Sunday is Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament and the day’s first automatic bid will go to the winner of the Patriot League Tournament title game between ninth-seeded Loyola (Md.) and No. 2 Colgate, which will be a huge home favorite on the NCAAB odds.

How to Bet Lowell (Md.) vs. Colgate NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

• When: Sunday, noon ET
• Where: Cotterell Court, Hamilton, NY
• TV: CBS Sports Network
• Stream: CBS Sports app
• Radio:com
• Opening NCAAB Lines: TBA (Colgate will be heavy favorite)

Last Meeting

They didn’t play this season. In the 2019-20 season, they split. The one at Colgate was an easy 92-70 win for the Raiders. Leading 40-32 at halftime, Colgate put up 52 second-half points, sinking 10 of its 16 3-pointers in the final period. In fact, 10 of 15 made baskets were from distance. The Raiders were 16-for-39 from behind the arc for the game to Loyola’s 6-of-24. Colgate has won seven of the past 10 in the series overall.

Why Bet on Loyola (Md.)? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

The Greyhounds (6-10) are definitely not supposed to be here as the No. 9 seed upset both Navy and Army to reach their first-ever Patriot League title game. Those were no flukes, either, as Loyola led wire-to-wire against regular-season champion Navy and on Wednesday vs. Army.

Loyola made a season-high 10 3-pointers, including four of its first five as it took a 19-5 lead early vs. Army in that 67-63 win. Santi Aldama scored a career-high 33 points and had his ninth double-double of the season with 12 rebounds. Fellow sophomore Cam Spencer scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, both season-highs.

Aldama made 13 of 15 shots from the field, 5 of 6 from 3-point range. His 86.7 percent from the field on Wednesday is the second-best outing by a Loyola player with 10 or more made field goals. The 13 field goals made set a Patriot League record for makes in a semifinal game. Spencer, meanwhile made 6 of 10 shots, 3 of 4 from behind the arc, as Loyola shot 50 percent (26 of 52) for the game.

Aldama is the only player in NCAA Division I this season to average more than 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists and 1.5 blocks per game and one of three players who is averaging 20 or more points and 10-plus rebounds per game.

The sophomore is averaging 21.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.8 blocks per game through 15 outings. If his stats hold average out for the remainder of the season, he would be the only player in Patriot League history with those numbers in a season. Spencer, meanwhile, missed the season’s first 12 games recovering from off-season surgery, but has been tremendous since returning. He’s averaging 11.8 points and 5.0 rebounds in four games.

Loyola became the first No. 9 seed to advance to the Patriot League title game since Holy Cross accomplished the feat in 2016, on their way to a title. The Greyhounds last played for a League title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as members of the MAAC in 2012. They defeated Fairfield to make the program’s second trip to The Big Dance.

Why Bet on Colgate? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

It might surprise you to learn that Colgate (13-1) is ranked No. 8 in the NCAA NET ratings – in the entire country! The NET rankings, introduced in 2018-19, are determined by using a formula that takes into account who teams beat and lose to, where those games take place (home, away, neutral) and how well teams play against given opponents.

The only loss for the Raiders, who only played conference games, was 75-73 vs. Army on Jan. 3.

Colgate advanced to this tournament final by destroying a good Bucknell team 105-75 on Wednesday. Colgate became the first team in Patriot League history to reach four consecutive championship games. And for the third straight year, the title game runs through Hamilton, N.Y.

The Raiders’ 105 points were the most scored in Patriot League tournament history – in any round – besting their own record of 104 against Army in the first round in 1997. Colgate’s 12th straight win is the longest win streak in program history, eclipsing the 2018-19 team’s 11 straight wins, which carried the Raiders to their first title in 23 years.

Sophomore forward Keegan Records scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Senior guard Jordan Burns, the Patriot League Player of the Year, added 18 points and a game-high seven assists to lead the Raiders. All-League junior guards Nelly Cummings and Tucker Richardson contributed 14 and 11 points, respectively. Richardson added nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. Colgate shot 52.6 percent (41-for-78) from the floor and 57.9 percent (11-for-19) from beyond the arc.

Burns is the star as he already is the school’s all-time assist leader and ranks fifth in 3-point field goals made, seventh in scoring, and ninth in steals. He is Colgate’s second Player of the Year in the last four years after going over two decades without the top honor. Burns is closing in on becoming the second payer in Patriot League history with 1,600 points and 500 assists.

Expert Prediction

• Colgate 83, Loyola (Md.) 70

  

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