Princeton Tigers vs. Missouri Tigers odds predictions pick betting line spread

The 15th-seeded Princeton Tigers (22-8) and 7th-seeded Missouri Tigers (25-9) meet Saturday in a 2nd Round matchup in the NCAA Tournament. Tip from Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. is scheduled for approximately 6:10 p.m. ET (TNT). Let’s analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Princeton vs. Missouri odds as we make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and best bets.

The Tigers of Princeton crushed brackets everywhere with a 59-55 win over the 2nd-seeded Arizona Wildcats Thursday as a 15-point underdog. Princeton has ripped off 5 straight wins, including 2 in the Ivy League Tournament, and it has covered 5 consecutive outings, too.

Princeton shot 41% from the field (26-of-64), while hitting just 25% (4-of-16) from behind the 3-point arc. The smallish Tigers only got to the free-throw line 5 times, too, converting 3 of them.

The good is that Tosan Evboumwan was productive, posting 15 points with 7 rebounds and a blocked shot, and Princeton was somehow even with Arizona in rebounding at 35, despite the big size advantage for the Wildcats.

The Tigers of Missouri hope to be on the winning end of this Tiger Bowl. It rolled past Utah State 76-65 as a 1.5-point underdog despite being the higher seed. It used that disrespect as apparent fuel. The Under (155) cashed, too, and is now 6-3 in the past 9 games overall.

Missouri shot 51% (27-of-53) from the field, and a blistering 40% (10-of-25) from behind the 3-point line. It turned it over just 9 times, making up for the fact it was outrebounded 31-to-25.

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Princeton vs. Missouri odds

Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:15 a.m. ET.

Moneyline (ML): Princeton +225 (bet $100 to win $225) | Missouri -270 (bet $270 to win $100)
Against the spread (ATS): Princeton +6.5 (-110) | Missouri -6.5 (-110)
Over/Under (O/U): 148.5 (O: -108 | U: -112)

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Princeton vs. Missouri picks and predictions

Prediction

Missouri 81, Princeton 76

Moneyline

Missouri (-270) will cost you nearly 3 times your potential return, and that’s just too expensive for a singular wager. Even as part of a multi-team parlay, including Mizzou sucks the value out of your ticket.

AVOID.

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Against the spread

Roll with PRINCETON +6.5 (-110) and the points, as these Tigers are writing quite a tale so far in this tournament.

Princeton handled the twin towers of Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo with aplomb, and now it should match up well with Missouri, a team that likes to play more of an up-tempo game like Princeton.

Over/Under

The OVER 148.5 (-108) seems like a high number, but it’s the best play.

According to covers.com, Princeton went for 76.0 PPG during the regular season, while allowing 68.6 PPG. The only concern is that Princeton managed a dismal 71.2% from the free-throw line, leaving a lot of points on the floor, which is maddening to Over bettors.

Mizzou racked up 80.1 PPG in the regular season, and it’s a good 3-point shooting team at 36.2%. And the Tigers exceeded that mark against Utah State, hitting at a 40.0% clip. Missouri was one of the worst defensive teams in the SEC, too, so this could be quite the track meet.

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Saturday’s NCAA Tournament upset picks

Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 4:53 a.m. ET. All game times ET; ML = moneyline.

PRINCETON +6.5 (-110) vs. Missouri – 6:10 p.m.

Princeton impressively took down 2nd-seeded Arizona in the first round by limiting the Wildcats to only 55 points in a 4-point win. Could the Tigers, who were 15-point underdogs, advance again with another strong defensive performance?

Missouri averages 79.4 points per game (PPG) to rank 25th in the nation (according to NCAA.com), Arizona entered the NCAA Tournament 5th in the country at 82.7 points per game before facing Princeton. The Tigers are also a plus-6 in rebound margin (tied for 10th in the nation).

If Princeton can make it an ugly, low-scoring game (again) Saturday, it can certainly cover the spread or even beat a Missouri squad that is 346th in rebounds per game (30.33 per game).

AUBURN +5.5 (-110) vs. Houston – 7:10 p.m.

Houston was largely uninspiring in its 63-52 win over Northern Kentucky in the first round as the Cougars were up only 5 points with a little under 4 minutes remaining — Houston was a 19.5-point favorite.

Cougars star G Marcus Sasser is battling a groin injury and only played 14 minutes — and scored 5 points — before exiting in the first half due to re-aggravating the injury. With their leading scorer out (16.7 PPG), the Cougars struggled to generate much offense, especially from beyond the 3-point line where they made only 4 of 16 attempts.

On the other hand, Auburn found a way to outscore a high-scoring Iowa team Thursday to win 83-75 as a 2.5-point favorite.

Houston is also 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games. This game should be closer than some expect.

PENN STATE ML (+200) vs. Texas – 7:45 p.m.

The 10th-seeded Nittany Lions may have the perfect recipe to upset the 2nd-seeded Longhorns. Texas relies on forcing its opponents into making mistakes (16.21 turnovers forced per game to rank 16th), while Penn State turns the ball over the 4th-fewest times per game (9.0).

Besides limiting mental errors, the Nittany Lions record 10.4 3-pointers per game (tied for 5th most) and convert them at a 38.52% clip (13th). After cruising to a win over No. 7 seed Texas A&M in the first round, Penn State could make things interesting in its upcoming bout with Texas.