Miami vs Fordham Odds and Picks (Dec. 12)

• Miami is a 7.5-point favorite over Fordham on Sunday
• Fordham is 4-1 straight up, ATS in its last five
• Read below for analysis and a betting prediction

Miami (7-3) is a 7.5-point favorite over Fordham on Sunday at 11:30 am ET in the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational at the neutral site Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Fordham (7-4) has won three of its last four games. The Rams not technically the home team, but their campus is only 9.9 miles away in the Bronx and is an estimated $2 subway ride to the arena.

Miami vs Fordham Odds

Odds from BetMGM on Dec. 11

No. 1 Purdue also will play North Carolina State in the second game of the Hall of Fame Invitational quadruple-header at the home of the Brooklyn Nets today. No. 20 Florida, Maryland, Iona and Yale complete the field.

Miami has won three in a row since a blowout 96-64 loss to Alabama in the fifth-place game of the holiday ESPN Events Invitational. The ACC tournament will be played in the Barclays Center this season. Miami coach Jim Larrańaga is from the Bronx.

Fordham Rebirth

After consecutive seasons of nine, 12, nine and two victories, Atlantic 10 Fordham is off to a good start under first-year coach and former Villanova assistant Kyle Neptune.

The Rams are led by Florida International transfer 6’1 guard Antonio Daye Jr., Youngstown State transfer 6’1 guard Darius Quisenberry and holdover 6’9 post player Chuba Ohams.

Attitude! https://t.co/Rf42Vk902i

— Fordham Men’s Basketball (@FordhamMBB) December 7, 2021

Daye (18.0 points, 3.0 assists) and Quisenberry (16.7 points) have added expected punch, given their success at previous stops. Quisenberry averaged in a double figures all three seasons at Horizon League Youngstown State and Daye averaged in double figures the last two.

Sixth-year senior Ohams, who played one game lats season before suffering a season-ending knee injury, has been difficult to contain inside. He is averaging 14.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per game and is shooting 55 percent from the floor.

Chuba Ohams had an impressive first half doing it on both ends of the floor. #sports #updates #CollegeBasketball #Trending #MiguelMikeMedina pic.twitter.com/5hXNHILaUd

— Miguel Mike Medina (@sportsindie_mmm) December 10, 2021

Ohams scored 20 points in each of the last three games and had 20 points and 22 rebounds in a 68-46 victory over Northeast Conference St. Francis-Brooklyn on Dec. 1. He had 20 points and six rebounds against St. John’s, the only Power 6 team the Rams have faced this season.

The Rams were picked to finish 14th, last, in the Atlantic 10 after going 2-11 last season. They have outrebounded nine of their 11 opponents.

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Miami’s Backcourt Pair

Redshirt senior 6’5 Kameron McGusty and third-year sophomore 6’3 Isaiah Wong lead the backcourt-dependent Hurricanes in scoring, and McGusty enters tehe Fordham game after a career-high 29 points on  12 of 19 shooting in a 76-59 home victory over Lipscomb on Wednesday

McGusty made four 3-pointers, one short of his career high, and had a career-high three blocked shots against Lipscomb. He also lads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game.

Wong had 20 points and was 9 of 13 from the field against Lipscomb. Point guard Charlie Moore (10.3 points, 3.0 assists) is the only other double-figure scorer.

As much the Hurricanes rely on their backcourt for offense, it is a group that looks to penetrate and dish or finish rather than shoot from the perimeter. The Hurricanes create almost all of their offense below the 3-point line and are averaging only six made threes and 20 attempts per game. They rank in the lower third of NCAA Division I in both three-point makes and shooting percentage, 30.7.

Junior 6’6 swingman Jordan Miller had 12 points, seven rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots against Lipscomb, the second player in Division I to hit all those totals this season.

Miamis is one of the worst rebounding teams in Division I with a minus-4.8 margin.

By the Numbers

Miami is 4-6 ATS, 2-5 as a favorite. Fordham is 6-5 ATS. The Rams’ only game against a Power 6 opponent was an 83-69 loss at St. John’s last Sunday. The Hurricanes already played games that start 11 am and noon this season. They won both.

Miami is No. 97 in KenPom adjusted efficiency margin, 71st in offensive efficiency. The Hurricanes are 114 in the NCAA NET rankings, 18 slots below St. John’s.

Fordham is ranked 201st in Ken Pom adjusted efficiency, dragged down by a schedule that is rated 344th among the 358 schools in the rankings. The Rams are 159 in the NCAA Net rankings. The teams have met two times, the last in 1994. Fordham has not played an ACC team since a 67-43 loss to the 2017-18 Elite Eight Florida State team.

The Rams are stepping up in class, but not too much to hold their own on the boards and keep this close.

The pick: Fordham +7.5 (-110).