Abilene Christian vs Troy 3/20/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Troy Trojans & Abilene Christian Wildcats will square off at the Ocean Center this Sunday night in the 1^st round of the Roman CBI Tournament.

The Troy Trojans finished their regular season with an overall record of 20-11 while finishing Sun Belt play with a 10-6 record. Troy earned the 4-seed in the Sun Belt Championship and defeated the Little Rock Trojans by a 69-62 margin the Quarterfinals before falling to the 8-seed Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns by a 66-57 margin in the Semifinals. Troy finished their non-conference portion of their schedule with a 9-4 record and had impressive wins this season over Jacksonville State, Florida Atlantic, Texas State, & Georgia State.

On the season, Troy is averaging 69.2 ppg on 42.4% shooting from the field. The Trojans are averaging 7.5 three-pointers per game on 32.7% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Troy has been led by Efe Odigie (11.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.2 apg), Duke Deen (9.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.0 spg), Duke Miles (8.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.3 spg), & Zay Williams (7.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.0 apg).

Defensively, Troy is holding their opponents to an average of 65.1 ppg on 41.2% shooting from the field. The Trojans have a rebound margin of 3.7 and a turnover margin of -0.3.

The Abilene Christian Wildcats finished their regular season with an overall record of 23-10 and finished WAC play with a 11-7 record. Abilene Christian earned the 6-seed in the WAC Tournament and made an impressive run to the finals after defeating Utah Valley, Stephen F. Austin, & Seattle U, however, the Wildcats could not punch their ticket to the NCAA Championship after being defeated by the 1-seed New Mexico State Aggies, 66-52, in the finals. Abilene Christian finished their non-conference schedule with a 9-2 record with their best non-conference game coming in an impressive double-OT loss at Texas A&M.

On the season, Abilene Christian is averaging 76.3 ppg on 43.6% shooting from the field. The Wildcats are averaging 6.7 three-pointers per game on 31.2% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Abilene Christian has been led by Airion Simmons (11.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.6 spg), Coryon Mason (11.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.0 spg), Mahki Morris (11.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.5 spg), & Cameron Steele (8.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.2 apg).

Defensively, Abilene Christian is holding their opponents to an average of 66.4 ppg on 43.3% shooting from the field. The Wildcats have a rebound margin of -2.7 and a turnover margin of 9.0.

The Trojans are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games following a straight up loss, however, are just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games. The Wildcats are 6-0-1 ATS in their last 7 neutral site games as a favorite & 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 games overall.

Troy has been led by their defense which ranks 54^th in scoring defense & 63^rd in defensive FG%, however, the offense has struggled at times and come into this matchup ranked just 221^st in scoring offense & 266^th in FG%. Abilene Christian has been solid on both ends of the court as the Wildcats come into this game ranked 48^th in scoring offense, 92^nd in scoring defense, 1^st in steals per game, & 1^st in turnover margin.

Troy had a great season, however, this is a team that can struggle to score and has had some issues with turnovers which is a major concern against an Abilene Christian team that has been the best in the country in winning the turnover battle. I think this is going to be a close came in the 1^st half, however, I do think the Wildcats defense allows them to pull away in the 2^nd half and that Abilene Christian does enough to cover this small spread. Good Luck!