College Insider Tournament Picks: Harvard vs Appalachian State

Appalachian State really bombed out in its Southern Conference tournament final, shooting 29% from the field, including just four of 17 from beyond the arc, as they lost to Wofford despite a ten-point advantage in the second half.

Now the Mountaineers embark on the post-season trail, getting an opportunity from the College Insider tournament. Prior to that, AppState had won ten of its last eleven games, with the only loss coming by a point to the College of Charleston.

Harvard Crimson (21-7 SU, 11-10 ATS) at Appalachian State Mountaineers (22-12 SU, 17-9 ATS)

College Insider Tournament
Wednesday, March 17 - 7 PM ET

College Basketball Lines:  APPALACHIAN STATE -2.5, Total 144.5

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

• HARV has won four of its last five games SU
• HARV has played six of its last nine games OVER the total
• HARV has covered one of its last five road games
• HARV has won seven of its last nine road games SU
• HARV has played six of its last eight road games UNDER the total
• APST has covered ten of its last 12 games
• APST has won six of its last seven games SU
• APST has covered six of its last seven home games
• APST has won its last five home games SU
• APST has played four of its last six home games OVER the total

Donald Sims is going to need to get off better than he did against Wofford. Sims is the guy the Mountaineers' offense runs through; a 20 point-per-game scorer who went two for 15 against Wofford and whose totals in the last two games are now 6-for-26 and 19 points. If he is on his game, it's going to be hard for any member of the Harvard team to defend him.

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Both of these teams shoot well; each of them is in the neighborhood of 48% for the year. Both have had their problems with turnovers as well; Appalachian State coughed it up 15.5 times a game, while Harvard is at 15.8.

The Mountaineers were a very solid 17-9 ATS at home in the college basketball lines, so Harvard needs to come up with something special in order to compete. I'm not so sure they can.

This is just the latest stop on the coaching road for Tommy Amaker, another guy who has benefited from the Duke myth after being a player and assistant there. Schools like Seton Hall and Michigan thought they had found gold when they hired Amaker, as if the success he had experienced as an aide to Coach K would rub off.

Don't get us wrong; he's had his moments, getting Seton Hall to the Sweet 16 in 2000 and Michigan to an NIT title in 2004. But he's never really sustained anything, and much more was expected.

We encounters Buzz Peterson, another coach who has kind of taken a step backward, or to be more accurate, come full circle. A player at North Carolina, Peterson once coached at Tennessee, but underachieved, with just a couple of first-round NIT exits to show for his efforts.

He wound up at Coastal Carolina, and now is back at Appalachian State, where he began his coaching career in 1996.

We like the prowess the Mountaineers have shown at home, so we will lay the points with AppState, the 2.5-point favorite.

JAY'S PLAY: APPALACHIAN STATE -2.5 **

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)