Lehigh Mountain Hawks vs Yale Bulldogs Point Spread Picks

The Ivy league saw Penn and Princeton dominate for a long time, and Cornell and Harvard also had a run, but it has been Yale at the top of the Ivy standings in recent years. Yale is just 4-4 on the season but has played a tough schedule and overall out-scores a schedule of opponents much stronger than what they will see in Lehigh by 7 PPG. Lehigh has started slowly at 1-6 on the season and five of the six losses have come by double-digits. Lehigh causes a lot of their own problems with poor shot selection and an inability to take care of the ball. The Mountain Hawks turn the ball over 17 times a game and Yale fewer than 11, and that represents an average of six extra possessions a game for Lehigh's opponents. I like Yale in this one.

Yale, the defending Ivy League champions, has won seven of ten behind a strong defense. The Bulldogs rank sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.347), sixth in defensive rebounds per game (32.30), and #13 in three-point defense (.259). Paul Atkinson (17.2 ppg) is the top shooter in the Ivy League (.653), while point guard Eric Monroe (4.7 assists per game) leads the league in assist/turnover ratio. Yale is on a 19-7 spread run, including 43-18-2 ATS as chalk. Lehigh is home but has lost six of nine and four in a row. Yale has won the last four meetings, including 97-87 last year and 86-77 two years ago on this court. Play Yale.