For coach Norm Roberts he really has to make an impression in this tournament to keep his job. It seems as though his players are with him as they gave a huge effort in the Big East tournament beating Uconn by 22, and then losing to Marquette by 2. However, to keep his job he'll have to likely go far here. A road game at Memphis won't be easy, but St. Johns can definitely pull it out if they play like they did in the Big East Tournament. I look for Sean Evans to really give Memphis some issues. St. John's is a more athletic and physical team for a Memphis team that is thin off the bench this could cause a lot of problems especially if St. Johns gets some calls there way. Overall I think they'll have themselves in position to win, because the NIT is a step up from the CIT which they were in a year ago. Memphis is 0-6 ATS in their last 6 non-conference games and 0-6 ATS in their last 6 home as a favorite of .5 to 6.5. This tells me Vegas is still comparing this team to old Memphis teams under Callipari, but they are not the same covering just 7 of their last 23 games.
Coming to you late in the night is a Big West vs. West Conference match up. Pacific is an experienced team in the College Insider Tournament. Loyolla Marymount was last in the West in scoring defense which is bad news as they will go up against the Big West best defensive team in Pacific. Pacific wins when it can get perimeter shooting from their threats outside in Young, Smith, and Eveland. They were a combined 5-25 in their loss to Long Beach, but Loyolla Marymount one of the worst perimeter defenses giving up 39.1% from three. It's a little odd to see Loyolla Marymount open up as favorites in their home building and then move to pk and I bet by game time they are +1 under dogs.
