Hofstra vs Elon Odds and Picks (Dec. 31)

• Hofstra is a 6.5-point favorite over Elon on Friday
• Elon is a dismal 4-8 ATS
• Read below for analysis and a betting prediction

Hofstra (8-6, 0-1 in the Colonial Athletic) is a 6.5-point road favorite at Elon at noon Friday on the CBS Sports Network. Hofstra has won five of the last six meetings between the two, 4-2 ATS.

Elon (4-10,  1-0) will play its second of three straight home games to open the CAA schedule after handling Northeastern 79-62 Wednesday as a 3.5-point underdog.

Hofstra vs Elon Odds

Odds from FanDuel on Dec. 30.

What to make of the Hofstra and Elon recent games against Arkansas? The teams played at Arkansas three days apart in the last fortnight, and the results could hardly have been more different.

Hofstra took down Arkansas 89-81 on Dec. 18, outshooting and out-rebounding the then-No. 24 Razorbacks while forcing more turnovers. Arkansas rebounded with an 81-55 victory over Elon on Dec. 21, holding the Phoenix to 35.6 percent shooting from the field and taking a 41-27 edge on the boards.

Speedy’s Balanced Attack

Hofstra is one of five teams in NCAA Division with five players averaging at least 11 points per game, with a pair transfer guards joining veteran Jalen Ray to the way for coach Speedy Claxton, in his first year as head coach at his alma mater.

New Jersey Institute of Technology transfer 5’10 Zach Cooks is leading the Pride with a 16.1 scoring average and senior 6’2 Ray is averaging 15.4 points.  Oregon junior transfer guard 6’4 Aaron Estrada is averaging 13.9 points and team-high 4.8 assists.

The Pride’s early schedule included Houston, Maryland, Iona and Richmond, and they had a 13-point lead with 8 1/2 minutes remaining in the season opener against Houston before falling 83-75 in overtime. Cooks had 26 in that one as the Pride played without Ray, who missed the first two games of the season with an ankle injury.

Arkansas transfer 6’10 Abayomi Iyiola, the only interior presence on this team, is averaging 8.3 points and 8.7 rebounds. He went off against his former team, with 18 points and 14 rebounds. He has three double-doubles.  Iowa State transfer Darlinstone Dubar (11.7 points, 5.6 rebounds) and holdover Omar Silverio (11.8 points) are the other double-digit scorers.

Estrada had 21 points and Ray had 20 in the Pride’s  63-62 loss at William & Mary in the ACC opener Wednesday. Cooks had only two points after missing the previous two games. William & Mary scored four points in the final 15 seconds after trailing 62-59.

Elon’s Turn-Around

Elon had lost nine of 10 games against a quality group of opponents that included West Virginia, Ole Miss, North Carolina and Duke before opening CAA play with a lopsided 79-62 home victory over Northeastern.

Sophomore guard 6′ Darius Buford leads the balanced Phoenix at 11.9 points per game and guards 6’2 Hunter McIntosh (11.4) and 6’5 Torrence Watson 6’5 (10.7) are the other double-figure scorers.

Buford had a season-high 23 points and McIntosh had a season-high 20 against Northeastern in the Phoenix’s most complete game of the season. Elon shot a season high 51.7 percent from the field and made 12 of 26 threes, 46.2 percent.  They held Northeastern to an opponents’ low 34.0 percent from the field and outrebounded the Huskies by 10.

Tryin’ One

Elon and Hofstra find shots on the perimeter. Hofstra averages 10.1 three-point makes per game, 23rd in NCAA Division I, and has attempted 412, which ranks eighth. The Pride has nine games with 10 or more threes, and it was 6 of 34 from distance in the loss to William & Mary. Ray is averaging 3.8 makes per game.

Taking a closer look at the Men's #CAAHoops Preseason First Team@DrexelMBB's Cam Wynter and James Butler@DelawareMBB's Dylan Painter@ElonMBasketball's Hunter McIntosh@HofstraMBB's Jalen Ray pic.twitter.com/JZRv5Fw5VJ

— CAA Basketball (@CAABasketball) October 28, 2021

Elon has attempted 372 3-point field goals and averages 9.8 makes per game, both in the top 35 in Division I. McIntosh leads with 2.5 makes per game.

By the Numbers

Hofstra is 123rd in KenPom in adjusted efficiency margin, se ond-highest in the CAA to Towson, and has played once of the most difficult non-conference schedules according to KenPom, ranked No.  25. Elon is ranked 258th in KenPom efficiency while playing an even more challenging schedule, ranked No. 14.

Hofstra was picked sixth in the CAA preseason poll. Elon was picked sixth. Hofstra is 10-4 in the season series and had a five-game series winning streak broken when eighth-seeded Elon beat the fourth-seeded Pride 76-58 in the 2021 CAA tournament semifinals.

Hofstra enters after its worst game, Elon after its best. The Pride, who have a little extra motivation because of the 2021 CAA tournament loss, are the play.

The pick: Hofstra -6.5 (-102)

The post Hofstra vs Elon Odds and Picks (Dec. 31) appeared first on Sports Betting Dime.

Source: https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/news/ncaab/hofstra-vs-elon-odds-picks-december31/