The Howard Bison and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets meet Thursday in college basketball action from McCamish Pavilion. Both teams are 1-0 so far this year. The Bison took out Hampton by 12 points in their opener, and Georgia Tech didn’t have too many issues versus Georgia Southern in their first game of the season. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Howard Bison 

The Bison are coming off a nice season in 2022-23, ultimately going 22-13 overall with a 11-3 record in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play. Howard took both the regular season and conference tournament championships along the way. The Bison’s NCAA Tournament stay didn’t last long however, as they fell to Kansas in the First Round. 

Howard is off to a good start after one game so far. The Bison took on Hampton in their opener on Monday and went into the break with a 40-36 edge. After 52 more points Howard had a 92-80 victory. All five starters finished in double-digits during the win, with Bryce Harris (23 points; five rebounds) and Marcus Dockery (21 points; two rebounds) leading the charge. 

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 

Over on the Yellow Jackets’ side, they managed to go just 15-18 overall last season with a 6-14 run in a crowded and competitive ACC. Georgia Tech landed just two spots out of the basement in the standings with that effort, but did finish strong and beat Florida State in the first round of the conference tournament (before a loss to Pittsburgh in the next outing). 

The Yellow Jackets didn’t have too many issues in their first game of the year versus Georgia Southern. Georgia Tech started a bit slow with a 32-31 run in the first half, but after 52 second-half points they had an 84-62 win. Miles Kelly was the top team scorer with his 25 points and five rebounds. Tyzhaun Claude doubled up with 10 points and 10 boards as well. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’m going to stay with Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets took a little while to get going in their first matchup of the year—the end result was a solid win, though. Georgia Tech would finish with 45 percent shooting from the field and 44.8 percent from 3-point range (13-of-29), also leading the rebounding 41-39. The Jackets were a little shaky from the line though (63 percent) and committed 13 turnovers. 

As for Howard, they shot a nice 56.3 percent from the field in their opener win, out-rebounding the Pirates 39-26. The Bison were a little sloppy themselves with 21 turnovers, but we’ll chalk that up to first-game jitters. I like this one to stay pretty close most of the way, with Georgia Tech pulling out a late cover in a fun matchup.