The Montana State Bobcats (3-3 overall, 0-0 Big Sky) visit the Northern Colorado Bears (5-4, 2-2) in a Thursday evening (8:30 p.m. ET) Big Sky tussle at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colo. Below, we analyze the Montana State-Northern Colorado college basketball betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Montana State at Northern Colorado: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:30 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Montana State +155 (bet $100 to win $155) | Northern Colorado -190 (bet $190 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Montana State +4.5 (-115) | Northern Colorado -4.5 (-105)
- Over/Under: 137.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Montana State at Northern Colorado: Three things to know
- Thursday’s contest is slated to be the first of two in three days between the Bobcats and Bears. The Big Sky’s COVID-adjusted schedule calls for college hockey style, two-game trips. Northern Colorado is coming off a two-game series at Montana. MSU is playing in its first conference set with these two at Northern Colorado.
- The Bears have had some shooting woes in going 2-3 over their last five games. Over that stretch, Northern Colorado has shot just 42.9% from the field. For the season, the Bears rank 228th in the nation in effective field-goal percentage (47.5%).
- Montana State hasn’t had a straight-up win over an NCAA-I foe since Nov. 25 (91-78 at UNLV). A year ago, the Bobcats went 5-10 on the road. That record included a 68-59 loss at Northern Colorado Jan. 2, 2020. In what was a 4-to-8-point game for much of the second half, MSU finished as a minus-7 in turnover margin and the Bobcats registered just one offensive rebound.
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Montana State at Northern Colorado: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Montana State 69, Northern Colorado 68
Money line (ML)
Consider MONTANA STATE +155 as an undercard, or partial-unit sidecar bet, alongside a wager with the points.
Against the spread (ATS)
The Bears are 1-5 ATS in their last six home games. Over the last five games in this Big Sky series, the road team is 4-1 ATS.
And that’s the significant lean here: TAKE THE BOBCATS +4.5 (-115). A shay UNC offense is worthy of being faded. Montana State is near the same level talent-wise as Montana that just played back-to-back two-point games against the Bears.
Over/Under (O/U)
Too much small-sample gray area here. Tag this one with a slight lean on the UNDER (137.5, -110), but there isn’t enough data or value to leverage.
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