Rice at Charlotte odds, picks and predictions

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The Rice Owls (11-18, 5-11 American) and Charlotte 49ers (17-11, 11-5) meet Wednesday at the Dale F. Halton Arena in Charlotte. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines around the Rice vs. Charlotte odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and best bets.

The Owls have had a hard time in the past week, losing by at least 21 points at home against Temple and on the road at Wichita State. Prior to that, Rice beat UAB on the road and East Carolina at home by at least 18 points. So which Rice team will show up in Charlotte?

These teams met in Houston back on Jan. 16, with Rice covering as a 2.5-point underdogs at most shops in the 81-79 OT loss as the Over (137) easily connected.

The 49ers were in contention for the AAC title at one point, but Charlotte had a rough February, and it continued into the 1st game of March. Charlotte has dropped the past 3 games at Memphis, at Tulsa and home to South Florida, while going just 1-6 against the spread (ATS) in the past 7 outings.

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Rice at Charlotte odds

Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 6:11 a.m. ET.

Moneyline (ML): Rice +240 (bet $100 to win $240) | Charlotte -300 (bet $300 to win $100)
Against the spread: Rice +7.5 (-115) | Charlotte -7.5 (-105)
Over/Under (O/U): 134.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)

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Rice at Charlotte picks and predictions

Prediction

Charlotte 67, Rice 64

Moneyline

Charlotte (-300) will cost you 3 times your potential return, and that’s way too risky for a team entering on a 3-game losing streak. While losses on the road to Memphis, and at home to South Florida, can certainly be excused, the loss to Tulsa is a head scratcher. If it can lose to a subpar Tulsa team, Charlotte can lose to anybody.

PASS.

Against the spread

RICE +7.5 (-115) suffered a narrow loss in overtime at home against Charlotte -7.5 (-105) in the 1st meeting, and it’s likely to suffer a similar fate in the Queen City.

The Owls have won just twice in the past 7 outings, and they have been one of the Jekyll and Hyde teams of the AAC in the past few weeks. Some games, Rice looks like a world beater, including a 23-point win at UAB as an 11-point underdog, and other times it looks like a last-place team, like the 22-point loss at home to a bad Temple team as a 5-point favorite. Still, when they faced the 49ers earlier, the Owls brought their ‘A’ game, and Rice should be able to keep within 3 buckets in this game.

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Over/Under

UNDER 134.5 (-115) is worth a look, as both of these teams have been going low lately.

Charlotte has cashed the Under in 3 of the past 4 outings, scoring 67 or fewer points in 3 of the contests. The 49ers have split the Over-Under 3-3 in the past 6 at Halton Arena.

Rice has averaged just 54.5 PPG across the past 2 games, and it has scored 69 or fewer points in 4 of the past 7 outings.

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