NIT Picks: Richmond vs Mississippi State 3/25/21 College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Richmond Spiders face the Mississippi State Bulldogs Thursday in college basketball NIT action from UNT Coliseum for a Quarterfinal matchup. 

Coming into this NIT Tournament matchup, the Bulldogs sit at 16-14 overall. Mississippi State is coming off a Saturday win over Saint Louis. As for the Spiders, they’re 14-8 this year. Richmond beat Toledo in their last outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Mississippi State came out of the gate at 9-5 this year, but then hit a sketchy 2-6 stretch that pushed the team back to .500 in the record column. The Bulldogs have been spotty since then, but did manage a solid victory over Saint Louis in NIT activity on Saturday. 

In the 74-68 win over the Billikens on Saturday, Mississippi State’s DJ Stewart led the team on 20 points with six assists and four rebounds. Iverson Molinar added 19 points with three rebounds and two assists, and Derek Fountain put up 10 points. 

Over on the Spiders’ side, they started out the year on a consistent run, and didn’t lose consecutive games over their first 18 outings. Richmond hit a three-game losing streak in early March to finish off the regular season, but managed a win over Toledo last Wednesday. 

In the 77-66 win over Toledo on March 17, Richmond’s Jacob Gilyard and Tyler Burton each notched 18 points with a combined 13 rebounds and five assists. Nathan Cayo put up 15 points with six rebounds in that one as well. 

The Bulldogs are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games overall and 5-2-1 ATS in their last eight Thursday games. Mississippi State is 2-5 ATS in their last seven neutral-site games and 2-8 ATS in their last 10 after a straight-up win. 

Meanwhile, the Spiders are 4-1 ATS in their last five neutral-site games as an underdog and 1-3-1 ATS in their last five after an ATS win. The under is 5-0 in Richmond’s last five overall and 6-1 in their last seven after a straight-up win. 

PICK: I’m probably going to stick with the Bulldogs. Mississippi State has been pretty spotty lately when it comes to wins and losses, but to be fair they’ve had to face some tough opponents. The Bulldogs put up a pretty solid effort against Saint Louis, notching 50.0 percent shooting from the field and 35 rebounds. This should be a fairly close game most of the way but I like Mississippi State to eke out a cover.