The race for the Conference USA regular-season title is truly wide open.
Middle Tennessee (14-5 overall, 5-1 in conference play) is currently alone at the top of the standings. There are four teams at 4-2 — UTEP, Kennesaw State, Jacksonville State, and New Mexico State. All four of these teams were selected to finish in the bottom half of the league in the preseason media poll.
Louisiana Tech (14-6, 3-4) currently sits alone in seventh place. The Bulldogs were picked to win the league title. If they want any shot at doing so, they’ll need to pick up a win here against the top team in the conference at the house.
It’s been a bumpy season for the Bulldogs, who started out on a seven-game win streak but have gone 7-6 since. This includes three one-score losses, two of which came against Jax State and KSU last week. They defeated Western Kentucky, 77-67, on Thursday.
The Blue Raiders have won four in a row and survived in a 77-75 win over Sam Houston on Thursday. Their only league loss came at Liberty.
New Customer Offers at BetMGM
Bonus Bets Expire in 7 Days. One New Customer Offer Only. Add’l Terms
MTSU at Louisiana Tech Betting Odds
LA Tech is a 3.5-point college basketball odds favorite on BetMGM against MTSU while the Over/Under is at 142.
The Moneyline for LA Tech is at -165 and at +140 for MTSU.
MTSU at Louisiana Tech On TV
The matchup between MTSU and LA Tech will be televised on ESPNU.
Tonight’s game tips off at 6:30 p.m. ET.
MTSU at Louisiana Tech Prediction
I predict MTSU will cover the 3.5-point spread but LA Tech will win the game. I also predict this game will go over 142 points.
The Bulldogs are a hard team to trust. Every time they seem to finally find their mojo, they don’t show up and play their best basketball. I’m afraid that’s what might happen again here.
But I’m going to trust LA Tech knows it needs this win and will do whatever it can to get it. The Bulldogs have been a bit unlucky lately with game-tying shots not falling for them in their recent two losses. Not a lot went their way down the stretch in those two games.
Meanwhile, the Blue Raiders have been the 20th luckiest team in the country, with a luck rating +.122, per KenPom. I think the ball might bounce LA Tech’s way a few more times in this one.
The Bulldogs have been one of the better defenses in the conference this season and allow 68.3 points per game. Per KenPom, they have a defensive effective field-goal percentage of 47.8%, which ranks 68th in the country. They also allow opponents to shoot just 29.6% from the 3-point line.
Behind preseason Player of the Year, Daniel Batcho, the Bulldogs are shooting at a 48% clip from the field. The 6-foot-11 forward from Paris is third in the conference with 18.7 PPG, and his 73.5% field-goal percentage ranks first in the nation. He’s averaging 6.8 rebounds per game.
Amaree Abram is second on the roster with 12.4 PPG, and Kaden Cooper is averaging 11 PPG and 7.7 RPG. Six-foot-1 guard Sean Newman Jr. is averaging 9.8 points and 9.1 assists per night.
MTSU is led by Jestin Porter, who is averaging 16.2 PPG and has scored at least 27 in three of their last four games. Camryn Weston (11.3) and Jlynn Counter (10.6) also average double-figure scoring. Essam Mostafa scores 13.6 points per contest and leads the league in rebounding with 9.3/game. The grad student from Egypt has been making his case to be an All-Conference selection.
How well Mostafa can guard Batcho will be one of the biggest factors here. They will be battling inside all game and I can see Batcho getting Mostafa into foul trouble. Batcho has shot at least 11 free throws in three of the last four and averages 7.2 free-throw attempts — by far the most in CUSA.
I think he and the Bulldogs make enough plays down the stretch to grind out a close win. They have scored at least 74 points in all but two of their 14 wins this season.
The Blue Raiders are 5-2-2 against the spread on the road and as an underdog, and the Bulldogs are 6-1-1 ATS at home.
