CIT Championship Game Preview: Iona vs. Santa Clara

Written by Jake Thompson
Wednesday, 30 March 2011 19:26

Score predictions are ready in the CIT Championship Game between Iona and Santa Clara.

The last two teams standing in the 2011 College Insider Tournament are the Santa Clara Broncos (23-14) and the Iona Gaels (25-11), and the championship game matchup will be the focus of today’s college basketball final score predictions.  Iona is the true home team and they’ll be taking on Santa Clara at the Hynes Athletics Center in New Rochelle, New York.  The time for the 2011 CIT Championship game is set for 8:00 PM ET and the Gaels have been installed as large favorites by the Las Vegas sportsbooks.

One of the big reasons why Iona is such a large favorite in the CIT Championship game has to do with the fact that the Gaels are 12-3 at home and Santa Clara has amassed just an 8-9 record when forced to travel.  Injuries could play the part of the equalizer as Iona forward Michael Glover (18.3 PPG, 10.1 RPG) is listed as probable with a back injury and Gaels’ guard Kyle Smyth (10.1 PPG, 2.3 RPG) is currently doubtful with a shoulder injury.  Glover is fresh off a dominant effort that saw him put up 33 points and 10 rebounds, and I’m hearing that he is going to play no matter how his back feels.

Santa Clara’s CIT run has seen them take out Northern Arkansas (68-63) and Air Force (88-75) at home before going on the road to best San Francisco (95-91) and Southern Methodist (72-55).  Iona went on the road to beat Valpraiso (85-77), took out Buffalo at home (78-63), and then traveled to beat East Tennessee State (83-80) to set up the championship game matchup against Santa Clara.

The Gaels have a terrific offense and they can beat you down low or by hitting 3’s, which they do at an excellent 37.6% on the year.  Iona has been shooting incredibly in recent games and they’ll be going against a Santa Clara defense that allows 71.5 points per game on 45.1% shooting.  The Broncos have struggled to defend the perimeter this season and they’ve been even worse during their CIT games recently.  Iona should be able to get open shots and I don’t think Santa Clara will be able to do much to stop this offense.

That means that the Broncos will have to score if they hope to pull the upset, and Santa Clara averages 73.2 points per game on 42.8% shooting on the year.  They’ve been much better recently (77.4 PPG on 44.8% shooting over their last 5 games) and that might just be enough to make a game out of it.  Iona’s defense has done well at slowing down teams enough to outscore them successfully, but the Gaels also allow opposing teams to score 69.5 points per game on 44.3% shooting.  Iona’s perimeter defense has also been below average and the Broncos have the long range weapons to keep the score close.

Ultimately, I think this game is going to be closer than the line that Las Vegas has established tends to indicate.  Both teams can score points and I’m expecting a high-scoring game where the Broncos keep doing just enough to make it interesting.  Iona is the superior team, is playing at home, and limits turnovers better.  That should be enough to get them the win, but I don’t think it will be the blowout that Las Vegas is expecting.

Santa Clara 71
Iona 77