NCAA Hoops: Richmond at Memphis

[Nate_Dogg]

For background I'm a Memphis alum and I follow the team very closely. That said, I can be objective about the line and I fade them when I see fit.

Tonight's game is Richmond +29 at Memphis. Memphis started slow and finished strong against a slightly better-than-expected UT-Martin last night. Martin benefited from having one of their players go off for 35 (Memphis kid who played pick-up w/ the Memphis players for the last 2 summers so he wasn't intimidated like the rest of his team).

Richmond eeked out a 44-42 win vs the mighty Maine Bears yesterday. They routinely hold the ball until there's < 10 secs on the shot clock.

I'm taking Richmond tonight for 2 units, mainly b/c I think it will be hard for the Tigers to cover when the game will effectively be several minutes shorter than last night's contest. If Richmond can do a decent job of beating the press and shoot a decent FG percentage they should be able to cover.

Also, last year's Memphis team sometimes struggled against the slow tempo teams as they are built/programmed for an up-and-down game. Last night Martin did a good job of beating the press in the first half and did not attempt to slow the pace of the game at all, which eventually allowed the Tigers depth (9-10 deep even w/o Dorsey) to wear them down. Richmond only had 7 players play material minutes yesterday so that will be an issue in the second half.

Bottom line is I think its a solid wager. Go Tigers, but not too much.