NCAA Tournament Picks: LSU vs St. Bonaventure 3/20/21 College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions

The LSU Tigers battle the St. Bonaventure Bonnies Saturday in college basketball NCAA Tournament March Madness action from Bloomington Assembly Hall. 

Coming into this NCAA Tournament First Round matchup, St. Bonaventure sits at 16-4 overall. The Bonnies are coming off a conference tournament win over VCU on Sunday. As for the Tigers, they’re 18-9 this year. LSU is 4-1 in the last five and coming off a loss to Alabama. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

St. Bonaventure has stayed consistent and focused for most of the year, and they haven’t lost consecutive games. Since their most recent loss to Dayton, the Bonnies plowed through the conference tourney with wins over Duquesne, St. Louis and VCU. 

In the tournament win over VCU on Sunday 74-65, the Bonnies’ top scorer was Kyle Lofton with 23 points, six assists and five rebounds. Osun Osunniyi added a double-double on 14 points with 12 boards, and Dominick Welch had 13 points with four rebounds. 

Over on the LSU side, they came out of the gate pretty strong with a 10-2 mark over their first dozen games, but then hit a 1-4 stretch in January/February. The Tigers had a nice four-game win streak heading into the conference tournament, but took a tough loss to Alabama in their last game. 

In the 80-79 loss to the Tide on Sunday, LSU’s Trendon Watford led the way on 30 points with eight rebounds and two assists. Javonte Smart added 21 points with seven boards and five assists, and Cameron Thomas had 18 points with three rebounds and two assists. 

The Bonnies are 10-1 ATS in their last 11 neutral-site games and 13-3-1 ATS in the last 17 overall. St. Bonaventure is 4-1 ATS in their last five as an underdog and 5-1 ATS in their last six after an ATS win. 

Meanwhile, the Tigers are 4-0-1 ATS in their last five games overall and 5-1 ATS in their last six after an ATS win. LSU is 4-1 ATS in their last five Saturday games and 3-1-1 ATS in their last five as a favorite. 

PICK: I’m going to stick with LSU. The Bonnies put up an impressive run in their tournament, notching 71 or more points in three straight games and holding opponents to 65 or below in all three as well. That said, the Tigers have hit 75 or more points in each of their last 10 games, so they’re no slouches on offense either. This should be a pretty fun matchup but I like LSU better on a potential cover.