North Texas Mean Green vs Rice Owls Prediction, 3/9/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Texas Mean Green vs Rice Owls

Date: Saturday, March 9, 2024

Location: Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN+

The North Texas Mean Green (16-13) are hitting the road to Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday where they will attempt to beat the Rice Owls (11-19).

The North Texas Mean Green faced off with Florida Atlantic and ended up losing by a score of 80-76 in their last contest. When discussing personal fouls, the Mean Green finished with 22 while Florida Atlantic finished the game with 19 personal fouls. They also converted 7 out of their 15 tries from distance. Florida Atlantic finished the game shooting 76.7% at the charity stripe by knocking down 23 of their 30 tries. Additionally, Florida Atlantic collected 30 rebounds (6 offensive, 24 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Florida Atlantic distributed 11 dimes and had 6 steals in this matchup. Pertaining to defense, North Texas allowed the other team to shoot 53.2% from the field on 25 out of 47 shooting. They also dished out 8 assists in the matchup while forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and earning 5 steals. When it comes to getting rebounds, they earned 24 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. When they shot from the free throw line, the Mean Green knocked down 18 of their 20 tries for a rate of 90.0%. North Texas ended the contest with a 45.6% FG percentage (26 out of 57) and converted 6 of their 17 shots from beyond the arc.

Jason Edwards is someone who came through for this contest. He was able to score 32 points on 11 of 21 shooting. He was on the court for 37 minutes played and snagged 3 rebounds. He ended up going 52.4% from the floor and totaled 3 dimes.

Get all of our NCAA Basketball Picks Today

North Texas heads into this contest with a win-loss mark of 16-13 so far this season. They have an average of 68.6 points per contest (309th in Division 1) while shooting 43.4% from the field. The Mean Green are hitting 37.2% on 3-pointers (236 of 634) and 74.3% from the free throw line. As a unit, North Texas is snagging 34.8 boards per contest and has 313 dimes so far this season, which ranks 344th in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. They lose possession via turnover 11.5 times per contest and as a group they commit 17.1 fouls per game.

On defense, the Mean Green are able to force 12.4 turnovers per game while drawing 15.3 fouls. They are giving up 32.0% on three-point shots and they rank 8th in the nation in points per game allowed (62.7). The Mean Green defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 40.8% (615 of 1,506) and they surrender 32.2 rebounds per game as a unit. They rank 4th in college basketball in giving up assists with 274 relinquished so far this year.

The last time they took the hardwood, the Rice Owls took a loss by a final score of 69-64 when they faced Charlotte. Regarding rebounding, Rice allowed Charlotte to grab 38 in all (13 offensive). They finished the game shooting 22.2% from behind the 3-point line by hitting 6 of 27 and ended up going 19 out of 23 at the free throw line (82.6%). The Owls permitted Charlotte to make 22 out of their 61 attempts from the field which had them shooting 36.1% for the contest. When the final whistle blew, the Owls ended up shooting 25 out of 50 from the field which had them shooting 50.0%. Pertaining to shots from 3-point land, Rice converted 4 of 14 attempts (28.6%). They were able to make 10 of those for a rate of 58.8%. Charlotte was called for 16 fouls in the matchup which got the Owls to the charity stripe for a total of 17 shots. They coughed up the ball 9 times, while earning 4 steals for the contest. The Owls were able to snag 29 defensive rebounds and 2 offensive boards for a total of 31 for the contest.

Travis Evee was important for the Owls for the game. He scored 20 points in his 38 mins on the court and had 4 assists in the matchup. He buried 8 of 19 in the game for a field goal rate of 42.1%, and had 4 rebounds.

Rice has a win-loss mark of 11-19 on the campaign. As an offense, the Owls are shooting 44.3% from the floor, which has them ranked 211th in the nation. Rice has tallied 2,168 points so far this season (72.3 per contest) and they snag 35.7 rebounds per game. They are getting an assist 14.3 times per game (108th in Division 1) and they are turning it over 11.8 times per game. The Owls commit 14.6 fouls per contest and they hit 69.2% from the free throw line.

The Rice defense gives up 36.9% on shots from behind the 3-point line (260 of 705) and their opponents are making 74.9% of their shots from the free throw line. They concede 14.7 assists and 35.6 rebounds per contest, ranking them 317th and 235th in college hoops. The Owls defensively are ranked 280th in college hoops in points given up per game with 75.4. They are able to force 10.5 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.8% from the field (248th in college basketball).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take North Texas

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here