Ohio vs Rice 3/19/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Rice Owls (16-16) vs. Ohio Bobcats (24-9)
March 19, 2022 7:30 pm EDT
The Line: Ohio Bobcats -6 ; Over/Under: 147
(Get latest betting odds)
The Rice Owls and the Ohio Bobcats meet Saturday in CBI Tournament college basketball action from Ocean Center. Rice is 16-16 overall this year and coming off a loss to North Texas. As for Ohio, they’re sitting at 24-9 so far. The Bobcats fell to Kent State in their last appearance. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Rice was sitting at 13-8 back in early February, but the team has been unable to win consecutive games since then. Rice is just 1-3 in their last four outings, taking losses to UTEP, UTSA and North Texas in that time.
Matched up against the Mean Green on March 10, the Owls were drilled 17-35 in the first half. Rice kept the pace from there but still lost 68-50. Tops in scoring was Terrance McBride with 10 points and two steals. Mylyjael Poteat added 10 points off the bench as well.
Over on the Ohio side, they were 23-5 back on February 22 but things haven’t gone well since then. The Bobcats have lost five of their last seven games to Kent State, Akron, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois and Kent State again.
In the Kent State rematch, the Bobcats were down 23-31 heading into the second half. The Bobcats got better from there but couldn’t come back in a 67-61 loss. Ben Vander Plas was the leading scorer on 20 points with six rebounds.
The Bobcats are 7-2 ATS in their last nine neutral-site games and 1-4 ATS in their last five overall. The under is 4-0 in Ohio’s last four overall.
Meanwhile, the Owls are 0-5 ATS in their last five Saturday games and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 overall. The under is 10-4 in Rice’s last 14 neutral-site games.
PICK: I’m probably going to stay with Ohio. The Bobcats (and the Owls for that matter) could really use a good bounce-back outing here, though. Ohio has scored 61 or fewer points in two of their last three games, which is quite the slump for a generally decent scoring team. That said, the Bobcats should match up well here and post a solid total.
As for Rice, they can score pretty well themselves and should be able to hang around for most of the game. I still like Ohio to ultimately power out the cover, though.
