March 7, 2025 Game of the Day Recap
Dayton 79 – VCU 76
This game was tightly contested until the last whistle, with VCU being able to get a 3-pointer up as time was going out, but their lack of efficient offense throughout the game showed in the biggest moment. Dayton at one point had made it an 11 point game, and that run could have been the deciding factor in the outcome of the game.
Another bet win for yours truly, and starting to get on a bit of a streak. I have shown some, but been keeping some for myself/friends as well. Dayton covered their 9.5 points very easily and I was surprised the line was that high at any point, given how evenly these teams matched up. Dayton got a big win heading into the A10 tournament, and will look to keep that momentum up to hopefully go on to the big dance.
Out of the 10 starters in this game, 9 of them had double digit points. There were 20 total bench points for both teams (11 for Dayton, 9 for VCU) as this was simply a battle among the starters and who ever had the hottest shooter would win.
The hot shooter of the night was Javon Bennett for Dayton, who came away with 22 points on a great night shooting the three ball. He made 5 out of the 10 three’s he took this game which is a much better percentage than his season average. This was his best game of the season up to this point, and it could not have came at a better time.
VCU was terrible from the three point line, shooting under 17% for the game in this department which is almost half of what they usually make percentage wise. In a game where they won the rebounding and turnover battles, it was their game for the taking if they were able to make more shots. No one could get it going offensively with Max Shulga shooting 1 for 9 from 3 and Zeb Jackson shooting 2 for 10 in the same department. Those two need their spark back before their next game in the postseason. If they have a bad performance in the early rounds of the A10 tournament, they could find themselves as one of the odd men left out of the tournament.
The last bit, and I will make it quick, is just a shout out to one of those College Basketball names. Those names where you just say “Hell yeah.” That name today, Enoch Cheeks. He had a sweet poster dunk in the second half that really put some momentum into the rest of the Flyers team to keep pushing for the remainder of the second half. If he can keep being a spark plug like this whenever he is in, this team could turn some heads and win an upset or two.
Javon Bennett: 22 points, 6-15 FG, 5-10 3P
Enoch Cheeks: 12 points, 5-10 FG, 1-4 3P
Max Shulga: 16 points, 9 rebounds, 3-13 FG, 1-9 3P
Zeb Jackson: 16 points, 5-16 FG, 2-10 3P
March 8, 2025 Game of the Day Preview
Alabama – Auburn
The NCAA conference and regular season schedules will be coming to an end here today. There have been some amazing games over the past few weeks that I have been doing this, but even earlier on in the season. We have covered two buzzer beaters ourselves, so why not make this game a third?
I have talked about both teams multiple times before, so I would like to do this matchup wise to mix things up.
Tahaad Pettiford vs Mark Sears
The road to get where they are could not be any different either. Sears, a senior, is a transfer from Ohio, where he was one of the best players they had ever had in 2021-22. The production he showed that year was phased out a little bit the first year he transferred in 2022-23, but the last two seasons he has been everything the Tide had hoped for. His production offensively is one of the reasons Alabama has been considered a “New Blood” of college basketball.
Pettiford is a freshman for the Tigers and is a top 5 recruit of all time for their school. His offensive numbers don’t have the volume as that of Mark Sears, but that will happen when your team has Johni Broome. The percentage numbers are similar between Pettiford and Sears, so depending how long Tahaad wants to stay, that production could easily come at a later time. Part of me wants to see him continue his college career, while another part of me would love to see him go to the next level. I think he will stay.
Both of these guys are great for their teams in different roles. Offensively, Sears has the bigger workload, so his stats will show as if he has more of an impact. However, I think Pettiford’s impact comes from some of the smaller things like making the extra pass, pushing the ball in transition, or hopping on a loose ball.
Johni Broome vs Grant Nelson
A few more similarities in the road traveled on to get to this point for these two. Grant Nelson, who is also a senior for Alabama, is a transfer from North Dakota State where he got three years under his belt there. When going into the portal, he was the number 1 Power Forward and number 3 overall player available. Going to the Tide is another one of those “New Blood” reasons. Nelson averages close to 12 points and 8 rebounds a night, however that points number could be much better if he was not shooting a career low percentage wise. Last March Madness, he had an incredible run and was a big push for their team to make it to the Final Four. It is right around this time last year Nelson started to truly break out. If he can repeat his breakout from last year, Alabama will be dangerous.
Johni Broome for Auburn is the last senior to go over here today. His season has been truly remarkable, and going back to look over some stats makes things even brighter to me. Broome transferred from Morehead State after the 2021-2022 season where he put up some impressive numbers. What is more impressive is he is close to replicating the numbers he had in the Ohio Valley that season, to the numbers he is putting up in a stacked SEC this season. He has a very good case to win the National Player of the Year Award. I am somewhat worried about his health, as he seems to be a guy that gets hurt more often than not. The Tigers need him playing his best to keep moving on in the postseason.
All-in-All, this is a perfect game to round out a great college basketball regular season. A season filled with top-10 matchups, buzzer beaters, and dominant triple-double or double/double performances. I am a fan of how the SEC, in particular, looks with regard to the rest of the conferences in basketball. This year they took the first step in solidifying their place as the best conference in basketball.