Posted at 2:00 PM EST odds are subject to change.

Pinnacle -15½ -108  BET365 -15½ -110 SportsInteraction -15½ -110 888Sport -15½ -110

Hynes Athletics Center, New Rochelle, NY

Streaming: ESPN+

Iona -15½ over Fairfield

7:00 PM EST. Poor Fairfield is nothing more than a sacrificial Stag, as it finds its way to scenic New Rochelle with the Gaels standing guard, ready with swords sharpened. We have nothing against the Stags, but they are a weak invader that has played a weak schedule (342 of 363 graded schools). Fairfield also hasn’t taken the court in a week, with its last game coming last Friday night at home against Niagara, where the Stags dropped a 77-69 decision in overtime, so they’re liable to be rusty, too. That’s not a good combination.

Richard Andrew Pitino is a scumbag, but you know what? Tonight, that sleazeball is our scumbag. This man coaches every game like his life depends on it and do not think for one second that he wouldn’t throw one of his players (or maybe two or three) into a Volcano as a sacrifice if he thought it would bring him on more run to a Final Four. This season, Pitino is running his Gaels of Iona through the meatgrinder to get them battle-tested and ready to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and take the golden ticket that comes with it.

The Gaels are ranked 66th in the nation and have played a non-conference schedule that ranks 59th. Last time out, however, Iona took the rare ass kicking in an 81-58 loss at Quinnipiac on Sunday afternoon where the Gaels were a 6½-point road favorite. You don’t think Pitino beat (figuratively, of course) the consequences of that loss into these guys the last five days? Please. Put the kids to bed early, this one is going to get ugly.