New Mexico State vs UTRGV College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 3/11/21

The Texas-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros and the New Mexico State Aggies meet Thursday in college basketball action from Orleans Arena. 

Coming into this WAC Tournament matchup, UT-Rio Grande Valley is 9-9 overall. The Vaqueros have lost five straight, most recently to Tarleton. As for New Mexico State, they’re 10-7 this year. The Aggies have won three straight, most recently over Dixie State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

UTRGV started off their season on a nice clip, going 8-3 over their first 11 games. Since then it’s been a 1-6 stretch for the Vaqueros, however. They’ve lost to Texas Southern, Utah Valley, New Mexico State and Tarleton in that time. 

In the 69-58 loss to Tarleton on Saturday, UT-Rio Grande Valley’s only double-digit scorer was Javon Levi with 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Anthony Bratton chipped in with nine points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes on the floor as well. 

Over on the New Mexico State side, they started out at 3-4 but have slowly been able to climb back above .500 on the year again. Since the Aggies’ last loss to Tarleton, they’ve won three straight over UT-Rio Grande Valley and Dixie State (twice). 

In the 68-56 win over Dixie State, New Mexico State’s Donnie Tillman put up 22 points with six rebounds and two assists. Johnny McCants added 12 points with six boards, and Clayton Henry had 10 points with one rebound and one assist. 

The Aggies are 1-7 ATS in their last eight after a straight-up win and 4-10 ATS in their last 14 overall. New Mexico State is 5-2 in the last seven neutral-site games and the under is 7-1 in their last eight overall. 

Meanwhile, the Vaqueros are 0-4 ATS in their last four after a straight-up loss and 0-4-1 ATS in their last five after a straight-up loss. New Mexico State is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 neutral-site games and the under is 4-0 in their last four overall. 

PICK: I’m going to stick with New Mexico State. The Aggies have been playing pretty well lately, and they’ve got a 5-1 record in their last six. One of those wins was 69-51 over UT Rio Grande Valley back on March 2. The Aggies will want to get off to a quick start here, but if they can get that offense rolling they’ll be in good shape for a cover.