Tony Bennett and the Virginia Cavaliers are still trying to put a puzzling loss in their season opener behind them as they return to the court on Tuesday night. They’ll have a chance to do just that against the no. 15 Houston Cougars. However, the Cougars are listed as 7.5-point home favorites, with the over/under set at 123 points.
The Cavs opened with a home loss to Navy, which promptly knocked them out of the top-25. To be fair, Virginia followed it up with a 73-52 win over Radford. However, the loss to Navy was a puzzling one for a team that’s only a couple of seasons removed from a national championship.
Meanwhile, the Cougars are off to a 2-0 start after wins over Hofstra and Rice. For what it’s worth, Houston barely sidestepped an upset, trailing Hofstra at halftime and needing overtime to put the Pride away. Of course, they had no problem over the weekend dismantling Rice in a 79-46 win.
Still Have Sass
After helping lead the Cougars to the Final Four last season, Marcus Sasser is back as Houston’s marquee player. Of course, the Cougars lost three of their top four leading scorers from last season, putting a lot of pressure on Sasser to lead the way with a different supporting cast behind him. However, he’s responded well, averaging 25.5 points and four assists per game over Houston’s first two games.
Texas Tech transfer Kyler Edwards has also made an instant impact with Houston, giving the Cougars a reliable outside shooter. Edwards has also emerged as one of Houston’s leading rebounders early in the season.
Forwards J’Wan Roberts and Fabian White are providing Houston’s frontcourt with size, defense, and rebounding, although neither is a proven scorer, putting pressure on Sasser and Edwards to lead the way in that department.
Full Rebuild
Virginia’s loss to Navy can surely be explained by the Cavaliers losing their three leading scorers from last season. Point guard Kihei Clark is the team’s top scorer from last season who is returning, but he’s not the type of point guard who’s also going to lead the scoring charge.
Likewise, Reece Beekman, the only other returning starter for Virginia, has also been more of a distributor than a scorer early in the season.
Thus far, Indiana transfer Armaan Franklin and East Carolina transfer Jayden Gardner are the only players averaging double figures for the Cavaliers. However, Virginia still needs either Beekman or freshmen Taine Murray and Igor Milicic to emerge as the team’s no. 3 scorer behind Franklin and Gardner.
Also, Virginia’s lack of experience was apparent in the team’s defense during the loss to Navy, as the new players need time to adjust to Bennett’s pack-line tactics.
Alarms and Surprises
It’s clear from the loss to Navy that Virginia is going to need a little time to get going this season with so much turnover in the starting lineup. The Cavs don’t have the same depth of scorers as Houston, and they may not have the defense to keep things close.
Bet on Houston to win and cover at home on Tuesday.
100% up to $3,000 Bonus
Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.