Yale Bulldogs (6-5) vs. Iona Gaels (8-2)
December 12, 2021 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Iona Gaels -4.5 / Yale Bulldogs +4.5; Over/Under: +145
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The Iona Gaels and the Yale Bulldogs meet in college hoops action from the Barclays Center on Sunday night.
The Iona Gaels will be out to add to an 80-54 win over Rider in their last matchup. Nelly Junior Joseph leads the Gaels in scoring and rebounding with 14.2 PPG and 8 RPG while Tyson Jolly has 14 PPG with 5.2 RPG and Quinn Slazinski has 10.6 PPG with 4.3 RPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Iona this season. Dylan van Eyck has 9.7 PPG with a team-high 3.6 APG as well as 5.1 RPG and Elijah Joiner has 9.4 PPG and 5.4 RPG this season as well. As a team, Iona is averaging 75 PPG on 42.4% shooting from the field, 32.1% from three and 72.5% from the foul line while allowing 69 PPG on 41.5% shooting from the field and 24.4% from three this season.
The Yale Bulldogs will try to build on their 71-52 win over Albany last time out. Azar Swain leads the Bulldogs in scoring and assists with 18.2 PPG and 2.1 APG while Matthue Cotton has 12.1 PPG with 4.3 RPG and Jalen Gabbidon has 10.5 PPG with a team-high 4.9 RPG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for Yale so far this season. As a team, Yale is averaging 73.6 PPG on 41.8% shooting from the field, 33% from three and 72.2% from the foul line while allowing 67.9 PPG on 41.2% shooting from the field and 32.5% from three this season.
Iona is 2-7 ATS in their last 9 Sunday games and 14-3-1 ATS in their last 18 neutral site games while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games following a win. Yale is 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games against a team with a winning record and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a win while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 Sunday games.
I get the case to be made for Yale here, as this is a Bulldogs team that’s never scared to take on any comers, but this Iona team is really good and they have a lot of size that could end up giving the Bulldogs issues. I just like the direction that Iona is headed under Rick Pitino and I think the Gaels take another step with a win and cover in this one.