Vanderbilt vs Michigan Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 3/18/23
Michigan Wolverines (18-15) vs. Vanderbilt Commodores (21-14)
March 18, 2023 12:00 pm EDT
The Line: Vanderbilt Commodores -1 / Michigan Wolverines +1 ; Over/Under: -
(Get latest betting odds)
The Michigan Wolverines and the Vanderbilt Commodores meet Saturday in NIT college basketball action from Vanderbilt University Memorial Gym. Michigan is 18-15 overall this year. The Wolverines beat Toledo in tournament activity on Tuesday. As for Vanderbilt, they’re 21-14 overall and coming off a Tuesday win over Yale. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Michigan Wolverines
Michigan completed the regular season at 17-14 overall. The Wolverines had a three-game win streak in late February but finished with consecutive losses to Illinois and Indiana. Michigan would then fall 62-50 to Rutgers in the first game of the Big Ten Tournament.
In their first NIT matchup versus Toledo on Tuesday, the Wolverines took a 42-40 deficit into the break. Michigan woke up on a 50-38 run from there and got the victory 90-80. Kobe Bufkin was the leading scorer on 23 points and eight rebounds.
Vanderbilt Commodores
Over on the Vanderbilt side, their regular-season campaign ended up at 18-13 overall. The Commodores started out the SEC Tournament well with wins 77-68 over LSU and 80-73 versus Kentucky, but then lost to Texas A&M 87-75 last weekend.
Back on Tuesday in their NIT game against Yale, Vanderbilt rolled to a 37-23 halftime lead. The Commodores were outscored 39-34 the rest of the way in a 71-62 victory. Tyrin Lawrence posted 25 points with seven rebounds in 36 minutes of work to top the team.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll lean toward Vanderbilt in this one. The Commodores didn’t have a ton of trouble versus Yale on Tuesday, shooting 42.3 percent from the field with 41 rebounds. That makes a 6-1 run in the last seven outings for Vanderbilt; they’ve scored 68 or more points in all seven of those games as well. As for Michigan, they started slowly against a pesky Toledo team but ended up shooting 58.2 percent with a 39-29 rebounding edge. This matchup will mark a big step up in talent however, and it’ll take some great play from Michigan to keep the Commodores reined in. Ultimately I like Vanderbilt to pull off the cover/win, but it should be a competitive matchup.
