11/10 College Basketball Free Pick

Delaware Blue Hens vs. Richmond Spiders

Carl Taylor
11/10 College Basketball Free Pick
Delaware G Ryan Daly is set to become about as big a household name as a player from the CAA can be.

It’s the opening night of college basketball and there are a lot of mismatches on the docket. Arizona is favored by 35 over Northern Arizona for example while Kansas is giving 27 to Tennessee State. One game on the slate that may not draw a ton of friction on the Nielsen ratings scale is Delaware vs. Richmond but it’s a great play for the 11/10 college basketball free pick.

On the surface Richmond feels like one of those teams that are a perennial mid-major member of the NCAA Tournmanent. They did make the field of 64 in back to back years in 2010 and 2011, but haven’t been back since 2011 when they did make the sweet 16. Delaware was actually in the tourney in 2014 but the past is the past – who wins the 11/10 college basketball free pick?

Do the Fightin’ Blue Hens Lay an Egg?

Delaware was a 20 loss team a year ago and finished second to last in the CAA. They were a bit better ATS however going 16-13-1. Delaware has the talent to beat Richmond outright in this game, led by 6’5″ guard Ryan Daly who was the CAA freshman of the year a season ago. Daly averaged 16 points and 7.4 rebounds on the season but put up 25.5 and 10.5 boards during two games in the CAA tourney.

Delaware is by far a one-man team however as G Anthony Mosley returns for his senior season. Mosley is a defensive standout but one with offensive potential as he scored 20 points in the Blue Hens conference tourney loss last season. Junior F Eric Carter notched 20 points and 8 rebounds in the final exhibition tuneup before the season and is joined up front by 6’8″ Derrick Woods who started 22 games as a freshman at St. Bonaventure before sitting out last year after transferring. Delaware also has three 6’5″ freshman guards coming in that are going to instantly contribute to the cause.

New Leadership For Richmond

Richmond has their own 2017 freshman of the year in their lineup with De’Montre Buckingham.

While Chris Mooney enters his 13th season as the head coach at Richmond he’ll be turning to some new leadership on the court as T.J Cline and Shawndre Jones have graduated and taken their games to the overseas ranks. Cline was the team leader in points, assists, shooting percentage, and rebounds a year ago while Jones chipped in 16.8. To make things worse the top returning scorer from last season Khwan Fore (11.2 PPG) is going to miss up to two weeks while resting a stress fracture in his leg.

While Delaware has depth in the back court with four guards going 6’5″, Richmond will start 5’9″ Jacob Gilyard at the point for Fore. Richmond was already the 11th worst team in the nation a year ago in offensive rebounds (6.9 per game) so a size disadvantage means they’re going to have to shoot lights out with no second chance opportunities.

11/10 College Basketball Free Pick – Betting

We’re going to see a much improved Delaware team this year – borderline good! Oddsmakers have still made the Blue Hens 10 point underdogs and the consensus is that Richmond is probably the better team overall. That being said, the Spiders do have some trouble with early season rust. Just look at last year, Richmond struggled to beat VMI by three in the season opener despite being favored by -16.5 points and in game two of the season they suffered a SU loss to Old Dominion while being favored by -6.5. The 11/10 college basketball free pick is ripe for the picking for Delaware.

Pick: Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens +10

 

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