Who’s Playing
Merrimack Warriors @ Niagara Purple Eagles
Current Records: Merrimack 3-6, Niagara 4-5
How To Watch
What to Know
Niagara will be in front of their home fans on Sunday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-court advantage. They and the Merrimack Warriors will face off in a MAAC battle at 1:00 p.m. ET at Gallagher Center. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
If Merrimack heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that’s when Niagara took over last week. Niagara slipped by Siena 69-68 on Friday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Purple Eagles.
Even though they won, Niagara struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. That’s the fewest offensive rebounds they’ve posted since back in January.
Meanwhile, Merrimack beat Canisius 60-52 on Friday.
Niagara has been performing well recently as they’ve won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 4-5 record this season. As for Merrimack, their win bumped their record up to 3-6.
Keep an eye on the arc in Sunday’s match: Niagara has made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 8.9 threes per game. It’s a different story for Merrimack, though, as they’ve been averaging only 6.1. Given Niagara’s sizable advantage in that area, Merrimack will need to find a way to close that gap.
Odds
Merrimack is a slight 2-point favorite against Niagara, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 2-point spread, and stayed right there.
The over/under is 126 points.
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