South Dakota State vs Nebraska-Omaha 3/5/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Omaha Mavericks and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits meet in college basketball action from the Frost Center on Saturday.

The Omaha Mavericks will come into the conference tournament as the bottom seed, #8, after going 5-24 overall including 4-14 in conference play. Frankie Fidler leads the Mavericks in scoring with 12.1 PPG along with 3.7 RPG while Felix Lemetti has 10.3 PPG with 3.8 RPG and a team-high 3 APG. Nick Ferrarini has 9.9 PPG while Darrius Hughes has 9.2 PPG with 4 RPG and Akol Arop has a team-high 4.8 RPG. As a team, Omaha is averaging 69.3 PPG on 42.8% shooting from the field, 35.1% from three and 72.7% from the foul line while allowing 83.4 PPG on 48.1% shooting from the field and 39.3% from three this season.

The South Dakota State Jackrabbits come into the conference tournament as the top seed, sitting at 27-4 overall including a perfect 18-0 mark in conference play this season. Baylor Scheierman leads the Jackrabbits with team-highs of 16.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG and 4.6 APG. Doug Wilson has 16 PPG with 5.2 RPG and Noah Friedel has 15.1 PPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for South Dakota State so far this season. Luke Appel and Zeke Mayo each have 9.5 PPG this season.As a team, South Dakota State is averaging 87.2 PPG on 52.7% shooting from the field, 45.1% from three and 75.8% from the foul line while allowing 73.8 PPG on 43.4% shooting from the field and 35.3% from three this season.

Omaha is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a winning record and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a loss by 20 or more points while the under is 7-1 in their last 8 neutral site games. South Dakota State is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 neutral site games as a favorite and 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games against a team with a winning percentage below .400 while the over is 6-1 in their last 7 neutral site games.

I get the case to be made for Omaha here as this is a huge number but South Dakota State’s perfectly capable in covering it, let’s not kid ourselves here. With that said, I’m still leaning towards the over as South Dakota State’s had their way offensively and Omaha’s got defensive issues, but they can score as well. I keep capping this game and getting to a number like 92-70, so give me the over here.