@SidekicksPicks CBB Play of the Day - 3/3

The second round of the Horizon League Conference Tournament takes place today. Detroit Mercy will take on Northern Kentucky for the 3rd time this season. Detroit Mercy has beaten Northern Kentucky twice during the regular season (74-68, 60-52). Detroit Mercy finished the season with a 14-14 overall record, 10-7 conference. Northern Kentucky finished 3rd in conference with a 14-6 record, 18-11 overall. Northern Kentucky is currently on a 3 game winning streak.

Detroit Mercy has arguably the best player in the Horizon League and one of the best players in the country, Antoine Davis. Davis is averaging 23.7 ppg and has been putting on a clinic this past month. He scored 38 points in his last game and has averaged 29.7 ppg in his last 4 games. Head to head, Detroit has had the upper hand, but will have to play exceptionally well to pull off another win today.

The game will be a little closer to home for Detroit and I expect them to have a little more fan support. They are also accustomed to playing on the road. This is a team that opened their season with 9 straight road games and have played 18 overall.

Northern Kentucky has had a successful season and ended it with a 3 game winning streak. They have a solid defense that gives up 65.8 ppg and they score 70.1 ppg. They will definitely need to rely on their defense to try and slow down Davis and company.

• Detroit is 4-1 ats in their last 5 games
• The underdog is 5-1 ats in their last 6 head to head matchups
• Detroit has won the last 2 head to head games and 3 out of the last 5
• Northern Kentucky is 9-2 ats in their last 11 games following an ats win
• Northern Kentucky is 13-3 ats in their last 16 games

It is extremely difficult to win 3 games straight against the same opponent in the same season. I think this will be a tight game that comes down to the wire and Detroit Mercy will have a shot to win this one. They have the best player in the conference and if he shows up like he has in the past 4 games, this will be a difficult task to manage.

I love a good cinderella story, especially this time of year and I will be rooting for a solid underdog in this one!

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