The 8th-seeded Northern Colorado Bears (12-19) and No. 2 Montana State Bobcats (22-9) will tussle in a Sunday quarterfinal in the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Boise. The battle at Idaho Central Arena will tip off at 10 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Northern Colorado vs. Montana State odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Northern Colorado outscored Portland State 25-10 at the free-throw line in an 84-80 triumph Saturday. The up-tempo Bears — a streaky squad that has now won 2 in a row — will be seeking their 1st win in 3 tries this season against the Bobcats.
Montana State logged victory margins of 21 and 13 points in wins over UNC Jan. 5 and Feb. 4. Both games were covers, and the Bobcats are 6-1 against the spread over their last 7 games against the Bears.
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Northern Colorado vs. Montana State odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:30 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Off the board
- Against the spread (ATS): Northern Colorado +7.5 (-110) | Montana State -7.5 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 146.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Northern Colorado vs. Montana State picks and predictions
Prediction
Montana State 78, Northern Colorado 70
Moneyline
The moneyline wasn’t available at the time of publication, but we’ll look to the spread anyway.
PASS.
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Against the spread
The Bears are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games against teams with winning records.
MSU coach Danny Sprinkle guided the Bobcats through these brackets to a title last season. Sprinkle’s 2022-23 group is a veteran one that has won 5 straight games and 10 of its last 11. The Bobcats are not a good 3-point-shooting team, but they are incredibly proficient in getting looks at or near the rim and in getting to the charity stripe.
Peg those factors as looming large in a neutral-site affair. BACK THE BOBCATS -7.5 (-110). Consider making this one a partial-unit play: the margin here is thin after the spread was steamed up a couple of points.
Over/Under
No leeway here. In slow MSU vs. fast UNC — but in a game that figures to have some 3s (UNC) and free throws (MSU) pushing the score — figure a final tally around 145-150.
PASS.
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