Texas State vs Louisiana 3/5/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns and the Texas State Bobcats meet Saturday in Sun Belt Tournament college basketball action from Pensacola Bay Center. The Cajuns are 14-14 overall. Louisiana took out TX-Arlington in their tournament game on Thursday. As for Texas State, they’re sitting at 21-6 and coming off a win over Troy. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Louisiana has certainly had their ups and downs this year, but things have gone better lately. The Cajuns are 4-1 in their last five games and back to .500 again. The wins in that stretch have come versus UL Monroe (twice), Georgia Southern and UT Arlington. 

In the tournament matchup versus the Mavericks on Thursday, the Cajuns carried a 36-27 lead into halftime. Louisiana was outscored 31-37 from there but hung on for the 67-64 win. Jalen Dalcourt was the top team scorer with 16 points and two steals.

Over on the Texas State side, they’ve lost consecutive games three times this year but otherwise it’s been smooth sailing. The Bobcats are on a nine-game win streak right now. They’ve beaten Little Rock, South Alabama and Troy in their last trio. 

Last Friday versus Troy, the Bobcats scored 29 points in the first half and 37 more in the second on the way to a tight 66-61 victory. Efe Odigie was the lead scorer on 19 points with nine rebounds and two assists. 

The Bobcats are 1-4 ATS in the last five neutral-site games and 6-0 ATS in their last six after an ATS win. The under is 4-1 in Texas State’s last five overall.
Meanwhile, the Cajuns are 1-4 ATS in their last five neutral-site games and 0-4 ATS in their last four Saturday games. Louisiana is 1-7 ATS in their last eight overall. 

PICK: I’m going to stay with Texas State here. The Bobcats have been playing things pretty tight at certain points during this win streak; five of the nine victories have come by five points or fewer. Texas State’s first matchup with Louisiana this year was a 72-68 win at home, and the second meeting was an 82-73 road victory. The Cajuns have looked pretty solid over this 4-1 stretch so they might be able to make things interesting, but I like Texas State better on the cover.