The Incarnate Word Cardinals and the Nicholls State Colonels meet Monday in college basketball action from Stopher Gym. Incarnate Word is currently 8-19 on the year and fresh off a loss to McNeese. As for Nicholls, they beat Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday to move to 15-12 so far. Let’s get into our Incarnate Word vs. Nicholls State prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Incarnate Word Cardinals
The Cardinals got off to a rough 5-13 start over their first 18 games but then beat Houston Christian, New Orleans and Lamar over the next six outings. Since then it’s been a three-game losing streak to Northwestern State, Texas A&M-Commerce and McNeese, though.
In the matchup versus McNeese on Saturday, the Cardinals were drilled 44-21 in the first half alone. Incarnate Word got better from there on 50 more points but still lost 87-71 in the end. Sky Wicks and Shon Robinson each notched 13 points to top the team in scoring.
Nicholls State Colonels
Over on the Nicholls State side, they managed to start the season on an 8-10 clip. The Colonels have been better on a 7-2 run since then, taking out Incarnate Word, Texas A&M-Commerce, Houston Christian, Northwestern State, Texas A&M-CC, New Orleans and Texas A&M-Commerce again.
In the rematch with Texas A&M-Commerce over the weekend, the Colonels jumped out to a 39-33 edge by halftime. Nicholls State closed on a 46-37 run and took the victory 85-70 in the end. Diante Smith was the leading scorer with his 19 points and five rebounds during the win.
ANDREW’S FREE INCARNATE WORD VS NICHOLLS STATE PREDICTION
I’ll stick with Nicholls in this one. The Colonels took care of Texas A&M-Commerce pretty well in their last outing, shooting a nice 56.9 percent from the field with 33 rebounds and 22 team assists in a pretty well-rounded game. Nicholls has now scored 174 combined points over the last pair.
These teams last saw each other in a 78-74 overtime road victory for the Colonels on January 22. Nicholls got out-rebounded 36-28 in that one but also managed 16 points off 18 Incarnate Word turnovers. The Colonels wil likely have to be sharper on the boards in this one, but should be in line for the cover if all goes well.