North Carolina Central vs Norfolk State 1/31/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Norfolk State Spartans and the NC Central Eagles meet in college basketball action from the McDougald-McLendon Arena on Monday night.

The Norfolk State Spartans will look to add to their current six-game winning streak after an 87-69 win over South Carolina State last time out. Joe Bryant Jr. leads the Spartans with 16.5 PPG along with 5.6 RPG and a team-high 3 APG while Christian Ings has 10.5 PPG with 2.6 APG. Jaren Hawkins also has 12.3 PPG with 3.5 RPG and Kris Bankston has 11.6 PPG and a team-high 6.8 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Norfolk State so far this season. As a team, Norfolk State is averaging 76.1 PPG on 46.1% shooting from the field, 34.8% from three and 71.5% from the foul line while allowing 64.1 PPG on 37.2% shooting from the field and 28.3% from three this season.

The NC Central Eagles will look to bounce back from a 75-74 OT loss to Howard last time out. Randy Miller Jr. leads the Eagles in scoring with 13.6 PPG while Justin Wright has 10.7 PPG with 3.8 RPG as the only other double-digit scorer for NC Central up to this point in the season. Kris Monroe has 9.6 PPG and Dontavius King has 9.5 PPG with a team-high 5.5 RPG to lead the Eagles on the glass. Eric Boone also has a team-high 4 APG as well to lead the Eagles in assists this season. As a team, North Carolina Central is averaging 72.9 PPG on 44.4% shooting from the field, 32.7% from three and 66.1% from the foul line while allowing 67.9 PPG on 41.8% shooting from the field and 30.8% from three this season.

Norfolk State is 20-5-1 ATS in their last 26 games overall and 5-0 ATS in their last 5 road games against a team with a winning home record while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 Monday games. NC Central is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 gams overall and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS win while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600.

I get why you could make a case for a home dog like NC Central, but the Eagles haven’t played a ton of D-I opposition at home. Norfolk State’s the better team by a fair margin and I think the Spartans get a win at home and a cover as well in this one.