg Nero (12.5 ppg) and Michael Van Schaick (11.2) emerged from that early run as Fairfield's top scorers.
The Jaspers have not played nearly close to the same toughness of slate, and they have only two wins to show for it. A loss to Memphis last time out was certainly quality, but defeats against New Jersey Tech and Boston U do not look very good. It is a big rebuilding year for Manhattan as they are not only replacing six key players, but also its head coach.
Despite playing a schedule that ranks 160 spots higher, the Stags have edges in some important statistical areas. The biggest sure sign of a young team is how it takes care of the ball and that is something Manhattan has not done a good job of. The Jaspers turn the ball over 18.7 times per game, 41st-worst in the county while their assist/turnover ratio of 0.59 is 32nd-lowest in the nation. Considering that the Jaspers have played the 37th-easiest schedule, those averages are even worse.
Fairfield has a ratio of 0.79 which is nothing to write home about. But with the Stags' schedule, it’s pretty solid. Neither team is shooting or defending very well but the slight edge goes to the Stags on that one. They also have an edge at the charity stripe as Manhattan is hitting a woeful 63.7 percent from the line. Turnover of personnel is the cause as the Jaspers hit close to 70 percent last season. Fairfield is laying a very short price at home and should be able to take care of Manhattan by pulling away in the second half.
SBR Top-Rated Sportsbooks
Matt Fargo: Stags -3 vs Jaspers
Reply With Quote