The Sacred Heart Pioneers (1-0) and Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-0) meet Thursday. Tip-opff from Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway is at 7 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Sacred Heart vs. Rutgers odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Sacred Heart opened its season Tuesday with a 77-70 win at Hartford. The Pioneers have much of their squad from last year back. That group went 10-20 last season and finished 7th in the Northeast Conference with a 6-12 mark in conference play.
The Scarlet Knights lifted the lid on the 2022-23 season by throttling Columbia 75-35 Monday. Rutgers figures to have a veteran rotation, but just 56.3% of its scoring is back. G Ron Harper — who averaged 15.8 points per game last season — is now in the NBA. Senior G Cam Spencer filled his lead-scorer role with 17 points in the season-opener.
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Sacred Heart at Rutgers odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:30 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Sacred Heart +1100 (bet $100 to win $1,000) | Rutgers -3000 (bet $3,000 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Sacred Heart +21.5 (-115) | Rutgers -21.5 (-105)
- Over/Under (O/U): 139.5 (O: -114 | U: -115)
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Sacred Heart at Rutgers picks and predictions
Prediction
Rutgers 82, Sacred Heart 62
Moneyline
The line on Rutgers (-3000) is too steep to consider. PASS.
Against the spread
Rutgers is a borderline top-50 team. Sacred Heart only faced one such foe last season when the Pioneers fell to Providence 92-64 on Nov. 11. Sacred Heart was in that game for long stretches, however: the Friars mostly led by 6-10 points until the final 5 minutes.
The Pioneers would be a lean getting +21.5 here if that play came at a discounted price (a -108 or better, for example). Otherwise, PASS.
Over/Under
The Pioneers and Knights last met in 2020 when Rutgers emerged with a 86-63 victory. The Over hit by 11.5 points, and that is the lean in this game.
Rutgers logged a few early-season games last season where point totals were a bit bloated. Sacred Heart won’t be able to stop the Knights from getting 80-plus in this one. Look for SHU to get enough offense against a widening RU rotation late.
BACK THE OVER 139.5 (-114).
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