Get those DVRs ready, because college basketball betting is about to blow up with early tournaments. The Charleston Classic is among them, and tips Thursday with a matchup between St. Bonaventure and Boise State.
Let’s break down the NCAAB odds for this game.
St. Bonaventure Bonnies vs. Boise State Broncos
Thursday, November 18, 2021 – 02:00 PM EST at TD Arena
One of three tournaments – Myrtle Beach Invitational and Jersey Mike’s Classic the other two – that gets underway Thursday, the Charleston Classic features eight teams from as many conferences, and St. Bonaventure enters the event as the team to beat. The Bonnies are the only top 25 team, Mark Schmidt’s club up a spot to No. 22 in the latest AP.
They are also the runaway pick to win the Atlantic 10 Conference as +110 picks on the NCAA basketball futures odds.
Leon Rice, now in his 12th season at Boise State, brings one of his deepest teams to Chucktown. The Mountain West is also as deep as it has been in a few years, though it remains to be seen if the group can push more than one team into the NCAA Men’s Tournament. The Broncos are fourth on the futures and looking to post their ninth 20-win season in the last 11 years.
Teams Collide for Just the Second Time
College hoops and day drinking go together like peas and carrots, and this matchup is just about perfect for the sports bar scene with an early afternoon tip on The Deuce. St. Bonaventure is giving up 6-6.5 at online betting sites with the total in the 130.5-131.5 range.
That game closed with the Broncos 4-point favorites at top sportsbooks, and the offensive struggles by the Bonnies kept the contest from reaching a 142.5-point total. The winner of Thursday’s tilt will take on the winner of the Clemson-Temple matchup that follows Boise State and St. Bonaventure.
Boise State and St. Bonaventure have met just one time previously, with that clash also taking place in an early-season tournament. After each side lost in the opening round of the 2018 Cayman Islands Classic, the Broncos put a 72-52 whipping on the Bonnies in the loser’s bracket. Boise State started to pull away late in the first half and really took control when St. Bonaventure failed to score in the first 7:30 of the second half.
3-Point Shooting Has Been a Struggle for Broncos
After opening the season with a solid 76-56 showing against Utah Valley of the WAC, Boise State struggled late on the road in a 58-50 loss to UC-Irvine last Saturday. The game stayed tight into the second half when the Broncos held a 1-point lead with nine-minute to play, but the Anteaters found another gear at that point in a defensive battle.
Boise State was a very small favorite on the college basketball odds, and simply never could find the bucket while shooting 32% (19-59) overall and hitting 3-of-22 tries from 3-point range. Rice’s bench contributed all of two points and missed all five of their long-range heaves. Marcus Shaver Jr. led the Broncos with 14 points.
Shaver missed Boise State’s opener due to a hand injury and was one of five seniors Rice had on the floor to begin the game at UC-Irvine. The outside shooting woes against the Anteaters followed a rather dismal 4-for-20 performance from 3-point range in the opener.
Bonnies Ranked for First Time in 50 Years
Schmidt also watched his Bonnies suffer a letdown in the second game of the season after opening with a resounding 75-47 cakewalk over Siena. St. Bonaventure managed to rally, however, and pull off a 69-60 triumph against Canisius, though it wasn’t nearly enough to cover the 21 points Intertops entrusted the Bonnies with.
Canisius actually held a 5-point lead with 6:29 remaining last Sunday night at St. Bonaventure, but the Griffins could only manage three measly points the rest of the way. Defensive pressure by the Bonnies led to 15 points off turnovers in the second half, plus they came away with five steals and eight blocks to overcome woeful 2-for-15 shooting from beyond the arc.
Having five returning starters from a team that won the A-10 last season was a big reason why the Bonnies were easy picks to repeat. It was also why St. Bonaventure started the season ranked for the first time since 1970-71. The Bonnies should’ve never needed to mount a double-digit comeback as they did against Canisius.
I’m expecting the offense to be at a premium Thursday afternoon with a free college basketball pick on the total falling short.
NCAAB Pick: Under 131.5 (-109) at GTbets (visit our GTbets 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.
