The Indiana State Sycamores and Seton Hall Pirates play compete for the NIT title on Thursday and to show the NCAA Tournament committee they made a mistake from not including them in the big dance.
Seton Hall Pirates vs. Indiana State Sycamores (-3.5, 160)
Indiana State has a geographical advantage, playing about 80 miles from campus and have operated at a high level on offense all season, ranking sixth in the country in points scored on a per possession basis.
The one area on offense Seton Hall has the edge in is on the glass as Indiana State grabs just 19.9% of their missed shots in games played away from home as an offensive rebound, which ranks 334th in the country.
By comparison, Seton Hall is 18th in the country in offensive rebound rate, getting a rebound on 34.2% of their missed shots and are 29th in the nation in total rebound rate.
Both teams are also two of the country’s best at the free throw line with Indiana State third in the country in free throw shooting percentage at 80% while the Pirates are making 77.9% of their free throws, which ranks 16th.
While Indiana State has the overall advantage on offense, their defense leaves much to be desired, ranking 104th in points allowed per possession and are allowing 10.2 points more per 100 possessions in games played away from home.
Indiana State’s biggest weak point on defense is denying clean looks, allowing opponents to shoot 36.2% from 3-point range in games played away from home, which ranks 273rd in the country while also ranking 356th in blocked shot rate away from home, blocking just 2.4% of field goal attempts.
With Seton Hall’s blocked shot rate over tripling Indiana State’s road shot block rate at 8.1% overall, the Pirates will do the little things to get a big win in a title game.
The Play: Seton Hall +3.5
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