Tip off: 9 PM EST
Spread: SH -8.5
Total: 135.5
M/L: SH -400, AUB +330
Betting Lines taken from Bookmaker
AUBURN
Last season was pretty dreadful for the Tigers. They finished with an 11-20 record and lost to Georgia 69-51 in the first round of the SEC tournament.
Things may be off to a better start this season. By virtue of playing four pretty poor opponents, the Tigers are off to a 4-0 start and have won every game by at least 13 points. Now, the teams they have beaten: McNeese State, Kennesaw, Nicholls State, and Arkansas Pine Bluff. So, now you see why they are still 8.5 point underdogs to a much better Seton Hall team.
Trying to help the Tigers cause will be 6’1″ junior guard Frankie Sullivan. He is leading the way in scoring with 14.3 points per game and posted 22 points on 6 of 11 shooting in the win over Kennesaw State. Throw out a poor 3 of 12 shooting night against McNeese, and he has hit 15 of 28 shots for better than 50%. But players do have bad games.
Their team leader, though, is Varez Ford. The 6’2″ sophomore point guard was a transfer student from Texas and missed two years of ball due to a quadricep injury and having to sit out the transfer season. So far it has been a good return to basketball for Ford: 12.0 points per game, 5.8 assists per game, and 4.8 boards per game. He and Sullivan are also combining for 3.6 steals a game, accounting for a good third of the turnovers forced by the Tigers. They will need to play that kind of tenacious defense and utilize their depth (9 player rotation) to have a chance tonight against Seton Hall.
SETON HALL
Seton Hall, like Auburn, if off to a good start at 5-1, but also like Auburn, the Pirates haven’t had a tough schedule.
But they did beat VCU. That victory is a reason for hope for a team that finished 13-18 last season while posting only a 7-11 record in the Big East. Their defense will enable them to stay in games though, and if they can continue to get big scoring nights from Herb Pope and Jordan Theodore, they could make some waves this season.
Pope & Theodore are combining for 38 points per game, while Pope, a 6’8″ senior forward, is also in double digit boards with 11.7 rebounds per night, while also shooting 51% from the floor and he has hit 5 of his 12 threes this season. Pope has also posted a double double in all but his 32 point outburst against Northwestern when he managed “only” 9 boards.
Theodore, the 6’0″ senior floor general for the Pirates, has also put up 17.5 points per game while posting a team high 6.7 assists per night. He has already had two 10 assist games and has scored in double figures in all Pirates games. He hasn’t shot well from the field, though, and is going to have to improve his shot selection to better his 37% field goal percentage.
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