Ivy League Game of the Week – Harvard at Princeton

BetOnline NCAA Basketball Odds: PRINCETON -5, Total 122

Here are some of the NCAA basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* HARV has covered one of its last eight games

* HARV has lost six of its last seven games SU

* HARV has lost 20 of its last 25 road games SU

* PRIN has won seven of its last ten games SU

* PRIN has played its last five games UNDER the total

Also…

* PRIN has won 16 of the last 19 meetings SU

* PRIN has covered five of the last eight meetings

* Five of the last seven meetings have gone OVER the total

* PRIN has won the last five meetings SU as the home team

* HARV has had the shooting edge in four of the last five meetings

* PRIN has made more three-pointers in each of the last nine meetings

What now for Princeton, a team that has been through a nightmare in the last week? The Tigers, after scoring a lopsided 63-35 win over Columbia that brought their Ivy league record to 4-0, have lost three straight, scoring just 146 points in the process and shooting less than 36%. Now it is time to regroup, and they may be facing just the right team in that respect.

Harvard’s only win in the last seven games came against Brown, the Ivy’s last-place team, and in their last outing, a loss to Columbia, they allowed the Lions to shoot 54% from beyond the three-point arc. The Crimson often plays the "Ole!" style on defense, as opponents have shot 47% against them. That is one area where the deliberate Tigers will have a decided edge, since the well-drilled Princeton five permits just 39% field goals.

Harvard burns a hole in its backers’ pockets. The game against Columbia was actually a cover – the first in an eight-game period and only the third all year. There was some minor encouragement when Drew Housman and Andrew Pusar both connected for 11 points, but by and large the problem is that Jeremy Lin is the team’s only double-digit scorer, and when he is not maintaining his 52% accuracy rate, this team suffers from energy deficiency.

Lin is sometimes hassled as part of the opponent’s game plan, and it has its effects. First-place Cornell put extra pressure on Lin, also the Crimson’s assist leader, and forced eight turnovers without any assists. On January 31, Lin lit up Princeton for 27 points, but Harvard still fell by six points at home. If Lin can duplicate that effort, Harvard can hang. If he can’t – and Princeton coach Sydney Johnson, who knows how – can come up with a defensive package to slow him down.

We prefer the non-explosive but deeper Princeton club, the five-point favorite in the BetOnline NCAA college basketball sports betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: PRINCETON -5 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

(Charles Jay makes his share of shots from downtown as a contributor to the BetOnline Locker Room)