Colgate Raiders vs Baylor Bears Prediction, 3/22/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Colgate Raiders vs Baylor Bears

Date: Friday, March 22, 2024

Location: FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN

TV: truTV

Odds/Point Spread: Colgate (+14)

The Colgate Raiders (25-9) are hitting the road to FedEx Forum on Friday where they will try to defeat the Baylor Bears (23-10) in the NCAA Tournament. Colgate opens as 14-point underdogs. The over/under comes in at 138.5.

The Colgate Raiders took the court against Lehigh and went home with a win by a final score of 74-55 in their last contest. When talking about fouls, the Raiders ended up with 11 and Lehigh recorded 13 fouls. They buried 5 of their 28 attempts from 3-point land. Lehigh finished 44.4% from the free throw line by burying 4 of 9 tries. Additionally, Lehigh pulled down 25 rebounds (7 offensive, 18 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Lehigh distributed 12 assists and had 6 steals in the matchup. When discussing defending, Colgate allowed 36.5% from the floor on 23 out of 63 shooting. They also distributed 14 assists for the contest while forcing the other team into 7 turnovers and earning 3 steals. Concerning grabbing rebounds, they earned 42 with 8 of them being offensive. At the free throw line, the Raiders knocked down 10 of their 16 tries for a percentage of 62.5%. Colgate ended having earned a 55.6% FG percentage (30 out of 54) and knocked down 4 out of their 19 three-point shots.

Brady Cummins is one guy who was a contributor for this game. He ended up going 88.9% from the field but wasn't able to get an assist. He played for 20 minutes and snagged 4 boards. He ended up with 19 points on 8 of 9 shooting.

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Colgate enters this one with a win-loss mark of 25-9 so far this season. They average 71.5 pts per contest (244th in Division 1) while connecting on 47.0% from the floor. The Raiders are hitting 36.1% on shots from downtown (267 of 739) and 68.1% from the free throw line. As a unit, Colgate is pulling down 35.9 boards per game and is sitting with 515 dimes this season, which ranks 42nd in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 10.6 times per game and as a squad are committing 13.4 fouls every game.

On the defensive end, the Raiders are able to force 11.2 turnovers per game and they draw 14.3 fouls. They rank 217th in the nation in giving up assists to their opponents with 427 surrendered on the campaign. The Raiders are allowing a FG percentage of 40.8% (801 of 1,963) and they concede 33.0 rebounds per contest as a unit. They are surrendering 29.8% on shots from beyond the arc while they are 11th in the country in opponents PPG (63.2).

When they last stepped on the court, the Baylor Bears walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 76-62 when they played Iowa State. In reference to how they rebounded, Baylor permitted Iowa State to grab 26 overall (4 offensive). They finished 50.0% from behind the 3-point line by going 10 of 20 and finished the game at 12 of 13 at the free throw line (92.3%). The Bears allowed Iowa State to knock down 27 of 60 attempts from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 45.0% for the game. When this game wrapped up, the Bears went 23 for 59 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 39.0%. In terms of three-point attempts, Baylor made 5 of their 24 tries (20.8%). They were able to knock down 11 of the free throw tries for a clip of 64.7%. Iowa State earned 16 fouls for the game which took the Bears to the free throw line for 17 shots. They also turned the ball over 13 times, while earning 4 steals for the matchup. The Bears were able to snag 27 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive rebounds for a total of 40 in the matchup.

Jalen Bridges was important for the Bears for the game. He had 20 points in his 35 minutes on the hardwood and tallied 1 assist for the contest. He made 7 of 16 for the contest for a field goal rate of 43.8%, and had 12 rebounds.

Baylor has a record of 23-10 so far this year. The Bears are committing 16.5 fouls per game and they shoot 73.6% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 14.8 times per game (78th in the nation) and they are losing possession via turnover 12.1 times per contest. Baylor has accounted for 2,658 pts so far this season (80.5 per contest) and they pull down 35.2 boards per contest. As an offense, the Bears are connecting on 48.3% from the field, which ranks them 23rd in Division 1.

The Bears on the defensive end are ranked 156th in college basketball in points allowed per contest with 71.2. They are forcing 12.0 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 45.4% from the floor (285th in D-1). The Baylor defense allows 33.7% on shots from 3-point land (227 of 673) and opponents are knocking down 73.1% of their free throw shots. They have given up 13.7 assists and 29.3 boards on a nightly basis, which is ranked 259th and 3rd in D-1.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Baylor (-14)

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