North Texas vs Rice 3/10/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Rice Owls & North Texas Mean Green will square off at the Ford Center At The Star this Thursday night in the Quarterfinals of the C-USA Championship.

The 5-seed (West Division) Rice Owls improved to 16-15 on the season after defeating the 4-seed (East Division) Charlotte 49ers, 73-61, this past Wednesday. Rice had one of their best defensive performances of the season against Charlotte and was able to hold off the 49ers for the victory after taking a 63-45 lead with 2:30 left in regulation. Rice shot 50.9% from the field & 22.2% from beyond the arc while holding Charlotte to just 34.8% from the field & 25.0% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Owls was Max Fiedler who had 12 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assits, 1 block, & 1 steal.

Coming into their game against Charlotte, Rice was averaging 75.3 ppg on 45.9% shooting from the field. The Owls were averaging 9.6 three-pointers per game on 38.0% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Rice has been led by Carl Pierre (15.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.8 apg), Travis Evee (14.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.0 spg), Max Fiedler (10.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.4 apg), & Chris Mullins (8.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.3 apg).

Defensively, prior to their game against Charlotte, Rice was allowing their opponents to average 74.2 ppg on 45.2% shooting from the field. The Owls had a rebound margin of 1.7 and a turnover margin of -2.5.

The North Texas Mean Green finished their regular season with an overall record of 23-5 and earned the 1-seed in the C-USA Championship after finishing conference play with a 16-2 conference record. North Texas finished their non-conference portion of their schedule with a 7-3 record with their best wins coming against Drake & Wichita State. North Texas was able to reel off 15 straight conference wins, including a 58-57 victory at UAB, however, the Mean Green did suffer a surprising loss against UTEP in their regular season finale.

On the season, North Texas is averaging 65.8 ppg on 44.9% shooting from the field. The Mean Green are averaging 7.8 three-pointers per game on 36.7% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, North Texas has been led by Tylor Perry (13.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.3 spg), Thomas Bell (12.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.4 apg), Mardrez McBride (10.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.3 apg), & Rubin Jones (8.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.3 apg).

Defensively, North Texas is holding their opponents to an average of 55.6 ppg on 41.6% shooting from the field. The Mean Green have a rebound margin of 4.6 and a turnover margin of 1.1.

The Owls are 7-18-2 ATS in their last 27 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record & 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS win. The Mean Green are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 neutral site games & 9-4-2 ATS in their last 15 games overall.

North Texas defeated Rice in both their regular season matchups as the Mean Green defeated the Owls by a 75-43 margin at home in early January and by a 67-44 margin on the road in mid-February.

Rice has been led by their offense which ranks 68^th in scoring offense however, the Owls struggled on the defensive end this year as they come into this matchup ranked just 294^th in scoring defense & 282^nd in defensive FG%. North Texas has been led by their outstanding defense that ranks 1^st in scoring defense and as they had no issues holding Rice to under 45 points in both of their matchups this season, I think North Texas has no issue winning this one by 15+ points in covers this large spread. Good Luck!