Appalachian State vs Arkansas-Little Rock College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 3/5/21

The Little Rock Trojans and Appalachian State Mountaineers meet Friday in the college basketball Sun Belt First Round at the Hartsell Arena.

The Little Rock Trojans need a win after losing seven of their last eight games. The Little Rock Trojans are averaging 69 points on 45.6 percent shooting and allowing 68.6 points on 43.8 percent shooting. Nikola Maric is averaging 14.4 points and 5.7 rebounds while Markquis Nowell is averaging 14.3 points and 3.9 rebounds. Ruot Monyyong is the third double-digit scorer and Ben Coupet Jr. is grabbing 3.5 rebounds. The Little Rock Trojans are shooting 31.2 percent from beyond the arc and 70.4 percent from the free throw line. The Little Rock Trojans are allowing 34.2 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 32.1 rebounds per game.

The Appalachian State Mountaineers need a win after losing six of their last seven games. The Appalachian State Mountaineers are averaging 70.8 points on 42.1 percent shooting and allowing 64.1 points on 42.3 percent shooting. Adrian Delph is averaging 12.4 points and 1.3 assists while Justin Forrest is averaging 11.7 points and 3.4 rebounds. Donovan Gregory is the third double-digit scorer and Michael Almonacy is grabbing 3.8 rebounds. The Appalachian State Mountaineers are shooting 31.2 percent from beyond the arc and 74.2 percent from the free throw line. The Appalachian State Mountaineers are allowing 32.4 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 33 rebounds per game.

The Mountaineers are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 neutral site games and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games overall. The Trojans are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Friday games and 7-18-1 ATS in their last 26 games overall. The under is 13-3-1 in Trojans last 17 overall. The over is 4-1 in Mountaineers last 5 Friday games. The underdog is 3-1-2 ATS in the last 6 meetings.

Neither team is playing good ball entering this contest, but the Appalachian State Mountaineers have been comfortably the better team all season long and should be the pick in a near toss up contest. Appalachian State wins by an average of 6.7 points on the season and has been soldi defensively. The Little Rock Trojans are shooting just 40.9 percent from the field in their last five games and win by an average of just 0.4 points on the season. Give me the Mountaineers in this toss up.