Oakland vs Rice 11/23/2021 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets and Odds

The Rice Owls and the Oakland Golden Grizzlies meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Germain Arena. Rice is coming off a wild triple-overtime victory over Evansville on Monday. As for Oakland, they eked out a two-point win over Vermont in their last game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Rice kicked off their season with an 82-63 win over Pepperdine, but then had a rough matchup against Houston in game two during a 79-46 loss. The Owls bounced back with wins over Southern U 81-63 and New Orleans 83-78 in their next pair. 

In the Monday matchup versus Evansville, Rice got into trouble with a 39-29 first-half deficit. The Owls fought back to force overtime, and after three extra periods they escaped with a 109-104 win. Max Fiedler led the way on 30 points with 12 boards in 45 minutes. 

Over on the Oakland side, they lost their 2021-22 opener to West Virginia 60-53, then took a 56-55 win over Oklahoma State in the second game. Next came an 80-59 win over Toledo and an 86-59 blowout loss to Alabama.  

On Monday versus Vermont, Oakland was up 36-26 at halftime. The Catamounts scored 35 in the second half, but the Grizzlies were able to hold them off for a tight 63-61 win. Jamal Cain led the team with a double-double on 22 points and 16 rebounds. 

PICK: I’m going to stay with Rice in this one. The Owls played a pretty crazy game against Evansville, and both teams shot very well. Rice hit 55.2 percent from the floor with 36 rebounds, but also coughed up 13 turnovers and had a tepid nine team assists. 

As for Oakland, they played more of a defense-oriented game against Vermont and out-shot the Catamounts 41.7 percent to 38.2 percent in a close matchup. The Grizzlies were solid on the boards (36) and gave up just nine turnovers. That said, if Rice’s offense gets going I don’t know if Oakland can keep up well enough to cover here.