Colorado State Rams vs Texas Longhorns Prediction, 3/21/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Colorado State Rams vs Texas Longhorns

Date: Thursday, March 21, 2024

Location: Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC

TV: TNT

Odds/Point Spread: Colorado State (+3)

Spectrum Center is where the Texas Longhorns (20-12) will attempt to defeat the Colorado State Rams (25-10) on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament. Texas opens as 3-point favorites. The total is set at 144.5.

The Colorado State Rams stepped onto the hardwood against Virginia and went home with a win by a final score of 67-42 in their last contest. Regarding fouls, the Rams finished with 15 and Virginia totaled 15 fouls. They made 3 of 17 shots from long range. Virginia ended up going 64.7% at the free throw line by knocking down 11 of 17 tries. Moreover, Virginia snagged 21 rebounds (5 offensive, 16 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Virginia earned 6 dimes and had 4 steals in this matchup. Regarding defense, Colorado State allowed the other team to go 25.0% from the floor on 14 out of 56 shooting. They also dished out 13 assists in the matchup as well as forcing 3 turnovers and having 1 steal. In terms of pulling down boards, they compiled 43 with 6 of them being offensive. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Rams buried 10 of 14 tries for a percentage of 71.4%. Colorado State finished the game having earned a 55.3% FG percentage (26 out of 47) and knocked down 5 out of their 14 shots from 3-point land.

Joel Scott is a player who came through in this game. He went 69.2% from the floor but didn't record an assist. He played 32 minutes and grabbed 11 rebounds. He walked away with 23 points on 9 of 13 shooting.

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Colorado State comes into this game with a record of 25-10 this year. They turn it over 10.2 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 17.0 fouls per contest. As a team, Colorado State is snagging 33.2 rebounds per game and has accounted for 640 dimes on the season, which is 1st in the country in terms of passing. The Rams are hitting 34.1% on shots from distance (258 of 757) and 75.3% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 76.1 points per game (104th in D-1) while connecting on 49.0% from the floor.

When they are on defense, the Rams are forcing 11.5 turnovers per contest and they draw 16.9 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 141st in college hoops in giving up assists with 404 relinquished so far this season. The Rams are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 42.7% (843 of 1,975) and they relinquish 32.7 boards per game as a team. They concede 32.7% on 3-point shots and they are ranked 59th in Division 1 in points per game allowed (67.6).

When they last stepped on the court, the Texas Longhorns took a loss by a final score of 78-74 when they faced Kansas State. Regarding team rebounding, Texas permitted Kansas State to snag 34 in total (6 offensive). They finished shooting 38.5% from three-point range by going 5 out of 13 and finished the contest at 23 out of 31 at the free throw line (74.2%). The Longhorns allowed Kansas State to convert 25 of their 53 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 47.2% in this contest. At the conclusion of this game, the Longhorns walked away from this one shooting 25 out of 59 from the field which had them shooting 42.4%. When talking about shooting from distance, Texas converted 6 out of 23 attempts (26.1%). They were able to bury 18 of them for a rate of 75.0%. Kansas State had 19 personal fouls for this contest which took the Longhorns to the free throw line for a total of 24 shots. They turned it over 7 times, while earning 6 steals for the matchup. The Longhorns were able to pull down 24 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards totaling 30 for the contest.

Max Abmas ended up being a major contributor for the Longhorns in the matchup. He knocked down 9 of 20 in the matchup giving him a rate of 45.0%, and had 4 rebounds. He tallied 26 points in his 38 minutes on the hardwood and had 4 assists in this matchup.

Texas has a win-loss mark of 20-12 so far this season. When it comes to offense, the Longhorns are shooting 47.4% from the floor, which ranks them 44th in the nation. Texas has accounted for 2,449 points so far this season (76.5 per contest) and they average 34.6 rebounds per contest. They are getting an assist 15.7 times per contest (41st in Division 1) and they are losing possession via turnover 11.4 times per contest. The Longhorns are responsible for committing 17.5 personal fouls every game and they go 75.7% from the charity stripe.

The Texas defense surrenders 34.9% on 3-point attempts (205 of 588) and their opponents are connecting on 71.9% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 11.7 assists and 33.6 rebounds per contest, which ranks them 80th and 112th in college hoops. The Longhorns defensively are ranked 107th in D-1 in points allowed per game with 69.9. They are able to force 12.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 43.3% from the floor (157th in college basketball).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Texas (-3)

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