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The Detroit Mercy Titans will look to win their third straight road game against a red hot Youngstown State Penguins team. What can we expect from this Horizon Conference matchup?
Detroit Mercy Titans vs. Youngstown State Penguins
Friday, February 11, 2022 – 07:00 PM EST at Beeghly Center
The Matchup
The Detroit Mercy Titans will continue their long road trip tonight against the Youngstown State Penguins. Both of these teams have been red hot recently.
Detroit has won five of their last six games while Youngstown State is on a five-game winning streak. Mostly, at home, Youngstown State’s offense does the talking. The Penguins scored 78 to beat Oakland on Wednesday and defeated Milwaukee in another recent home game, scoring 86 points.
Meanwhile, Detroit has won two straight games on the road in conference play, scoring 74 or more points in each of those two games.
Both defenses are in the bottom half of college basketball. Maybe even the bottom quarter of college basketball. Detroit is allowing teams to shoot an effective field goal percentage of 53.8% this season. Opponents are hitting 35.8% from three and 53.9% from inside the arc.
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The Penguins are already shooting at an above-average rate this season, with an effective field goal percentage of 50.6%. From deep, Youngstown State has hit 33.% from deep, and from inside the arc, the Penguins are hitting 50.9%.
Plus, from the foul line, Youngstown State is shooting 76.8%. While it won’t be a common occurrence, Youngstown State still gets to the line at an average rate.
On the flip side, Youngstown State is allowing teams to shoot 34.6% from deep and 48.7% from inside the arc.
Detroit is a three-point shooting machine. They’ve hit nearly 37% from three and take a whole lot of threes per game. The Penguins don’t defend the three all that well while Detroit continues to shoot at a very good rate. The Titans won’t get to the line often but when they do, they capitalize, just like Youngstown State, hitting 77.9% of foul shots.
The Titans also aren’t a major threat inside the arc, but that’s why they’ve got the three-point ball. Tonight, it’s all about execution and Detroit will look to execute from behind the arc. They’ve done it in back-to-back games on the road already this season.
Prediction
If this game is close, foul shots for both teams will be crucial. The spread is 1.5 at the college basketball odds, so the expectation is that this game is tight and will need foul shooting late in the game.
Both teams have an above-average offense with below-average defenses. Detroit and Youngstown State shoot the three-ball at an above-average rate. Youngstown will also have more success inside the arc against Detroit’s pitiful defense this season.
So, for our college basketball picks, let’s grab the over 141.5 in this matchup. Both teams should be able to get to 70 points and you might see a team get red hot and score 80 or more points.
NCAAB Pick: Over 141.5 (-110) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.