NCAA Tournament: Boise State vs Memphis 3/17/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Memphis Tigers (21-10) vs. Boise State Broncos (27-7)
March 17, 2022 1:45 pm EDT
The Line: Boise State Broncos +2.5 ; Over/Under: 132
(Get latest betting odds)
The Boise State Broncos and Memphis Tigers clash Thursday afternoon in NCAA Tournament First Round college basketball action from Moda Center. Memphis is sitting on a 21-10 record so far. The Tigers lost to Houston in conference tourney activity on Sunday. As for Boise State, they’re 27-7 this year and fresh off a win versus San Diego State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Memphis had a four-game losing streak in December and a three-game losing streak in January but outside of that they’ve been highly consistent this year. The Tigers had wins over UCF and SMU in the conference tournament but fell to Houston on Sunday.
Matched up against the Cougars in the Sunday game, the Tigers faced a 24-36 deficit at the break. Memphis fell further behind in the second half on the way to a 71-53 loss. Jalen Duren was the team’s leading scorer with his 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Over on the Boise State side, they were sitting at a rough 3-4 back in late November but have rebounded very well since. The Broncos lost to Colorado State to close out the regular season, then beat Nevada, Wyoming and San Diego State in the tourney.
On Saturday versus San Diego State, the Broncos were up by three points going into the second half. After a tense 25-27 run, Boise State came away with a tight 53-52 victory. Tyson Degenhart finished on 13 points with four rebounds to lead the way.
PICK: I’m going to stay with Memphis. The Tigers were dismantled by Houston in the Sunday defeat, but they’d had a great run in the previous six games. In that time, Memphis posted 70 or more points in each outing and also managed a 75-61 win over the Cougars. If the Tigers can get their offense working like that again, they’ll be in great shape here.
As for Boise State, they’re generally a solid scoring team themselves. They’ve had a few relative duds recently but have stayed impressive in the win column. I like this one to be a battle the whole way, with Memphis eking out a cover.
