NCAA Tournament: Texas Tech vs Montana State 3/18/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Montana State Bobcats (27-7) vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders (25-9)
March 18, 2022 1:45 pm EDT
The Line: Texas Tech Red Raiders -15.5 ; Over/Under: 130
(Get latest betting odds)
The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Montana State Bobcats meet Friday in NCAA Tournament First Round college basketball action from Viejas Arena. Montana State is 27-7 this year. The Bobcats beat Northern Colorado in conference tournament action Saturday. As for Texas Tech, they’re 25-9 and coming off a weekend loss to Kansas. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Montana State started out on an ugly 1-3 stretch this year but it didn’t take the team long to right the ship. The Bobcats are currently on a six-game win streak, taking out Southern Utah, Sac State, Northern Colorado, Sac State again, Weber State and Northern Colorado again.
On Saturday in the tourney matchup versus Northern Colorado, the Bobcats hit a 40-28 run by halftime. Montana State outscored the Bears 47-38 in the second for an 87-66 victory. Xavier Bishop was the high man on the team with 19 points and eight assists.
Over on the Texas Tech side, they’ve taken a handful of losses so far this season but haven’t fallen in consecutive games. The Red Raiders took care of Iowa State and Oklahoma in their first two tourney matchups, then fell to Kansas on Saturday.
Matched up against the Jayhawks, the Raiders were down by just one point going into the second half. Texas Tech was outscored 29-37 from there in a 74-65 defeat. Leading team scorer Bryson Williams put up 17 points with four rebounds.
PICK: I’m going to take a shot on Montana State here. Granted, the Bobcats haven’t exactly faced nationally elite competition lately but they’ve done very well in their conference games. Montana State has hit 69 or more points in each of their last 17 games, and if they can post a decent total in the first half the Bobcats should be okay.
As for Texas Tech, they’ve had their ups and downs during these difficult Big 12 games. Overall the team has done pretty well, though. The Raiders should match up pretty well here also, but I think Montana State can stay in range.
