@SidekicksPicks CBB Play of the Day - 3/4

The Richmond Spiders travel to New York to take on the St. Bonaventure Bonnies for a 7:00 pm tip. Richmond is having a solid season with a 19-11 overall record, 7-4 on the road. Richmond is 6th in the A10 with a 10-7 conference record. The Spiders have won 3 of their last 5 games and have a recent loss to Dayton.

St. Bonaventure comes into this matchup with a 19-8 overall record, 12-2 at home. In conference they are in 4th with an 11-5 record. The Bonnies lost their last matchup vs VCU, but have won their last 7 of 8 games.

The Spiders have been a solid team all year in a tough conference. They have quality wins over Toledo, St. Bonaventure, and St. Louis. According to KenPom, the Spiders rank 19th in experience, meaning that their roster is full of veteran players. This explains why the majority of their games are tight matchups and they have been a successful road team. Richmond is an average team across the board in every statistical category. They score 72.5 ppg and give up 70.6. Richmond has not lost back to back games this season since January 14th.

St. Bonaventure has had a disappointing season simply because they were favored to win the A10 and were a promising tournament team. However, they got off to a rough start. They have had recent success and fought their way back to being competitive in conference play. They will need to win the A10 tournament with a chance to make the tournament. One concerning factor in this game is that St. Bonaventure has had some injuries. Osun Osunniyi is their recent injured player and he is a big loss! They desperately missed his production vs VCU. If he does not play in this game, I expect it to be another issue for the Bonnies.

• Spiders are 4-0 ats in their last 4 games following a straight up loss
• Spiders are 5-0-1 ats in their last 6 games vs a team with a winning % greater than .600
• Spiders are 8-3 ats in their last 11 road games
• Bonnies are 4-0-1 ats in their last 5 home games
• Bonnies are 1-4 ats in their last 5 games following an ats loss

I think this will be a tight 1-2 possession ball game. If Osunniyi doesn’t play, I love Richmond even more. To be safe, I am going to tease this game to +10. If you can’t tease it that much, take as many points as you can get. I think Richmond keeps it close either way, but taking a little insurance on the road in this one.

The Buffalo Bulls travel to Ohio to take on the Kent St. Golden Flashes. Buffalo is 19-9 overall, 9-5 on the road. They are currently 4th in a tough MAC conference with a 13-5 record. Buffalo lost their last matchup to a tough Toledo team, but have won 9 of their last 10 games, 5-0 on the road.

The Golden Flashes are hitting their stride late in the season with a 20-9 overall record, 10-4 at home. They currently are in 2nd place in the MAC with a 15-4 conference record. Kent St. has won 11 straight games, but lost to Buffalo in their last matchup.

Buffalo brings with them one of the most explosive offenses in the country. They score 80.9 ppg (9), shoot 45.7% from the floor (90), and are the best offensive rebounding team in the country that averages 39.6 boards per game. Defensively they are an average team, but defend the 3 extremely well. They hold opponents to 30.7% from behind the arc (48).

Kent St. struggle on the offensive side, but have a well rounded defense. They give up 64.1 ppg (41), force teams to shoot 40.2% from the floor (32), and hold teams to 30.6% from behind the arc (44).

• Buffalo is 9-1 in their last 10 games
• Buffalo is 7-1 ats in their last 8 games vs Kent St
• Buffalo is 7-2 in their last 9 head to head games vs Kent St
• Buffalo is 8-1 ats in their last 9 road games vs Kent St
• Kent St is 8-1-1 ats in their last 10 games
• Kent St is 5-0-1 ats in their last 6 home games as a favorite
• Kent St is 5-0 ats in their last 5 games vs a team with a winning record

Both teams are playing very good basketball right now. I am going with Buffalo because of their overall success vs Kent St. If Buffalo's offense comes to play and can dominate the offensive glass, they can definitely beat Kent St again. To be safe, I am teasing Buffalo to +8 points.