Who’s Playing
N. Dak. State Bison @ St. Thomas Tommies
Current Records: N. Dak. State 9-11, St. Thomas 13-7
How To Watch
What to Know
N. Dak. State has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. The N. Dak. State Bison and the St. Thomas Tommies will face off in a Summit battle at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday at Schoenecker Arena. St. Thomas took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on N. Dak. State, who comes in off a win.
Winning is just a little bit easier when you outrebound your opponent 13 to 3 on the offensive boards, a fact N. Dak. State proved on Saturday. They walked away with a 72-67 victory over the Golden Eagles.
Meanwhile, St. Thomas fought the good fight in their overtime match against South Dakota on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 74-73 to the Coyotes. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for St. Thomas in their matchups with South Dakota: they’ve now lost five in a row.
Even though they lost, St. Thomas were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. This was only their first loss (out of three games) when they hit their own glass that hard.
The Bison’s win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 9-11. As for the Tommies, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 13-7.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: N. Dak. State haven’t given up the ball easily this season, having only averaged 10.6 turnovers per game. However, it’s not like St. Thomas struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging only 9.3 turnovers per game. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
N. Dak. State is hoping to beat the odds on Thursday, as the experts think they’re headed for a loss. For those looking to play the spread, watch out: N. Dak. State is playing as the underdog, but their 3-7 record against the spread as such isn’t exactly encouraging.
Odds
St. Thomas is a solid 7-point favorite against N. Dak. State, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 7-point spread, and stayed right there.
The over/under is set at 139 points.
See…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CBSSports.com Headlines…