711 COASTAL CAROLINA at 712 SOUTH ALABAMA
Take: COASTAL CAROLINA +3
Both Coastal Carolina snd South Alabama are showing signs of life down the Sun Belt stretch. The Chanticleers had won four of five before falling at Troy on Saturday. The Jaguars are also 4-2 in their last six games following Saturday’s win at home against Appalachian State.
This is the only meeting between these teams this regular season. I see some reason to look for the road dog to get this one in the win column off the head to head category comparisons.
The key player in this game figures to be South Alabama guard Ken Williams. When he’s driving and dishing, Williams can be very effective at this level. But he’s also very prone to going into launch mode and settling for threes, and that’s an aspect of the game Williams simply isn’t very good at.
The same can be said for Shaq Calhoun. The two have combined to attempt 253 toys this season, and have converted on only 69 of those shots.
The Chanticleers prefer to play zone defense, and if that gets Williams in particular shooting instead of distributing, I would think the Jaguars might be in trouble to win this game. For me, this is going to come down to three point quantity for South Alabama. If the Chanticleers force them to settle for long jumpers, I think they win this game. If the Jaguars work the ball and get inside the zone, they should hold serve at home.
This sure looks like a tossup. If that’s indeed the case, the Chanticleers have shown themselves to be a bit more proficient in winning games that go to the wire. I’ll lean to Coastal Carolina plus the points.
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My 2* CBB Best Bet for Monday is ready here.