Wichita State Shockers (10-15) vs. Charlotte 49ers (16-8)
February 18, 2024 12:00 pm EDT
The Line: Charlotte 49ers -6; Over/Under: 136.5
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The Wichita State Shockers and the Charlotte 49ers meet Sunday in college basketball action from Halton Arena. Wichita State enters this one at 10-15 overall. The Shockers lost to East Carolina in their last game. As for Charlotte, they’re coming off a win over UTSA that improved the 49ers to 16-8 on the season. Let’s get into our Wichita State vs. Charlotte prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Wichita State Shockers
The Shockers started out their year on a decent 8-3 stretch, then hit an eight-game losing streak that stretched into late January. Wichita State is just 2-4 since then with losses to Tulsa, Memphis, FAU and East Carolina alongside wins over only SMU and UTSA.
In their latest outing versus East Carolina on Thursday, the Shockers went into the second half facing a 38-27 deficit. Wichita State didn’t get any closer on a 30-28 run from there and lost 68-55. Colby Rogers was the team’s leading scorer on 16 points with two steals.
Charlotte 49ers
Over on the 49ers’ side, they started out the year on a pretty sketchy 6-7 run that went into the new calendar year. Charlotte would then hit an eight-game win streak as they found their footing before taking a loss to South Florida on February 6. It’s been wins over Temple and UTSA in the last two games.
Matched up against UTSA in their last game Thursday, the 49ers held a slim two-point edge in the locker room. Charlotte came back with a 33-26 stretch from there however, eventually winning 79-70. Dishon Jackson was the top team scorer on 19 points and four rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE WICHITA STATE VS CHARLOTTE PREDICTION
I’ll stick with Charlotte. The 49ers took care of a struggling UTSA team pretty well in their last outing, but did have a couple of glaring issues in addition to the slow start. Charlotte shot a tepid 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from 3-point range in that one and got out-rebounded 43-36 (18-8 offensive) in the victory. Still, it was the 49ers’ 10th win in 11 games and they’ve scored 69 or more points in five of the last six.
As for Wichita State, they’ve been pretty choppy during this 1-4 stretch and have scored fewer than 69 points in two of the last four. If Charlotte gets going on offense in this one, I don’t see the Shockers keeping a cover pace.
