Get ready for a 2021 Atlantic 10 Tournament battle as the No. 5-seeded Massachusetts Minutemen and the No. 13-seeded Saint Joseph's Hawks will face off at 1 p.m. ET in the second round on Thursday. Saint Joseph's is 5-14 while UMass is 7-6 on the season. This will be the first meeting of the season between these programs, but UMass has won six of the last 10 matchups and has gone 6-3-1 against the spread during that span.
However, neither team has been profitable against the number this season, with UMass going 6-7 while Saint Joseph's is 7-11-1 ATS. The Minutemen are favored by four points in the latest UMass vs. Saint Joseph's odds from William Hill Sportsbook and the over-under is set at 152.5. Before entering any Saint Joseph's vs. UMass picks, you'll want to see the college basketball predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. Over the past four-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated an impressive profit of over $2,600 for $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks against the spread. It has also returned over $500 on all top-rated college basketball picks this season. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Massachusetts vs. Saint Joseph's. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several college basketball odds for Saint Joseph's vs. Massachusetts:
- UMass vs. Saint Joseph's spread: Massachusetts -4
- UMass vs. Saint Joseph's over-under: 152.5 points
- UMass vs. Saint Joseph's money line: Massachusetts -190, Saint Joseph's +160
What you need to know about Massachusetts
The Minutemen lost 78-57 against the Saint Louis Billikens on Monday. The top scorer for UMass was guard Noah Fernandes (16 points) and Tre Mitchell got involved in a number of ways with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and two steals.
UMass was ultimately done in by 17 turnovers in the game and a rebounding margin of 31-22, so the Minutemen need to take better care of the basketball and attack the glass more effectively on Thursday.
Mitchell is a former top-100 recruit who leads the Minutemen in scoring (18.1 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 ppg), so the 6-foot-9 sophomore will need to dominate to help UMass make a deep tournament run.
What you need to know about Saint Joseph's
Meanwhile, Saint Joseph's earned some postseason bragging rights after a successful outing on Wednesday with a 72-66 win over the La Salle Explorers. Guard Ryan Daly had 23 points along with five boards. Daly is averaging 19.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game this season and the Delaware transfer to help the Hawks survive.
Two defensive stats to consider for this matchup: The Minutemen have allowed their opponents to shoot 46.6 percent from the floor on average, which is the 48th highest shooting percentage allowed in college basketball. The Hawks have experienced some struggles of their own as they are stumbling into the contest with the seventh most points allowed per game in college basketball (81.7).
How to make Saint Joseph's vs. UMass picks
The model has simulated Massachusetts vs. Saint Joseph's 10,000 times and the results are in. The model is leaning under on the total and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in well over 50 percent of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Massachusetts vs. Saint Joseph's? And which side of the spread hits in well over 50 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of the Saint Joseph's vs. Massachusetts spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has crushed its college basketball picks.
