The big game is in a matter of hours. Twitter has been on fire and Facebook has picked up steam, conversation and debate about who will win the game between Jesuit and Tampa Catholic. Jesuit will enter this monster basketball game ranked #1 with a 23-1 over all record. Tampa Catholic is currently ranked at #4 posting a 18-6 record. Crusaders are tough to beat at home. They have won 7 of their 8 contest when playing in front of their home crowd, on their home floor. Led by juniors Chivarsky Corbett and Isiah Thomas, TC is a high scoring team that depends on speed and fast break opportunities.
Jesuit can be described as a system team. Fundamentally sound and very discipline. The Tigers play a very aggressive style zone defense and shoot the ball extremely well from the perimeter. PG, Devin Harris runs the show. However, the Tigers have several scoring weapons in Jack Fleming, Joey Galvis and Travis Johnson has emerged as the “Go To” guy.
Just to had to the hype, we made a few predictions about the game.
Over/Under: TAMPA CATHOLIC WILL SCORE MORE THAN 70 POINTS VS JESUIT. Only scored under 70 points this year 8 times (averages 76 points per game). Scored 61 vs Jesuit in their first meeting in early January. Tampa Catholic will score UNDER 70 points tonight. Jesuit has not allowed 70 points this season and has held their opponent under 60 points 8 of their last 12 games.
Over/Under: Tampa Catholic beats Jesuit up on the boards. OVER, Crusaders do a great job of controlling and winning the battle of rebounds. Beating Jesuit on glass by 7 rebounds (avg.) per game.
Over/Under: Jack Fleming scores over 2 points for his first basket of the game. Jack Fleming will score OVER two points with a made 3 pointer within the first 2 mins of the game.
Over/Under: Travis Johnson out scores Chivarsky Corbett. OVER – Both players averaging 19.2 points per game of their last 5 contest. We expect Johnson to work the interior of the Crusader defense which is a weak spot.
Over/Under: Jio Molina scores over 15 points. Molina’s highest point total this year was 15 points versus Tampa Prep Tuesday night. Jesuit plays a much more aggressive style of defense which will keep Molina UNDER 15 points.
Over/Under: Jesuit will shoot over 70% from the foul line. Jesuit will shoot UNDER 70% from the foul line tonight vs. Tampa Catholic. 86% on Tuesday night and 66% for the season. With a crazy TC crowd, the Tigers will find it tough to shoot better than 70% from the foul stripe.
Over/Under: Joey Galvis scores over 2 points. He scored just two points against Berkeley Prep. Off night and foul trouble, but averages 15 points per game. Will score OVER two points in the big game vs. the Crusaders.
Over/Under: Jesuit has more turnovers than Tampa Catholic. UNDER, at the very least, Jesuit is likely to have 7 steals. Just by that category alone, combined with Jesuit’s ball security, Tampa Catholic will have more turnovers than Jesuit.