The Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers (12-10) take on the Texas Southern Tigers (16-8) in the First Four round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday evening. The Mountaineers and Tigers will tip off at 5:10 p.m. ET at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. Below, we analyze the Mount St. Mary’s-Texas Southern odds and lines, with March Madness NCAA Tournament picks and predictions.
Mount St. Mary’s advanced to the tournament by winning the Northeast Conference Tournament, and the Mountaineers head into Thursday’s game on a four-game win streak. MSMU sports a solid defense, one that has allowed just 62.3 points per game (17th NCAA-I). The Mountaineers are seeking a program-first NCAA tourney win.
Texas Southern is in the tournament for a fifth time since 2015, but the Tigers are making their first trip under HC Johnny Jones. The champions of the Southwest Athletic Conference play a fast-tempo brand of basketball. The Tigers hit the boards hard on the offensive end, frequently get to the foul line, and average a robust 74.8 points per game.
Mount St. Mary’s vs. Texas Southern: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 4:15 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Mount St. Mary’s -110 (bet $110 to win $100) | Texas Southern -110 (bet $110 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Mount St. Mary’s +1 (-115) | Texas Southern -1 (-105)
- Over/Under: 133 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Mount St. Mary’s vs. Texas Southern: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Mount St. Mary’s 70, Texas Southern 65
Money line (ML)
PASS on the flat-footed pick ’em tags. Mount St. Mary’s is a solid play for the outright win, but take the point as an insurance bonus.
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Against the spread (ATS)
This is a tortoise-and-the-hare match-up with MSMU (slow) and Texas Southern (fast) being near the far ends of the tempo continuum. The Tigers come out of a fast-pace SWAC and haven’t had much experience against the slowdown game. The Mountaineers have had games against teams that force a lot of possessions, and they’ve fared well in those games.
Look for Mount St. Mary’s rebounding and distance shooting edges to put the Mountaineers over the top.
BACK MOUNT ST. MARY’S +1 (-110).
Over/Under (O/U)
Both teams tote Over trends into this contest. But this tag looks accurate. Peg a slight lean on the Over (133, -110), but that’s about it.
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