Wednesday, January 22, 2020

The Road to Asheville (1-22-20)

Week twelve action tips off on Wednesday night, with four conference games on the schedule. All games tonight will be broadcast on ESPN+.



Western Carolina at Mercer 
The #4 Catamounts travel to Macon to face the #7 Mercer Bears in Hawkins Arena. The Bears are 5-4 in home games this season, while the Cats are 5-4 in road games this season. Western holds down the #4 position in our power rankings this week, while the Bears come in at #7. These two teams are headed in different directions when looking at the last two games, the Bears bring in two straight wins, while the Cats are on a two-game slide entering the game. This is the second meeting between the two teams, with the Cats winning the first contest in Cullowhee, 79-71 eleven days ago. Massey projects a 79-76 road win for the Catamounts.

The Citadel at Chattanooga 
The tenth-placed Bulldogs travel to #6 Chattanooga. The Citadel currently has no conference wins thus far in the season, but with the top-ranked scoring offense in the conference at 81.8 ppg, they certainly have the potential to win any game they play. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they also have the bottom-ranked team in scoring defense, giving up 79.1 ppg. In this week's power rankings, the Mocs are ranked at #6, while the Bulldogs come in at #10. Massey gives a big home-court advantage to the Mocs, where UTC is 7-1 this season. Massey projects an 83-71 victory for the home-standing Mocs.

Samford at Furman 
The #7 Samford Bulldogs travel to Timmons Arena to face the #2 Furman Paladins 8-1 at home this season but are 7-0 in games played in Timmons this season. After jumping off to a 2-0 conference record, the Bulldogs have dropped 4 straight conference games coming into Wednesday night's game. Furman is ranked #8 in this week's mid-major top 25 poll and comes in at #3 in our power rankings this week, while Samford is #8 in the power rankings. Massey project the Paladins pick up another win in Timmons, with an 83-66 win over the Bulldogs.

VMI at Wofford 
The ninth-placed VMI Keydets travel to Spartanburg to face the #4 Wofford Terriers in the Richardson Indoor Stadium. The Terriers are 8-1 at home this season and have won 4 of their last 5 games, while the Keydets picked up their first conference victory last Saturday over the Citadel Bulldogs. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they come into the game with an 0-8 record in road games. Wofford comes into the game in 4th place in our power poll, while the Keydets are in 9th place in the rankings. Wofford ranks 8th in the SoCon in scoring offense at 72.7 ppg, while VMI is 7th at 73.4 ppg. Massey gives the Terriers a big home-court advantage, projecting an 85-65win for the Terriers.




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