The Siena Saints (3-3) face the Seton Hall Pirates (4-2) Sunday in the ESPN Events Invitational 3rd-place game in Kissimmee, Fla., at 5 p.m. ET (ESPN2). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Siena vs. Seton Hall odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
After beating struggling Florida State 80-63 as 8.5-point underdogs in Thursday’s opening round, the Saints lost 74-62 to Ole Miss Friday in a semifinal, pushing as 12-point dogs. Siena now will battle Seton Hall in the consolation bracket in hopes of getting a resume-building win on a neutral court — something the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee looks at when evaluating teams for possible at-large bids to the Big Dance in March.
The Pirates are coming off a 77-64 loss Friday 1.5-point favorites vs. Oklahoma. They beat Memphis 70-69 Thursday on F Tyrese Samuel’s 3 at the buzzer — Seton Hall was a 1.5-point underdog in that one. If the Pirates want to head home with a 2-1 showing in this tournament, they’ll need to shoot better than the 23-for-52 FG performance (44.2%) as they did vs. the Sooners.
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