The Wichita State Shockers and the Missouri Tigers meet Friday in college basketball action from Mizzou Arena. Wichita State enters this game at 4-1 so far. The Shockers beat UNLV in their last game. As for the Tigers, they’re 3-2 this year and fresh off a loss to Florida State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Wichita State posted a three-game win streak to start the year. Those victories came against Jacksonville State 60-57, South Alabama 64-58 and Tarleton State 65-51. Next came an 82-78 loss to Arizona.
The Shockers got back into the win column on Sunday against UNLV. Wichita State posted a 43-34 edge in the second half on the way to a tense 74-73 victory. Tyson Etienne led the team with his 28 points and four assists in 37 minutes.
Over on the Missouri side, they managed a 3-1 run over their first four games this year. The Tigers beat Central Michigan in the opener, then fell to UMKC 80-66 in game two. Afterward came wins over Northern Illinois and SMU.
Missouri had some trouble against the Seminoles back on Monday in their last game. The Tigers fell behind 44-23 after one half and dropped the game 81-58. Amari Davis led the way on 14 points and one rebound.
The Tigers are 2-6 ATS in their last eight at home and 1-4-1 ATS in their last six Friday games. Missouri is 2-7 ATS in their last nine overall.
Meanwhile, the Shockers are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 road games and 4-11 ATS in their last 15 Friday games. The under is 6-2 in Wichita State’s last eight overall.
PICK: I’m going to try Wichita State here. The Shockers did a pretty solid statistical job against UNLV in their latest win, shooting 43.1 from the floor with a 28-25 rebounding edge. The Shockers have scored a combined 152 points over their last pair of outings.
As for Missouri, they’re coming off a rough game against Florida State (38.2 percent shooting) but I think they’ll bounce back better in this one. Not enough to cover, though.