North Carolina Central vs Maryland-Eastern Shore 3/10/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks & North Carolina Central Eagles will square off at Norfolk Scope Arena this Thursday night in the Quarterfinals of the MEAC Tournament.

The Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks finished their regular season with an overall record of 11-14 and earned the 6-seed in the MEAC Championship after finishing conference play with a 6-8 conference record. Maryland-Eastern Shore finished their non-conference portion of their schedule with a 5-6 record with their best win coming in a road win against the Fordham Rams. Maryland-Eastern Shore lost 7 of their first 10 conference games, however, the Hawks do come in with some momentum, winning 3 of their last 4 games of the regular season.

On the season, Maryland-Eastern Shore is averaging 67.2 ppg on 41.3% shooting from the field. The Hawks are averaging 8.0 three-pointers per game on 32.8% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Maryland-Eastern Shore has been led by Dom London (10.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.1 spg), Zion Styles (10.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.8 spg), Da’Shawn Phillip (9.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.7 spg), & Kevon Voyles (8.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.3 spg).

Defensively, Maryland-Eastern Shore is holding their opponents to an average of 66.3 ppg on 43.1% shooting from the field. The Hawks have a rebound margin of -0.6 and a turnover margin of 2.2.

The North Carolina Central Eagles finished their regular season with an overall record of 11-4 and earned the 3-seed in the MEAC Championship after finishing conference play with an 8-5 conference record. Maryland-Eastern Shore finished their non-conference portion of their schedule with a 7-9 record with their best win coming against the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs. North Carolina Central had a strong start to conference play, winning 7 of their first 9 games which included a home win against Norfolk State, however, the Eagles struggled down the stretch, losing 3 of their last 4 regular season games.

On the season, North Carolina Central is averaging 72.9 ppg on 45.0% shooting from the field. The Eagles are averaging 6.5 three-pointers per game on 33.2% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, North Carolina Central has been led by Justin Wright (13.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.2 spg), Randy Miller Jr. (11.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.3 apg), Kris Monroe (10.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.0 apg), & Eric Boone (9.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.7 apg, 25 spg).

Defensively, North Carolina Central is allowing their opponents to average 68.4 ppg on 42.6% shooting from the field. The Eagles have a rebound margin of 3.0 and a turnover margin of 1.3.

The Hawks are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up win, however, are just 2-10 ATS in their last 12 games following a ATS loss. The Eagles are 20-8 ATS in their last 28 neutral site games, however, are just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall.

Maryland-Eastern Shore & North Carolina Central split their regular season series as the Hawks defeated the Eagles by a 79-66 on the road in late February, while North Carolina Central defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore by a 75-63 margin on the road in late January.

Maryland-Eastern Shore was led by their defense which ranks 93^rd in scoring defense & 6^th in steals per game, however, the offense has struggled and comes into this game ranked just 274^th in scoring offense & 208^th in FG%. North Carolina Central was average on both ends of the court this season as the Eagles come into this game ranked 132^nd in scoring offense & 156^th in scoring defense. North Carolina Central has struggled on the offensive end as of late, averaging just 61.5 ppg over their last 4 games, and as I think Maryland-Eastern Shore will be able to have some success on the offensive end as they did in their last matchup against North Carolina Central, I think the play here is to take the Hawks and the points. Good Luck!