Rhode Island vs Duquesne 3/9/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The 14-seed Duquesne Dukes & 11-seed Rhode Island Rams will square off at Capital One Arena this Wednesday afternoon in the 1^st round of the Atlantic-10 Championship.

The Duquesne Dukes finished their regular season with an overall record of 6-23 and earned the 14-seed in the Atlantic-10 Championship after finishing conference play with a 1-16 record. Duquesne finished their non-conference portion of their schedule with a 5-7 record with their best wins coming against Bradley & UC Irvine. Duquesne opened of Atlantic-10 play with a 78-74 victory over UMass, however, the Dukes failed the find the win column for the remainder of the season, losing 16 straight games.

On the season, Duquesne is averaging 64.8 ppg on 40.0% shooting from the field. The Dukes are averaging 6.2 three-pointers per game on 30.5% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Duquesne has been led by Amir Spears (12.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.3 spg), Tre Williams (10.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.2 apg, 2.1 bpg), Kevin Easley (10.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.3 spg), & Leon Ayers III (10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.1 spg).

Defensively, Duquesne is allowing their opponents to an average of 73.2 ppg on 47.6% shooting from the field. The Dukes have a rebound margin of -3.6 and a turnover margin of 1.1.

The Rhode Island Rams finished their regular season with an overall record of 14-15 and earned the 11-seed in the Atlantic-10 Championship after finishing conference play with a 5-12 record. Rhode Island finished their non-conference portion of their schedule with a 9-3 record with solid wins over Bryant, Boston College & Harvard. Rhode Island opened conference play with a 3-1 record and got a statement win against Davidson in mid-February, however, the Rams struggled down the stretch.

On the season, Rhode Island is averaging 67.0 ppg on 45.6% shooting from the field. The Rams are averaging 5.3 three-pointers per game on 33.8% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Rhode Island has been led by Makhel Mitchell (10.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.3 apg, 2.4 bpg), Jeremy Sheppard (10.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.4 spg), Makhi Mitchell (9.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.4 bpg), & Ishmael Leggett (8.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.1 spg).

Defensively, Rhode Island is holding their opponents to an average of 64.6 ppg on 38.9% shooting from the field. The Rams have a rebound margin of 1.4 and a turnover margin of -0.6.

The Dukes are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 neutral site games, however, are just 8-20 ATS in their last 28 games overall. The Rams are 2-9 ATS I their last 11 games vs. a team with a winning % below .400 & 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games as a favorite.

Rhode Island was able to defeat Duquesne in their only matchup of the regular season as the Rams defeated the Dukes by a 70-54 margin at home in late February.

Duquesne has struggled on both ends of the court this season, however, this is a team that picked up ATS wins against Davidson & VCU this season and was competitive in their last two games of the regular season against George Washington & La Salle. Rhode Island is no doubt the better team, led by their defense, which ranks 44^th in scoring defense & 13^th in defensive FG%, however, this is still a team that has really struggled during the 2^nd of the season as they come into this game losing 11 of their last 13 games. Rhode Island is mostly likely going to win this game, however, as I just don’t trust Rhode Island when they are away from home, I think that Duquesne does enough to keep this one competitive and cover with the large number of points. Good Luck!