Wichita State vs East Carolina 12/31/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
East Carolina Pirates (9-5) vs. Wichita State Shockers (7-6)
December 31, 2022 4:00 pm EDT
The Line: Wichita State Shockers -8 / East Carolina Pirates +8; Over/Under: +126.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The East Carolina Pirates and the Wichita State Shockers meet in college basketball action from the Charles Koch Arena on Saturday.
The East Carolina Pirates will look to rebound from a 59-57 loss to Temple in their last game. Javon Small leads the Pirates in scoring and assists with 16.6 PPG and 5.5 APG while Brandon Johnson has 12.5 PPG along with a team-high 9.8 RPG to lead the Pirates on the glass up to this point in the year. RJ Felton also has 11.5 PPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for East Carolina up to this point in the year. As a team, East Carolina is averaging 71.4 points per game on 41.8% shooting from the field, 32% from three point range and 66.6% from the foul line this season.
The Wichita State Shockers will be out to bounce back from a 52-45 loss to UCF last time out. Craig Porter Jr. leads the Shockers in scoring and assists with 12.8 PPG and 3.9 APG while Jaykwon Walton has 11.9 PPG with a team-high 6.7 RPG to lead Wichita State on the glass and make up the pair of double-digit scorers for Wichita State so far this season. As a team, Wichita State is averaging 64.5 PPG on 42.2% shooting from the field, 28.6% from three and 69% from the foul line this season.
East Carolina is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Saturday games and 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games following an ATS loss while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall. Wichita State is 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a loss while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall.
Both of these teams are missing top of their better players, but even if those key pieces play, I’m still on the under here. Wichita State likes playing defense first and slowing down opposing teams and East Carolina hasn’t been all that imposing on the road this season. On the other side, Wichita State is not lighting the boards ablaze either and I just feel like this is a first to 60 wins kind of game. Give me the under.
