Basketball Plays of the Day for February 22: Free NCAA Basketball Picks (Archive)
The Dartmouth Big Green have won two straight games. However, the Yale Bulldogs are coming to town, looking to win an Ivy League title. Can Dartmouth hold off Yale in tonight’s Ivy League matchup? Let’s break down the NCAAB odds.
Yale Bulldogs vs. Dartmouth Big Green
Tuesday, February 22, 2022 – 6:00 PM EST at Edward Leede Arena
The Yale Bulldogs will take on the Dartmouth Big Green, looking to get closer to locking up the Ivy League's first place in the standings. Yale is currently 9-2 in conference play and tied with Princeton, while also one game ahead of Pennsylvania. Every game matters at this point.
Meanwhile, Dartmouth is 4-7 in conference play and is just 4-4 at home this season. The Big Green have won two straight games against Cornell and Columbia, but in both of those games, it was the opposition that lost the games.
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Cornell usually averages over 80 points per game but only scored 59. And then Columbia was routed by 30, because essentially, Columbia is one of the worst teams in college basketball.
Against Yale, Dartmouth should end up going back to losing. Yale is shooting an effective field goal percentage of 49.9 percent while only turning the ball over 18 percent of the time.
The Bulldogs won't dominate the offensive glass but are shooting well enough to make an impact, hitting 32.6 percent from three and 50.4 percent from inside the arc.
Yale has been getting to the line at a solid rate as well this season and knocks down 75.2 percent of foul shots. Meanwhile, Dartmouth is allowing opponents to shoot a 51.2 percent effective field goal percentage.
Teams are hitting 34.2 percent from outside and 51.2 percent from inside the arc. this season against the Big Green. Dartmouth has done a solid job limiting second chances and earning defensive rebounds, but overall, the defense still has trouble defending inside, which is Yale's best offensive area on the court.
On the other hand, Dartmouth's offense is much worse. The Big Green are shooting an effective field goal percentage of 47.6 percent while only hitting 33 percent from three and 46 percent from inside the arc.
The Big Green are also lacking offensive rebounds, pulling down just 24.1 percent of opportunities, and continue to also lack foul shot attempts. Yale does foul a little bit more than you'd like, so Dartmouth might find the line at a higher rate in this game, but overall, Dartmouth has been very inconsistent at getting to the line, despite shooting 76.3 percent from the charity stripe.
Lastly, Yale's defense has been above average this season. The Bulldogs are holding opponents to a 48.7 percent effective field goal percentage while allowing just 31.2 percent from deep and 50.1 percent from inside the arc.
Prediction
Of course, Dartmouth loves to shoot the three-point ball, but Yale has done well-limiting opponents from deep this season. On top of that, again, Dartmouth isn't rebounding at a high clip on the offensive end.
If Yale is able to hold Dartmouth to about 30 percent from three-point land and earn at least 75 percent of defensive rebounds, as the averages suggest, Yale should be able to defeat the Big Green by a large margin tonight.
NCAAB Pick: Yale (-135) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.