The Detroit Mercy Titans (14-18, 9-11 Horizon) and Youngstown State Penguins (23-8, 15-5) meet Thursday at Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio in the Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Detroit Mercy vs. Youngstown State game odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Detroit Mercy picked up an 81-68 win over Purdue Fort Wayne Tuesday in the opening round of the Horizon League tourney, snapping a 2-game losing streak and 3-game non-cover skid. The Under has cashed in 4 in a row for UDM.
The big story is Detroit G Antoine Davis, who needs 26 points to pass “Pistol” Pete Maravich as the all-time NCAA scoring leader. Davis, who leads the nation with 28.4 points per game, scored 38 Tuesday and has 3,642 career points in 142 games. Maravich finished with 3,667 points in 83 games at LSU from 1967-70.
With a 14-18 record, Detroit’s season will end with a loss. So, this could be the final game of Davis’ college career and his last chance to catch “Pistol” Pete.
Davis, the son of Detroit coach Mike Davis — Bob Knight’s coaching replacement at Indiana in 2000 — is in his 5th season thanks to an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Maravich was only able to play 3 seasons since freshmen weren’t allowed to play back then.
Youngstown State earned the top seed with a 15-5 conference record in the regular season, hanging on despite losing 2 of the final 5 games outright. The Penguins failed to cover the final 2 games, too. However, the Pens haven’t failed to cover in 3 straight games since an 0-5 against-the-spread (ATS) skid from Feb. 19-March 16 last season.
Youngstown State swept the regular-season series, winning 84-79 in Detroit as a 2-point favorite on Jan. 12 and belting the Titans 73-63 at home on Jan. 29. Youngstown State is 6-2 in the past 8 meetings with Detroit Mercy while holding a 5-3 ATS edge. The Over is 4-1-1 in the last 6 in this series.
Davis scored 32 points in the Jan. 12 game and was held to 15 by the Penguins in the 2nd meeting.
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Detroit Mercy at Youngstown State odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 6:44 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Off the Board (OTB)
- Against the spread: Detroit Mercy +7.5 (-105) | Youngstown State -7.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 156.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Detroit Mercy at Youngstown State picks and predictions
Prediction
Youngstown State 84, Detroit Mercy 74
Moneyline
The moneyline was OTB at the time of publishing.
However, even if it were available, Youngstown State would be too expensive, sucking the value out of a singular play.
PASS.
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Against the spread
The lean is to top-seed YOUNGSTOWN STATE -7.5 (-115), especially since it is at home.
Detroit Mercy is just 1-5 ATS in the past 6 games on the road and 3-9 ATS in the past 12 following a straight-up win.
Youngstown State has cashed in 4 of the past 5 games on its home floor while going 8-3 ATS in the past 11 games against teams with a losing overall mark.
Over/Under
OVER 156.5 (-110) is the lean, but go rather lightly.
This is a huge number, especially since UDM has cashed the Under in 4 in a row. However, the Titans have cashed the Over in 7 of the past 8 road games and in 8 of the past 11 against teams with a winning overall record.
The Over is 22-8 in the past 30 games overall for Youngstown State while going 4-1-1 in the past 6 against losing teams.
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