by Chuck Sommers
Tuesday, Jan 31, 2023
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Venue: Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, PA
Where to watch: ESPN+
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Lehigh -2
FanDuel: Lehigh -1.5
BetMGM: NL
Caesars: Lehigh -2
Season record
Army: 12-11 (6-4 Patriot)
Lehigh: 13-8 (8-2 Patriot)
We’re nearing the halfway mark of the college basketball season and it’s been quite the ride so far. Will Rogers is going hard in the last 30 days with a 16-10-1 run, while Kyle Hunter has also had a strong run of form as of late at 28-24-0 (+$1,700). If they’ve been killing it as much as they were in the first half, what does the second half have in store? The only way you’re going to find out is by staying locked on bigal.com and following what our champion handicappers are up to heading into the second half. Trust us, you want to know.
Army - Lehigh preview, prediction and analysis
Recent form
Army: won 66-55 vs. Holy Cross
Lehigh: won eight straight; won 66-55 vs. Boston
The Army Black Knights are trying to win a second straight game following a three-game losing streak as it looks to get back to making a run at the top of the Patriot League. Not like the opponent on Wednesday will be any help in getting back up there, but it could be a start. Army is coming off a 66-55 win over Holy Cross on Saturday to end its three-game losing streak, which should signal a party for the West Point people. Ethan Roberts led the way with 16 points and four rebounds, while Jalen Rucker had 13 points and nine rebounds. Army shot 41 percent and didn’t really do much to hinder the Holy Cross offense, but it did go 7 of 25 from 3-point range while Holy Cross went 3 of 13. There’s your 12-point difference in an 11-point win right there.
The Army Black Knights are trying to win a second straight game following a three-game losing streak as it looks to get back to making a run at the top of the Patriot League. Not like the opponent on Wednesday will be any help in getting back up there, but it could be a start. Army is coming off a 66-55 win over Holy Cross on Saturday to end its three-game losing streak, which should signal a party for the West Point people. Ethan Roberts led the way with 16 points and four rebounds, while Jalen Rucker had 13 points and nine rebounds. Army shot 41 percent and didn’t really do much to hinder the Holy Cross offense, but it did go 7 of 25 from 3-point range while Holy Cross went 3 of 13. There’s your 12-point difference in an 11-point win right there.
Army is just 11-10-0 against the spread this season but has covered two straight and seven of its last 10. They were 9-point favorites against Holy Cross and was getting 3 points in their 2-point loss to American, with the under cashing both times. Army isn’t going to wow anyone with this offense but it’ll at least hang around to make things fun.
The Lehigh Mountain Hawks are coming into this game in second place in the Patriot League, trailing only Colgate, with an 8-2 conference mark. How bad does the conference need to be for you to be at a 13-8 record overall and yet you’ve won 8 of 10? And the toothpaste college hasn’t lost a game in conference play yet? But Lehigh has made things interesting with eight straight wins coming into this game against Army, and the Hawks will try to avenge that 80-78 loss at Army on Dec. 30. Lehigh is coming in off a 66-55 win over Boston where Keith Higgins Jr. led the way with 19 points and two other teammates scored 13 points each. Lehigh won this game shooting 36.5 percent, meaning anyone can win in this league no matter how bad you’re shooting. Even going 5 of 21 from 3-point range is grounds for winning.
In addition to winning outright, the Hawks have covered in eight straight but the lines haven’t been that large. They’ve covered the last five when the spread was 3 points or less and haven’t seen a spread bigger than 5 since their upset win over Navy on Jan. 8. Not sure how sustainable this is, but they’re bound to see Colgate again at some point.
Prediction
Army has actually controlled the big part of recent play with four wins in the last six, and Lehigh was getting 6 points in the last meeting when Army won. Don’t expect that to be the case this time around. Lehigh 75, Army 71
Betting trends
Army is 4-1 ATS as a road underdog this season.
Army is 19-8 ATS after allowing 25 points or less in the first half last game since 1997.
Lehigh is 8-2 ATS after a conference game this season.
Projected starting lineup
Army:
PG: Coleton Benson
SG: Jalen Rucker
SF: Ethan Roberts
PF: Chris Mann
C: Charlie Peterson
Lehigh:
PG: Tyler Whitney-Sidney
SG: Keith Higgins Jr.
SF: Ben Knostman
PF: Evan Taylor
C: Dominic Parolin
Injury report
None
None
Statistical leaders
Army:
Points: Jalen Rucker -- 15.9
Rebounds: Charlie Peterson -- 5.5
Assists: Jalen Rucker -- 3.5
Lehigh:
Points: Evan Taylor -- 14.8
Rebounds: Evan Taylor -- 6.3
Assists: Jalin Sinclair -- 2.8
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
