The Rice Owls and the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Murphy Center. Rice is 1-1 on the season so far and beat St. Thomas in their last game. As for Middle Tennessee, they’re also 1-1 following a loss to Winthrop on Saturday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Rice opened up the season against Pepperdine and quickly fell behind. The Owls gave up 60 second-half points, falling 106-67 by game’s end. Quincy Olivary led the way on 15 points. Both Travis Evee and Cameron Sheffield added 10 points apiece.
Game two versus St. Thomas went much better for Rice. The Owls scored 38 points in the first half and 47 more in the second for an 85-48 win. Even led the team on 27 points, and Andrew Akuchie added nine points with three rebounds.
Over on the Middle Tennessee side, they opened the season with a very manageable matchup versus Brescia. The Raiders were up 36-19 by the break and cruised to the 79-52 win. Jestin Porter led the way on 14 points. Both Tyler Millin and Elias King added 10 points each.
Facing off against Winthrop in game two, Middle Tennessee took their first loss of the year. The Raiders were down 41-28 at halftime and couldn’t bridge the gap in a 76-68 loss. DeAndre Dishman doubled up on 14 points and 10 boards, while Camryn Weston added 14 points.
PICK: I’m going to take a stab on Middle Tennessee. The Raiders need a good bounce-back after a bad first half against Winthrop, though. Middle Tennessee ended up shooting a tepid 37.5 percent in that one (5-of-27 from 3-point range) with just 15-of-29 free throws made. The Raiders were strong on the boards (42), also notching nine blocks with nine steals. It’s tough to know how Rice will respond in a fairly realistic matchup here, but I think Middle Tennessee has control cover-wise.