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The Merrimack Warriors (1-2) and Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-0) tangle Wednesday in Piscataway. Tip time at Jersey Mike’s Arena will be 8 p.m. ET (Peacock). Let’s analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s college basketball odds around the Merrimack vs. Rutgers odds, and make our expert college basketball picks and predictions.
Merrimack last played on Sunday, losing to the 5.5-point-favorite Princeton Tigers 68-57. The Warriors went just 7-of-30 from distance, and they have shot an anemic 16.3% on 3s over their last 2 games.
Rutgers has been quite good defensively and has thus far held opposing shooters to a 38.7% mark from the floor. The Scarlet Knights failed to cover a -22 their last time out Friday, a 98-81 triumph over the Monmouth Hawks.
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Merrimack at Rutgers odds
Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list of college basketball odds. Lines last updated at 6:45 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Merrimack +1400 (bet $100 to win $1,400) | Rutgers -4000 (bet $4,000 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Merrimack +18.5 (-102) | Rutgers -18.5 (-120)
- Over/Under (O/U): 133.5 (O: -112 | U: -108)
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Merrimack at Rutgers picks and predictions
Prediction
Rutgers 78, Merrimack 57
Moneyline
No interest. AVOID.
Against the spread
The Scarlet Knights are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 November home games when favored by 20-plus points.
Rutgers is the much deeper team, but it has not really acted accordingly with a scoreboard to match since its season opener. Still, the advantage in this game, especially when it comes to getting high-quality around the basket, is worthy of a Knights-by-20 type of prediction.
In failing to turn big leads into covers the last 2 games, the Knights have been hurt by opponent 3s and a lack of disruption on the defensive end. Those areas of concern are mostly mitigated against a Merrimack team shooting 23.9% from distance and filing loose turnover numbers so far.
Depth and size issues figure to have the Warriors in down-15 territory by the middle minutes of the second half. Look for a better close from Rutgers in this one.
BACK RUTGERS -18.5 (-120).
Over/Under
The pace for this game figures as something right in the middle. And there are a few matchup factors favoring a bit of scoring spiral and a few that could slow things down.
So, the lean here is a slight one, but the upside of this total gets just a sliver of a nod. A big night at the rim for RU is the sway factor.
Consider a partial-unit play on the OVER 133.5 (-112).
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