The Citadel vs East Tennessee State 2/19/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The East Tennessee State Buccaneers and the Citadel Bulldogs meet in college hoops action from the McAlister Field House on Saturday afternoon.

The East Tennessee State Buccaneers will look to rebound from back-to-back losses after a 65-56 loss to Mercer in their last game. Jordan King leads the Bucs in scoring with 14.7 PPG while Ledarrius Brewer is right behind with 14.4 PPG and 5.2 RPG. David Sloan has 12.3 PPG with a team-high 5.2 APG to lead the Bucs in assists and Ty Brewer has 10.3 PPG with a team-high 6.4 RPG to lead the Buccaneers on the glass and to make up the group of double-digit scorers for East Tennessee State up to this point in the season. As a team, East Tennessee State is averaging 71.5 PPG on 44.5% shooting from the field, 36.1% from three and 72.1% from the foul line while allowing 72.6 PPG on 44.9% shooting from the field and 33.2% from three this season.

The Citadel Bulldogs will hope to find some consistency after alternating wins and losses in each of their last five games after a 65-58 loss to Wofford at home in their last game. Hayden Brown leads the Bulldogs in scoring and rebounding with 18.9 PPG and 8.3 RPG while Jason Roche has 14.3 PPG with 4.1 RPG and Stephen Clark has 10.5 PPG and 6.4 RPG this season to cap off the scoring in double figures for the Citadel this season. Rudy Fitzgibbons III has 8.9 PPG and Tyler Moffe has 9.4 PPG with a team-high 3.9 APG to lead the Citadel in assists this year. As a team, the Citadel is averaging 78.4 PPG on 45.3% shooting from the field, 35.7% from three and 68.2% from the foul line while allowing 76.8 PPG on 42.8% shooting from the field and 33.8% from three this season.

East Tennessee State is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games overall and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS loss while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games against a team with a losing record. The Citadel is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 home games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a loss while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 home games.

I get the case to be made for either side here but ultimately I’m going to side with the over. The Buccaneers tend to play to style of their opponent, and for the Citadel, it’s pretty much been defense optional and offense first. I think this is a game that could see both teams into the high-70s if not low-80s, so give me the over here.