Photo by Matt Stamey-USA TODAY Sports
Troy Trojans (5-4) at Appalachian State Mountaineers (6-3)
College Basketball: Saturday, January 2, 2021 at 4:00 pm (Holmes Convocation Center)
The Line: Appalachian State Mountaineers -6.5 -- Over/Under: 127 Click to Get Latest Betting Odds
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The Troy Trojans and the Appalachian State Mountaineers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Holmes Center.
Troy enters this game at 6-4 on the season. As for Appalachian State, they’re sitting at 6-4 as well. This will be a rematch of Friday’s game featuring these teams. In that one, Troy secured a 13-point victory. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Troy opened up their season on a 1-3 skid, beating Western Carolina while otherwise falling to UNCW, Texas Tech and UAB. The Trojans took out North Alabama, Central Baptist and Samford in the next three games, then lost to Auburn and beat Carver.
In Friday’s game, the Trojans managed to take out Appalachian State 69-56. Leading the way in that one were Nick Stampley and Khalyl Waters, each of whom scored 17 points and combined for one assists and 10 rebounds. Zay Williams added eight rebounds with four assists and five points as well.
Over on the Appalachian State side, they kicked off the year on a 4-1 run, falling to Bowling Green and beating SC State, Carver, NC Wesleyan and Charlotte. The Mountaineers lost to Tennessee but then took out Greensboro and CIU before another loss 67-53 to Auburn.
In Friday’s loss, the Mountaineers were within three points at halftime but couldn’t catch the Trojans after just 26 points in the second half. Tops in scoring for Appalachian State was James Lewis, who notched 16 points with four rebounds and one assist in 30 minutes of play.
The over is 10-4 in the Mountaineers’ last 14 Saturday games and 4-1 in their last five games overall. Appalachian State is 3-2-1 ATS in their last six games overall and 3-9ATS in their last 12 games as a favorite.
Meanwhile, the Trojans are 1-4 ATS in their last five Saturday games and 2-4 ATS in their last six road games. Troy is 6-12-1 ATS in their last 19 overall and the under is 8-1 in their last nine games overall.
PICK: I’m going to take a shot on Troy in this one. The Mountaineers kicked off the year with some pretty solid scoring, notching 76 or more in each of their first four games. The totals cooled off in the Charlotte and Tennessee games, and App State posted just 53 versus Auburn. Troy has had a few dud scoring outings themselves, but they’ve got a pretty good group of contributors at the top of their roster. Friday’s game was a nice one for Troy, even though it wasn’t a high-scoring affair. I think the Trojans can get another cover/win here.
Andrew’s Pick Troy Trojans +6.5
AUTHOR: Andrew Jett
