Dave Cokin
Bonus Play Thursday
Good job by Ball State for playing hard in spite of being well down against Toledo. That paid off as the Cardinals got a late TD to get inside the number, making them a Bonus Play winner. Here’s the Thursday comp.
735 CONNECTICUT at 736 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 10:00 PM
Take: UCONN -6.5
Perhaps the most surprising result to start the new season is the UConn Huskies being 0-2. It’s really hard to believe they lost home games to Wagner and Northeastern. That’s not meant as an insult to those two upset winners, particularly a Northeastern entry that might be pretty good. But it’s sure somewhat stunning to see UConn sitting at 0-2.
I would expect the Huskies to be 1-2 after they duel Loyola Marymount tonight. Connecticut simply has not been able to put the ball in the basket so far. But the Huskies are not turning the ball over, so I certainly feel this is just one of those blips that shouldn’t keep happening to what is a talented team.
Loyola is a middle of the road WCC team at best, and that might actually be a generous opinion. The Lions don’t really don anything especially well. Plus, their preferred style of play probably doesn’t work here. Loyola likes to do some pressing and as previously noted, the one area Connecticut has done well has been ball security.
UConn is still going to have to shoot the basketball better tonight than they did against Wagner or Northeastern. I think there’s a good chance the Huskies will do exactly that, as one they beat the Lions defense, they should get some pretty easy looks.
Connecticut also won’t be taking anything for granted after starting the campaign 0-2. Call it a tough break for the hosts, but they’re likely to get a very focused Huskies squad tonight, and I don’t see Loyola being able to hang in for 40 minutes. I’ll recommend laying the points with Connecticut tonight.
