Merrimack vs LIU 12/31/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
LIU Sharks (3-8) vs. Merrimack Warriors (6-8)
December 31, 2021 2:00 pm EDT
The Line: Merrimack Warriors -4 ; Over/Under: 129
(Get latest betting odds)
The Long Island University Sharks and the Merrimack Warriors meet Friday in college basketball action from Hammel Court. LIU is currently 3-8 on the year. The Sharks lost to Sacred Heart in their last game. As for Merrimack, they’re 6-8 this season and fresh off a win over St. Francis BK. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
LIU lost their first four games of the year before picking up their first win versus Delaware State. Losses to Delaware, Towson and Fordham followed before wins versus Merchant Marine and Army. The Sharks lost their Wednesday game to Sacred Heart.
In the Sacred Heart matchup, Long Island U had a three-point lead at the break. After a 35-28 deficit in the second half the Sharks ended up losing 69-65. Leading scorer Tyrn Flowers put up 36 points with eight rebounds in 36 minutes.
Over on the Merrimack side, they went 4-4 over their first eight games with losses to Rutgers, Army, Virginia Tech and Boston U. In the six games since it’s been a 2-4 run featuring wins versus Maine and St. Francis BK.
Matched up against St. Francis BK on Wednesday, the Warriors outscored the Terriers 37-24 in the first half. Merrimack was able to hang on in a 74-64 win. Jordan Minor topped the team with 23 points, and Ziggy Reid added 20 points of his own.
The Warriors are 18-8 ATS in their last 26 at home and 5-0 ATS in their last five Friday games. The under is 9-2 in Merrimack’s last 11 Friday games.
Meanwhile, the Sharks are 5-2 ATS in their last seven overall and the under is 6-0 in their last six road games. The under is 4-1 in LIU’s last five overall.
PICK: I’m going to try LIU here, but probably staying away. The Sharks had a bad half in the Sacred Heart game that led to a four-point loss, but otherwise they’d been scoring well recently. In their previous pair, the Sharks managed 196 combined points—LIU has been choppy on the scoreboard this season, though.
As for Merrimack, they had been at 60 points or below in six straight games before hitting 74 on Wednesday. This game could go a lot of different ways, but cover-wise I like LIU’s offense a little better right now.
