East Tennessee State Buccaneers (17-15) vs. UNC Greensboro Spartans (21-10)
March 9, 2024 2:30 pm EDT
The Line: UNC Greensboro Spartans -5.5; Over/Under: +133
(Get latest betting odds)
The East Tennessee State Buccaneers and the UNC-Greensboro Spartans meet in college basketball action from the Harrah’s Cherokee Center on Saturday afternoon. Who comes out on top and advances from Saturday’s SoCon quarterfinal? Let’s dive in and find out with our East Tennessee State vs. UNC-Greensboro Prediction.
East Tennessee State Team Preview
The East Tennessee Buccaneers come into the quarterfinals fresh off of their 98-66 win over VMI in their last matchup. Allen Strothers led the Buccaneers in scoring with 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting in 16 minutes off of the bench, while Jadyn Parker, Jaden Seymour and Maki Johnson each had 12 points with Parker shooting 6 of 7 from the floor with a pair of steals, Seymour logging 4 rebounds and a pair of steals and Johnson shooting 4 of 6 with 3 triples. Ebby Asamoah and Braden Ilic each had 11 points with 3 threes and a pair of steals to cap off the scoring in double figures for ETSU in the win. Quimari Peterson added 7 points to match his team-high 7 assists with a pair of steals while Karon Boyd added a team-high 8 rebounds as well in the victory for the Buccaneers.
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UNC-Greensboro Team Preview
The UNC-Greensboro Spartans come into the tournament as the 2-seed, finishing the year with a 21-10 overall record, including a 12-6 mark in SoCon play. Mikeal Brown-Jones leads the Spartans in scoring and rebounding with 19.3 PPG and 7.6 RPG while Keyshaun Langley has 15.6 PPG with 2.7 RPG and 3.3 APG. Donovan Atwell has 11.3 PPG with 2.8 RPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for UNC-Greensboro so far this season while Kobe Langley has 8.5 PPG with team-highs of 5.7 APG and 2.3 SPG to lead the Spartans in assists and steals as well. As a team, UNC-Greensboro is averaging 76.1 PPG on 46.3% shooting from the field, 40.1% from three and 72.9% from the foul line this season.
East Tennessee State vs. UNC-Greensboro Prediction
I’m going to back UNC-Greensboro here. East Tennessee State can beat VMI all they want and while they did split with the Spartans this season, the reality is that East Tennessee State has still had one of the worst offenses in the country this season. UNC-Greensboro has had their ups and downs as well, but they shoot the three at an elite rate and East Tennessee State doesn’t guard the perimeter all that well. The line here isn’t crazy. Give me UNCG.
