Memphis vs East Carolina 1/7/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
East Carolina Pirates (10-6) vs. Memphis Tigers (11-4)
January 7, 2023 2:00 pm EDT
The Line: Memphis Tigers -14.5 / East Carolina Pirates +14.5; Over/Under: +147
(Get latest betting odds)
The East Carolina Pirates and the Memphis Tigers meet in college basketball action from the FedexForum on Saturday afternoon.
The East Carolina Pirates will look to rebound from a 64-61 loss to UCF in their last game. Javon Small leads the Pirates in scoring and assists with 15.7 PPG and 5.7 APG while Brandon Johnson has 13.1 PPG along with a team-high 9.3 RPG to lead the Pirates on the glass up to this point in the year. RJ Felton also has 11.9 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 71.2 points per game on 41.5% shooting from the field, 32.3% from three point range and 67.3% from the foul line this season.
The Memphis Tigers will be out to bounce back from a 96-89 loss to Tulane in their last game. Kendric Davis leads the Tigers in scoring and assists, logging 20.4 PPG and 6.1 APG while DeAndre Williams has 15.5 PPG and a team-high 7.5 RPG to lead the Tigers in rebounding as the only other double-digit scorer for Memphis up to this point in the season. As a team, Memphis is averaging 78.7 PPG on 47% shooting from the field, 32.5% from three and 72% from the foul line this season.
East Carolina is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Saturday games while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 games following a loss. Memphis is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 6-1 ATS in their last 7 Saturday games while the over is 6-1 in their last 7 games overall.
I get the case for Memphis being favored at home in this one, but the thing about Memphis is that they’ve had a lot of issues with covering these big numbers. East Carolina is far from a world-beater, but they’ve been playing a lot of close games and right now, I don’t trust Memphis to cover a double-digit spread if I’m being honest. I think Memphis is going to get a lot of looks here, but East Carolina can be dangerous if taken lightly. Give me the points with East Carolina.
