Texas Southern Tigers vs Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers Prediction, 3/18/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Texas Southern Tigers vs Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers

Date: Thursday, March 18, 2021

Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, IN

TV: TRUTV

Odds/Point Spread: Texas Southern (-2)

Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall is the venue where and the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers (12-10) will take on the Texas Southern Tigers (16-8) on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament. Mount St. Mary's opens this matchup as 2-point underdogs. The total opens at 134.

Texas Southern enters this one with a record of 16-8 on the year. They average 74.8 pts per game (88th in the country) while hitting 45.0% from the field. The Tigers are hitting 27.6% on 3-pointers (110 of 398) and 69.9% from the charity stripe. As a team, Texas Southern is pulling in 41.6 boards per game and has totaled 298 assists on the season, which is 195th in the nation in terms of passing. They lose possession via turnover 16.0 times per contest and as a team they commit 18.0 fouls every game. Defensively, the Tigers are forcing 14.8 turnovers per contest while drawing 19.5 fouls. They rank 139th in D-1 in giving up assists with 286 conceded so far this season. The Tigers defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 39.8% (581 of 1,460) and they concede 35.5 rebounds per contest as a group. They concede 31.0% on shots from beyond the arc and they are 163rd in Division 1 in opponents PPG (69.7).

The Texas Southern Tigers stepped onto the hardwood against the Prairie View A&M Panthers and notched a win by a score of 80-61 in their last contest. Texas Southern wrapped up the contest with a 50.9% field goal percentage (29 of 57) and converted 3 of their 14 shots from distance. From the free throw line, the Tigers converted 19 of their 27 shots for a percentage of 70.4%. When it comes to grabbing rebounds, they collected 38 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 13 dimes in this game while forcing 13 turnovers and getting 7 steals. When it comes to the defense, Texas Southern let their opponent shoot 33.8% from the field on 24 out of 71 shooting. Prairie View A&M distributed 5 assists and had 5 steals for the matchup. Furthurmore, Prairie View A&M had 37 boards (17 offensive, 20 defensive) and had 2 rejections. Prairie View A&M finished the game at 50.0% from the free throw line by knocking down 7 of their 14 attempts. They also made 6 of 30 tries from long range.

Joirdon Karl Nicholas is one guy who was important for the matchup. He walked away with 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting. He saw the court for 34 minutes and pulled down 12 rebounds. Nicholas ended up shooting 63.6% from the floor and earned 1 assist. One more player that was a contributor in this game for the Tigers was Justin Hopkins. He collected 8 rebounds in 35 min played. He went 50.0% from the field for this contest by going 3-of-6 (15 points). When the time ran out, Hopkins had 1 assist.

Mount St. Mary's has a mark of 12-10 so far this year. The Mountaineers are committing 14.9 fouls every game and they shoot 67.8% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 11.7 times per game (280th in college hoops) and they turn it over 13.1 times per game. Mount St. Mary's has scored 1,402 points on the season (63.7 per contest) and they pull in 37.3 rebounds per contest. When it comes to offense, the Mountaineers are shooting 42.6% from the field, which ranks 261st in college basketball. The Mountaineers on the defensive side of the court are 17th in Division 1 in PPG surrendered with 62.3. They have relinquished 9.5 dimes and 31.9 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks 6th and 44th in college hoops. The Mount St. Mary's defense gives up 30.1% on shots from 3-point land (123 of 408) and opponents are converting on 78.4% of their free throw attempts. They are forcing 10.5 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 40.5% from the floor (36th in Division 1).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers got the victory with a final of 73-68 against the Bryant Bulldogs. The Mountaineers were able to corral 34 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards totaling 42 for the matchup. They also coughed up the ball 7 times, while earning 1 steal in this contest. The Bulldogs had 20 personal fouls in this matchup which took the Mountaineers to the free throw line for a total of 31 shots. They were able to make 22 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 71.0%. When talking about shooting from downtown, Mount St. Mary's converted 5 out of 17 tries (29.4%). When the final whistle blew, the Mountaineers shot 23 out of 57 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 40.4%. The Mountaineers allowed the Bulldogs to make 25 out of 65 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 38.5% for the game. They finished 32.0% from 3-point land by going 8 of 25 and ended up shooting 10 of 11 at the free throw line (90.9%). Regarding team rebounding, Mount St. Mary's permitted Bryant to get 32 overall (5 on the offensive glass).

Damian Chong Qui ended up being a major contributor for the Mountaineers for the game. He buried 7 of 17 for the game for a rate of 41.2%, and accumulated 8 rebounds. Qui totaled 21 points in his 40 minutes of playing time and added 5 assists in the game. An additional guy who came through for Mount St. Mary's was Nana Opoku. He ended up walking away with no assists in his 39 mins played, and he shot 7 of 13 from the floor. Opoku walked away from this one going 53.8% from the floor as well as collecting 18 points and 7 rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Texas Southern (-2)

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