The East Tennessee State Buccaneers and the Western Carolina Catamounts meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Ramsey Center. East Tennessee State is currently 10-17 on the year. The Buccaneers beat VMI in their last outing. As for Western Carolina, they’re 14-13 so far following a loss to Furman. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
East Tennessee State Buccaneers
East Tennessee State got off to a rough start this year, going just 7-13 over their first 20 games. The Buccaneers are 3-4 in their last seven outings, losing to Mercer, Chattanooga, Samford and UNC Greensboro in that time.
On Friday versus VMI, East Tennessee State got back into the win column. The Buccaneers hit a 31-30 first half and eventually powered out the victory 69-65 after 38 more points. Jordan King was the top scorer on 18 points.
Western Carolina Catamounts
Over on the Western Carolina side, they stayed above .500 with 11 wins in their first 20 games. The Catamounts have also gone 3-4 in their last four outings, though. The losses in that time came versus Samford, the Citadel, Samford again and Furman.
In the Furman game on Saturday, the Catamounts took a 41-31 deficit into the break. Western Carolina fell further behind on a 52-28 second half and were blown out 93-59 in the end. Tre Jackson was tops on the team with 27 points.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stay with Western Carolina. The Catamounts are coming off a rough road loss to a pretty good Furman team, but they had a 3-1 stretch going before that. Western Carolina had scored 71 or more points in each of those games and 83 or more in two of them. Last time these teams saw each other back on January 4 at Freedom Hall Civic Center, the Catamounts secured a 71-60 road victory thanks to a 33-22 second half. I like Western Carolina to bounce back from their Saturday loss and power out a cover in this rematch.